Murder in the First on TNT is wrapping up season 1 on Monday night, and fans are wondering whether the series will be renewed or canceled.
No announcement either way has been made by the network as of yet.
The premise of the show, starring Taye Diggs and Kathleen Robertson, is that each season is centered around one case.
The numbers are fairly good, with around 2.7 million viewers per episode but only 0.5 million in the key 18-49 age bracket, but there are signs that the show is heading toward cancellation.
First, Diggs (Detective Terry English) joined CBS drama The Good Wife in a recurring role in early July. However, though he’s been confirmed for multiple episodes, he could still conceivably film both.
Second, while other TNT summer shows have been renewed----The Last Ship, Major Crimes, and Falling Skies--no announcement was made for Murder in the First.
Then again, Ian Anthony Dale (Lieutenant Jim Koto) believes there’s a good shot for renewal.
Speaking to Shockya, he said: “We did respectively well with this season’s first three episodes. I think if we’re able to continue to produce the viewership that we’ve been able to do thus fur, I think we have as good a chance as anyone else. But we’re in that wait-and-see period.”
He added that if the show is renewed he would love to return.
Robertson (Hildy Mulligan) told Channel Guide Mag that if there’s a season 2 it may be her and Diggs with an all-new supporting cast.
“It would be like [costar] Taye Diggs and I will always be the center of the show, and the regulars from the first season would not be back,” she said.
“It would be new people in the second season except for us.”
Both she and Diggs spoke positively about playing their characters.
“He’s always looking for as much control as possible,” Diggs says of his character, who must deal with his wife’s terminal illness, “[and] having to give up that control to his emotions, it makes for very uncomfortable moments.
“[There] are going to be ways in which death is going to affect him, and the choices he makes, and the pressures he’s under. It’s going to affect his partner; there are times when [Terry] falters and [Hildy] has to pick up the slack.”
