Designated Survivor has once again fallen victim to an abrupt cancellation, but this time, it’s with Netflix. The series which stars Kiefer Sutherland as a low-level cabinet secretary who ends up being chosen as the President of the United States, first aired as an ABC drama series but was canceled after two seasons. Last September, Netflix revived the show for a third season which received quite the reception from fans and critics alike.

“We are proud to have offered fans a third season of ‘Designated Survivor,’ and will continue to carry all three seasons for years to come,” Netflix said in a statement. “We’re especially thankful to star and executive producer Kiefer Sutherland, who brought passion, dedication and an unforgettable performance as President Kirkman. We’re also grateful to showrunner/executive producer Neal Bear for his guiding vision and steady hand, creator/executive producer David Guggenheim and EPs Mark Gordon, Suzan Bymel, Simon Kinberg, Aditya Sood and Peter Noah along with the cast and crew who crafted a compelling and satisfying final season.”

The news comes just after Sutherland himself had expressed his doubts over Designated Survivor being renewed for a fourth season.

Speaking to Simon Mayo on Scala Radio, The actor revealed that the political drama series might not get a renewal due to contract complications due to the show being on Netflix.

“I don’t think [season 4] is going to happen,” he said. “We had an amazing experience with Netflix and a kind of freedom that was wonderful. But the reality is, because the contracts were so complicated and different from network television to Netflix, they didn’t book a lot of the actors who were on the show and they took other jobs. I don’t blame them for a second for that. So I think doing a season 4 would be very complicated and difficult.”

The cancellation of Designated Survivor would surely leave fans heartbroken, especially since the third season ended on a cliffhanger and left a lot of plot points unexplored. Unfortunately, it seems like the reason behind its cancellation doesn’t have anything do with the third season although some expressed that it didn’t hold up to the first two seasons.

What do you think of the cancelation? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Variety