Designated Survivor to return on Netflix following ABC cancellation

Kiefer Sutherland on Designated Survivor.
(Image credit: Designated Survivor on ABC)

Designated Survivor is the latest canceled TV show to be revived by a streaming service.

ABC axed the Kiefer Sutherland-starring political thriller back in May due to low ratings. Four months later, Netflix has decided to pick it up for a third season, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Wednesday.

Don't expect the show to be quite the same when it makes the transition to streaming, though. For one, the third season is only going to consist of 10 episodes, whereas season one and season two had 21 and 22 episodes, respectively. The showrunner is also being replaced, with veteran ER scribe Neal Baer taking over for Keith Eisner.

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The third season, which will premiere sometime in 2019, will evidently deal with timely topics like "fake news" and campaign finance. Under this deal, Netflix will also be able to stream the first two seasons beginning this fall; at the moment, the show is only available to Netflix subscribers outside of the U.S. and Canada. Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.