NBC’s miniseries, A.D.: The Bible Continues, failed to draw in ratings throughout its debut season and NBC has announced that it will not return for another (via The Hollywood Reporter).
The show premiered on Sundays along side the other recently canceled NBC show, American Odyssey. Ratings for A.D.: The Bible Continues averaged at about 6.5 million viewers a night.
A.D.: The Bible Continues premiered on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015, and ran for twelve episodes. The series is a sequel to the History Channel’s miniseries, The Bible. The Bible had double the ratings of its sequel and a larger following. Four of the executive producers on The Bible returned to make A.D.: The Bible Continues. Including Mark Burnett, Roma Downey, Richard Bedser, and Brian Edwards. A.D.: The Bible Continues takes place after the death and resurrection of Jesus and focuses on the lives of his disciples. The miniseries also focuses on the bible’s Book of Acts. Juan Pablo Di Pace plays Jesus, Adam Levy plays Peter, and Vincent Regan plays Pontius Pilate. Even with the success of The Bible, A.D.: The Bible Continues still could not attract enough viewers to be renewed for a second season.
Mark Burnett, a creator and executive producer for the show, told Deadline in an interview that “while we’re wrapping, editing, delivering Season 1, we have the teams fully engaged on writing Season 2, and prepping, and getting ready. So we are fully expecting that it will carry on. We think this could become NBC’s Game Of Thrones where you’ve got this 12 episodes a year, year after year, always premiering on Easter”. Burnett had stated this before the first season aired, but it seems to be that Burnett still sees a chance for the show.
Even though A.D.: The Bible Continues has been canceled, the creators of the show are looking to debut season two on an online channel. But this miniseries return might not come until 2016 or 2017 (via Variety).