A week ago, the fate of Limitless was up in the air as the show had yet to be officially canceled as CBS was wanting to shop the show around to other networks and streaming devices. However, it looks as though the negotiations fell through and the show has officially been canceled, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The show, which is the reboot of the movie from 2011 that starred Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro, was left off of CBS’ fall schedule and executives said they were hoping to get the show picked up on a streaming network. The show was shopped to both Netflix and Amazon, but both of the sites passed on giving the show a second season.
The show had an average 2.4 rating when timeshifted viewing was taken into account and averaged a 1.4 rating in the same day rating, which put it slightly behind the other CBS shows that aired on the same night, which included NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans.
CBS had a rough time with its freshman shows this year, only renewing Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Code Black and Life in Pieces. The freshman year shows that CBS canceled included Rush Hour, Angel from Hell and Supergirl, though Supergirl was picked up for season two at the CW.
Limitless tells the story of Brian Finch, portrayed by Jake McDorman, who takes a miracle drug NZT-48, that gives him access to every neuron in his brain, which makes him the smartest person alive for 12 hours of the day. He then is able to have perfect memory recall and has great intuition and logical reasoning. While he’s on the drug, he assists the FBI in solving cases, especially helping FBI agent Rebecca Harris (Jennifer Carpenter).
Bradley Cooper, who appeared in the original movie, was a part of the cast of the TV reboot and was an executive producer of the series. Other members of the cast include Hill Harper and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.
Each year, shows that are popular but get canceled usually start fan campaigns to get the show picked up on a streaming network, like last year when Fox canceled The Mindy Project but then the show was picked up by Hulu. This year, the same is happening with both Limitless and ABC’s Nashville. However, according to TV by the Numbers, it’s very rare that television shows are able to find a second home on a streaming site after they’ve been canceled.