If you missed the stunning news earlier tonight, NBC has opted against ordering a Magnum PI season 6. It is news that goes in contrary to a lot of the buzz out there, and it already seems like the writers’ strike is going to get unfairly blamed for this. The networks and streaming services could have ended that weeks ago if they stepped up to the plate; this seems to be more of a consequence of limited streaming rights and the network not wanting to extend cast deals across a period of great uncertainty.
So what we want to focus on here is more of a question that we know a lot of people out there still have — is there any chance that the show gets picked up again for another season somewhere else? Could NBC save it after canceling it themselves? It is worth noting that the live ratings were still solid enough, and we don’t get the sense that this decision was easy.
In this case, though, we think the best case scenario is honestly NBC changing their minds more so than it is some other network coming out of nowhere. A semi-procedural like this is built more for network TV than it necessarily is streaming and while you could say that Peacock would have an incentive due to the rights it has, financially there may just not be enough of a push to make things happen there. A lot of networks are probably going to hesitate to make a move in general until the strikes are over, and that complicates things further.
Also, and as we discussed earlier today, it’s even harder for another network to pick the show up when NBC is still committed to the second half of season 5. It means that it would take a long time for a season 6 to air, and that’s without even thinking about when they would film.
Other than a possible about-face from NBC, there honestly just aren’t that many other apparent solutions out there. Showrunner Eric Guggenheim even seems to allude to as much on Twitter, suggesting that “all things must end.”
Yet, even still…
Never say never. It’s always a good thing to have hope, and you never know what could happen in the future — so long as the audience is still there and a network is interested.
