Prodigal Son is a Fox Broadcasting Company television series developed by Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver that aired on September 23, 2019 and will conclude on May 18, 2021. The series got renewed for a full season in October 2019. The sitcom got renewed for a second season in May 2020, with the debut date set for January 12, 2021. After two seasons, the show was terminated in May 2021.
Focus of the Show
The story revolves around Malcolm Bright, whose father, Martin Whitly, is a notorious serial killer known as “the Surgeon.” Malcolm was responsible for assisting the police in the arrest of his father as a boy, and he hasn’t seen him in ten years.
Malcolm, a former FBI profiler who now works for the NYPD, is compelled to confront his father as a copycat serial killer arises. He must use Whitly’s insights to solve heinous crimes while while dealing with internal conflicts.
Casting and Crew of Prodigal Son
The pilot’s primary actors, Lou Diamond Phillips, Aurora Perrineau, and Frank Harts, were announced in February 2019. Along with the pilot’s order, Michael Sheen, Bellamy Young, Finn Jones, Keiko Agena, and Halston Sage were added to the cast in March 2019. On March 12, 2019, it was revealed that Tom Payne would replace Jones in the starring role of Malcolm Bright during first table readings four days later.
Read More:
- All American Season 4: Does Coop Die in the Latest Season?
- William Zabka Net Worth: What He Stated Over Fifth Season of Cobra Kai?
- Kathryn Dennis Relationship With Chleb: How She Considers This Relationship Different From Previous Ones?
- Chris Cuomo Net Worth: What Is Chris Cuomo’s Current Salary?
Dermot Mulroney was cast in a recurring role on February 10, 2020. Christian Borle and Michael Potts joined the cast as recurring characters for the second season on December 7, 2020. Catherine Zeta-Jones joined the cast for the second half of the season on January 6, 2021.
Release of Previous Seasons
Fox published the first official trailer for the series on May 13, 2019. The show broadcast on Global in Canada, Sky One in the United Kingdom, Fox One in Australia, and Colors Infinity in India.
Reception and Review of Show
Based on 33 reviews, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes recorded a 58 percent approval rating with an average rating of 6.19/10. “Though it shows promise, Prodigal Son ignores a brilliant Michael Sheen in favour of a more basic procedural plot that frequently goes too deeply into the obscene,” according to the website’s critical consensus. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave the film a score of 61 out of 100, indicating “generally good reviews.”
Cancellation of Third Season
With the cancellation of the third season, Malcolm Bright will have to add “abandonment issues” to his long list of problems. According to a source, Fox has cancelled Prodigal Son after two seasons, making the May 18 season finale a series finale.
Fox declined to comment, but a network insider tells us that the decision to cancel the dramatic thriller was “very painful,” adding that Prodigal Son’s viewership was simply too low to justify a third season. Prodigal Son is averaging just over 2 million weekly viewers and a 0.4 demo rating through its May 4 episode, down 38 and 45 percent from its debut. It scores fourth in both categories among Fox’s six original dramas this season, after only the already-cancelled Filthy Rich and NEXT.
Prodigal Son features Walking Dead alum Tom Payne as Malcolm Bright, an NYPD profiler who is also the son of infamous serial killer The Surgeon, Martin Whitly. Bright sought to manage the psychological toll taken by reconciling with Martin as he assisted the Major Crimes division in investigating brutal and unusual cases, oftentimes with his father’s input.
Efforts by Supporters to Save the Show
Prodigal Son, a crime drama, was cancelled by Fox just over nine months ago, and it appeared at the time that it could be rescued by a streaming service or other platform. That wasn’t the case, and while some cast members have moved on, fans aren’t ready to give up on a Season 3 with a petition to salvage the programme. And that petition is getting close to reaching a significant milestone!
The change.org petition, “Save Prodigal Son,” was initiated even before word of the show’s termination in 2021 surfaced. Despite the fact that “ratings have not been outstanding,” committed viewers were still turning in every week to watch what bizarre storylines were going down.
Even though the cancellation occurred in May 2021, the petition is still gathering signatures and is less than 9,000 signatures away from completing the 75,000-signature threshold at the time of writing.
Shows have been saved after cancellation previously, so a Prodigal Son revival would not be uncommon. Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Lucifer, both Fox programmes, were salvaged by NBC and Netflix, respectively, and have proven to be powerhouses on both platforms.
Meanwhile, Netflix and Roku salvaged NBC titles Manifest and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist only last year. Fans’ efforts are sometimes rewarded handsomely, and the fact that “Prodigies” is still alive and well is a true monument to their perseverance.
