Bad news for fans of ABC Family’s new supernatural mystery Ravenswood. According to a report in Deadline, ABC Family has decided not to renew the Pretty Little Liars spin-off for a second season.
This puts an end to the adventures of Caleb, a mysterious curse, and his new ghost friends. It also means the show’s winter finale, which aired on February 4, will also double as the show’s series finale.
It’s a surprising move for ABC Family, since Pretty Little Liars is arguably the channel’s flagship show and Ravenswood was helmed by the same talent which made Liars a social media phenomenon. Still, perhaps the writing was on the wall for Caleb and pals as soon as the ratings started to lag.
Although the show premiered to an impressive 2.1 million viewers behind the Pretty Little Liars Halloween special, by its January premiere the show had dropped to 1.7 million viewers. Compared with the 3.2 million viewers lead-in Pretty Little Liars was attracting, it was obvious Ravenswood wasn’t garnering the kind of attention the brass at ABC Family were counting on.
While Ravenswood perhaps still needed some time to mature creatively, it’s a surprising move for ABC Family to pull the plug on a show in its infancy, especially from the powerhouse producers behind the massively popular Liars. It also seems particularly unfair to Ravenswood given the crazy scheduling the show received, since it aired only five episodes in it’s initial run, and then another five for its winter return.
The cast and crew took to Twitter to express their sadness and gratitude for their time on the show:
Limitless thanks. pic.twitter.com/nVmjfPVErN
— Joseph Dougherty (@Kockenlocker) February 15, 2014
Adieu, Ravenswood. Endless gratitude to all of you who supported us along the way. It was a fun ride! Now onto the next. 😘
— Nicole Anderson (@HeyItsNicoleA) February 15, 2014
RIP #Ravenswood An amazing experience shared with wonderful ppl!Grateful 4 the opportunity! Thx 4 all the support! x pic.twitter.com/ARsJH2kuio
— Merritt Patterson (@merrittpattrsn) February 16, 2014
Yes. The news is true about @RavenswoodABCF, i had such an amazing time and experience. Thank you all. I love you.
— brett dier (@Brettdier) February 15, 2014
Thanks so much for all of your support. We had fun. We grew our family. We told our story. Well at least part of it. Love you guys. Xo
— I. Marlene King (@imarleneking) February 15, 2014
Sad about #Ravenswood. It’s hard when so many invest so much. It was a fun ride, if brief. http://t.co/L5vQuIG6Ag
— Norman Buckley (@norbuck) February 15, 2014
Now the biggest question remaining is whether Tyler Blackburn’s Caleb will return to Pretty Little Liars to resume his relationship with Hanna. Since many fans were sad to see him go this season, it seems like it would be a no brainier to bring him back into the fold, but so far there’s been no news.
What do you think? Will you miss Ravenswood? Sound off in the comments!
(Image courtesy of ABC Family)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
