Syfy 'Helix' Canceled
Helix will not live to see a third season.
Syfy has opted to cancel the drama after two seasons, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The Sony Pictures Television drama, starring Billy Campbell, hailed from executive producers Steven Maeda and Ron Moore, and finished its sophomore run earlier this month.
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The drama revolved around Centers for Disease Control pathologist Dr. Alan Farragut (The Killing‘s Campbell) and his estranged ex-wife, Dr. Julia Walker (Kyra Zagorsky), after they’re sent to the Arctic to investigate a mysterious disease outbreak.
The drama concluded its second season with an average of 563,000 total viewers — with its ultimate series finale scoring a series low of 440,000 total viewers. That’s down from its record-breaking freshman run, which saw the series set live-plus-3 DVR records when its 1.8 million total viewers grew to 2.8 million. That helped set records among the key adults 18-49 and 25-54 demographics.
The decision to cancel Helix comes as Syfy has been making a concerted effort to focus on high-profile science fiction programming, including 12 Monkeys — already renewed for a second season — and big-swings The Expanse and Childhood’s End. The NBCUniversal-owned cable network also has drama series Hunters (from The Walking Dead EP Gale Anne Hurd) due in 2016 and a slate of dramas that also includes Olympus, Defiance, Haven, Z Nation and Dark Matter, among others.
On the pilot side, The Magicians is inching toward a series order, while its Ben Affleck– and Matt Damon-produced drama Incorporated was recently picked up.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
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