Netflix keeps Designated Survivor alive

Designated Survivor stars Kiefer Sutherland

Streaming giant Netflix has ordered a 10-episode third season of political drama Designated Survivor following its cancellation by US network ABC.

The SVoD service, which had international streaming rights to the first two seasons of the Kiefer Sutherland-starring series, will revive it as a Netflix Original, four months after ABC cut the show from its line-up.

Designated Survivor features Sutherland as a lower-level cabinet minister who suddenly becomes president after an attack on the US Capitol during the State of the Union. In the third run, Sutherland’s president is campaigning for re-election and battling the issue of so-called fake news.

The Entertainment One (eOne)-produced third run will land on the streamer in 2019 and will no longer have production input from ABC Studios, with which the first two seasons were produced.

The series was created by David Guggenheim and was originally produced by The Mark Gordon Company, which eOne bought in 2015.

eOne’s Neal Baer (ER) will assume showrunning duties for season three, taking over from Keith Eisner and becoming the show’s fifth showrunner overall. Baer will exec produce with Guggenheim, eOne’s Mark Gordon, Sutherland, Suzan Bymel, Simon Kinberg, Aditya Sood and Peter Noah.

“The continuation of the show via Netflix is a win-win for all involved,” said Gordon. “The story of President Kirkman and those around him has not been fully told and we look forward to working with our new partner in continuing the show for a global audience.”

Sutherland added: “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to play President Kirkman for season three of Designated Survivor with Netflix, eOne and Neal Baer. I believe this format will allow us to continue to delve deeply into storylines and issues concerning the American electorate that were not previously possible.”

In related news, Netflix has ordered a comedy special from actor and comedian Wanda Sykes. The hour-long special will launch globally in 2019 and will be produced by Sykes’ and Page Hurwitz’s shingle Push It Productions, which is dedicated to creating comedy-based programming for network, cable and digital outlets.

Read more about eOne in C21’s premium Global Distribution Pro season article here.