CBS has renewed summer drama series “Extant” and “Under the Dome” for next year.
Both series hail from Steven Spielberg’s Amblin TV and CBS Television Studios. “Dome” will be in its third season, while “Extant” is heading into its sophomore year.
“Extant” was a big bet for the Eye as it starred Halle Berry in her first TV series role. The series’ live viewing stats in its Wednesday 10 p.m. slot were modest but the cumulative audience via DVR, VOD and streaming made it worthy of a second year. “Dome’s” aud was down from its first season but still averaged a healthy 11 million viewers each week.
As with “Dome,” CBS cut a deal with Amazon Prime to make “Extant” episodes available for streaming four days after each seg premiered on CBS. That extra licensing coin has helped CBS pay for its high-end summer originals.
“We’re committed to delivering our viewers and advertisers year-round programming with a wide variety of storytelling,” said CBS Entertainment chairman Nina Tassler. “We continue to see summer as a great place for unique concepts, innovative business models and passionate television audiences.”
There’s no word yet from CBS on the fate of summer drama “Unforgettable,” which wrapped its third season last month. “Reckless,” a legal sudser that delivered underwhelming numbers, has been canceled.
Next year, the CBS summer drama sked will include the new entry “Zoo,” based on the James Patterson sci-fi thriller.
“Dome” is based on the Stephen King tome of the same name. King and Spielberg exec produce with showrunner Neal Baer, Amblin’s Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank and former DreamWorks CEO Stacey Snider.
“Extant” was the brainchild of tyro TV writer Mickey Fisher. Fisher, Spielberg and Berry exec produce with showrunner Greg Walker, Amblin’s Falvey and Frank and Brooklyn Weaver.
