TNT will not continue with a second season of Frank’s Darabont’s Mob City.
“Mob City was created as a three-week television event and we are incredibly proud of the six hours we presented of this remarkable drama. Although the ratings of the limited series haven’t warranted more hours we are eager to work with Frank Darabont again and were delighted to bring the vibrant world of Mob City to life,” said a TNT spokesman according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The series opened with 2.3 million total viewers in December and the second airing drew 1.39 million total viewers. Despite the heavy promotion during TBS’ Major League Baseball playoffs and a huge marketing campaign, the series averaged 1.68 million total viewers over the three week run.
As noted by THR, Darobont hoped that Mob City would have a run similar to AMC’s The Walking Dead, whose first season consisted of six episodes and grew to 12 for the second season.
“We were never really geared to be a limited miniseries,” he said. “Think of this as a half a season. Just like when we started The Walking Dead, that was six episodes — a half a season. It’s just the way they’re airing it has created this impression that it’s a different kind of thing. It’s not. We shot these as individual hours just like any hour of television show.”
The first season of the series focused on a LAPD pursuit of the mob and ended on a cliffhanger. The season also co-starred Ed Burns, Milo Ventimiglia and Neal McDonough.
“The whole idea was if there is a second season, if we earn an audience, they will give us a more typical order,” Darabont said. “Just like Walking Dead. The idea of doing six to start is brilliant. I don’t know if we invented that with Walking Dead, but we might have. It gives the filmmaker a chance to prove his case with the audience more than just a pilot. You can’t really tell anything from a pilot. With six, you can really make your case and the network can give you the opportunity to do that without committing their resources for a full season. It’s a great way to launch something.”
Meanwhile, TNT will launch this year the dramas The Last Ship (from Michael Bay), Legends (from Homeland‘s Howard Gordon) and Murder in the First (from Steven Bochco).
Mob City is the third TNT consecutive new drama series that got canceled after the first season.