Constantine’s production has been halted at 13 episodes, Deadline reports, but it may not be gone for good.
While NBC recently made a similar decision on freshmen comedy series Bad Judge and A to Z, I hear the circumstances are different. While Bad Judge and A to Z had been de facto cancelled, Constantine remains in contention for a second-season renewal.
NBC had to make a decision whether to keep Constantine in continuous production with little ratings information. While the series began production on a standard fall premiere production schedule, its launch was delayed until late October when NBC’s Friday genre block usually debuts, so the network had to make a call whether to order additional episodes after only four episodes had aired vs. at least seven, which is the norm for freshman series.
The Flash and Gotham, which debuted earlier, already have full season orders. Constantine ratings had been inching upwards, so it isn’t a hopeless case. That said, I am still dreaming of seeing the ghostly white flesh of The Spectre someday, so do the right thing, NBC!