We thought Nashville was finally put to rest after limping along on ABC for four seasons. But its passionate fanbase and Lionsgate Television have refused to accept a terminal diagnosis, and are trying to give it new life on CMT for a fifth season. You think Connie Britton is psyched?!
One Jezebel staffer said, “This may just be my insane theory,” and so now we’re exploring it. Connie Britton tweeted a peaceful message of love at the finale of Nashville on May 25:
In an interview on The View, Britton again seemed to have made her peace with Nashville’s cancellation and was excited to talk about new projects:
But as Britton was tweeting a sweet farewell, the producers were pinning this business at the top of their Twitter feed:
The Hollywood Reporterrevealed Lionsgate’s talks with CMT on Tuesday, who already have syndication rights on the first three seasons. Lionsgate TV chairman Kevin Beggs has even said that their determination to find a place for Nashville to land after ABC influenced the finale, which was something of a cliffhanger:
“There’s a little short-term pain but ultimately long-term gain because we intend and are quite focused and are in substantive and serious conversations with multiple buyers about continuing the show on another platform… If we didn’t feel that was going to happen, we might have gone a different way.”
“The ending we ran was the ending always envisioned for this season,” said Beggs. “These things are crafted over weeks and months. In our estimation, to go with a quickly assembled too-easy wrap-up is more of a disservice to the fans who have invested four years in this great cast and these great stories. And there’s more stories to tell.
“We’re not looking to write ourselves into a corner, and actually wrapping up stories in a somewhat saccharine way is the worst box you can put yourself in.”
No boxes or labels like “cancelled,” please. Who knows what’s going on in the mind of star and producer Connie Britton, but in all these talks she sounds like the ex who says, “Sure, we should totally get a drink sometime. I’ll call you, Nashville.”
