‘Under the Dome’ season 3, ‘Extant’ season 2 approved,
Two of CBS’ summertime dramas will be back for additional seasons, likely in 2015 as the network announced Thursday that they picked up the Stephen King-inspired Under the Dome for a third season, while the Steven Spielberg-produced, Halle Berry led Extant will be back for Season 2.
“We’re committed to delivering our viewers and advertisers year-round programming with a wide variety of storytelling,” said Nina Tassler, Chairman, CBS Entertainment, in the announcement.
“We continue to see summer as a great place for unique concepts, innovative business models and passionate television audiences.”
Dome dipped in ratings from the incredible June 2013 debut, drawing 13.5 million total viewers and a 3.3 demo rating. Season 2 premiered to a more modest 9.4 mil/2.1, while its finale drew 7.5 mil/1.8.
Both shows had additional viewing on Amazon’s Prime Instant Video for four days after episodes aired on CBS. The network got a reported $900,000 per episode for the deal.
Dome executive producer Neal Baer previously told Assignment X that he has a plan for three to five seasons.
“We have great adventures ahead,” he said. “We’ve set it up so we can keep going. We have a lot of stories left to tell.”
Baer added to Digital Spy recently that the ultimate ending is “in flux.”
“It changes as the show continues. I don’t really know [how it ends] – we have certain ideas that we can do, but it’s in flux.”
He had said previously that they knew how the show would end and that it was different from the book.
Extant premiered this past June to 9.6 million viewers and a 1.6 rating, but by its Sept. 17 finale — and following some schedule-shuffling — had slipped to 5.4 mil/1.0.
CBS hasn’t announced a premiere date for either show but based on the first two seasons, Dome will kick off season 3 in late June 2015 as Extant will try to find a permanent home on the schedule.
