#Clarice: Cancelled Soon? Season Two on Paramount+ Looking Doubtful for CBS Series

(Photo: Brooke Palmer/CBS)

It looks like Agent Starling will be turning in her badge. Last month, it looked like the Clarice TV show, was poised to move from the CBS network to the Paramount+ streaming service (along with SEAL Team and Evil) for its second season. Now, Deadline reports it’s looking more likely that the show will be cancelled instead.

Based on The Silence of the Lambs, the Clarice TV series stars Rebecca Breeds, Michael Cudlitz, Lucca de Oliveira, Kal Penn, Nick Sandow, Devyn Tyler, and Marnee Carpenter. The series is a deep dive into the untold personal story of FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Breeds) as she returns to the field in 1993, one year after the hunt for serial killer Buffalo Bill (Simon Northwood). Brilliant and vulnerable, Clarice’s bravery gives her an inner light that draws monsters and madmen to her. However, her complex psychological makeup — which comes from a challenging childhood — empowers her to begin to find her voice while working in a man’s world. It also helps her begin to escape the family secrets that have haunted her throughout her life.

Airing on Thursday nights, the first season of Clarice is averaging a 0.33 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 2.88 million viewers.

It’s CBS’ lowest-rated scripted series of the season so cancellation by the network wouldn’t come as much of a surprise. The series has been a solid performer on Paramount+ however.

MGM Television, who produces the series with CBS Television Studios, and Paramount+ (owned by CBSViacom) had been in negotiations for Clarice to be renewed for a second season on the streaming service. Now, negotiations have reportedly broken down with each side supposedly blaming the other. MGM being acquired by Amazon is supposedly not a factor in the deal going south.

Due to the show’s low ratings and the fact that CBS already has a full slate of series 2021-22, there appears to be no viable path for Clarice’s survival.

What do you think? Have you watched the Clarice TV show on CBS? Would you watch season two on Paramount+ or some other platform?