Fans watching the La Brea Season 3 finale are wondering if the show was canceled and, if so, why NBC ended the series. Will we get more seasons or spinoffs? Here’s everything you need to know.
Was La Brea Canceled after season 3?
La Brea’s end was announced in November 2023, when it was confirmed that the abbreviated Season 3 will conclude the series.
La Brea began its mystery narrative with 10 episodes in Season 1. Following that, Season 2 got a 14-episode order, but Season 3 was shortened as it ended with just 6 episodes.
In November 2023, NBC pulled the plug on Season 4 as it confirmed that Season 3 would be the final one. So, creator and showrunner David Appelbaum got the opportunity to end the story by providing closure to all the leading characters.
Why was La Brea Canceled?
NBC has not officially revealed any singular reason for ending La Brea, but it was likely canceled due to a drop in its ratings and high expenses.
As per ShowBuzzDaily, La Brea premiered with a rating of 6.37 million viewers and ended the season with 4.94 million viewers. But by the time Season 2 ended, the viewership dropped to 1.77 million viewers. The viewership numbers increased in Season 3 as it got to 2.42 million. But that wasn’t a significant enough increase for the show to be brought back for Season 4.
Furthermore, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that La Brea was the most expensive series filmed in Victoria, Australia. So, NBC could have canceled it due to a combination of its viewership numbers and its high budget.
Could there be more seasons of La Brea?
More seasons of La Brea aren’t confirmed to happen at the moment. But its spinoffs have been teased by the showrunner.
We may not see another season of La Brea until some other network or streaming service picks it up. But when asked by Deadline about its end, creator Appelbaum revealed that he does have a few ideas for spinoffs. He said:
“I do have ideas. It’s something that I have thought about as the show was going along. So it’s always been something in my mind. But particularly as we got to the end of Season 3, I definitely put thought into where it could go if I had the opportunity.”
He continued:
“I would take some of the core cast members and a brand new cast, and put them into a new adventure in 10,000 BC. I think [with] any version of it, I’d want the show to be an adventure in 10,000 BC and have a family story at the center of it. But I would like to explore new characters and new dynamics.”
It’ll be interesting to see if a new set of actors are transported to 10,000 BC in a La Brea spinoff in the future.
For more entertainment updates, look at the Deadpool 3 Easter Eggs. Also, watch the latest trailers for Universal’s Twisters and Wicked: Part One.