Last week, in a somewhat surprising move, NBC stopped production on the gritty cop drama Southland and canceled the sophomore series before airing a single episode of the six episodes it had already filmed. The show's executive producer also seemed shocked and vowed to search for a home for his ground-breaking series on another network, and they just may have found one. TNT has not only showed some interest in picking up Southland, sources indicate that talks between the two sides have begun and are advancing.
This is fantastic news for fans and gives some hope that such a fantastic scripted drama won't be lost due to the ignorance of NBC. And as it turns out, TNT is closer to Southland than one might have thought. Southland is produced by John Wells Productions and is a part of parent company Warner Bros. TV, which is also the corporate parent for the network TNT. In a statement released by TNT they said, "We continually look at all programming opportunities that fit our portfolio of brands."
In our article last week that broke the news of Southland being canceled, we pointed out that TNT was an obvious first choice for a home to Southland. the network's biggest original programming success has been another well written cop drama, The Closer, which is in its 5th season. The net also boasts another police drama Saving Grace, which will be ending its series after the coming season, and newcomer Dark Blue which stars Dylan McDermitt and recently finished wrapping its first season. So with one of its dramas coming to an end and another one that has yet to be picked up for a second season, it would certainly make sense for TNT to grab a show that already has 6 episodes of the second season shot, and also already has an existing fanbase to build upon. With the lower ratings needed for a show to be considered a success on cable networks, Southland almost seems like a no-brainer for the network, and probably only comes down to how much it costs to produce the show, and whether or not it makes financial sense to TNT. Its still far too early to guess when TNT would air the series, if they were to come to a deal and pick up the show.
Source: THR
