Here's why SYFY's Z Nation was cancelled after five seasons. Before The Walking Dead, the idea of a zombie TV show becoming a major hit seemed unlikely. The zombie movie genre had been largely dormant when it was given a major shot in the arm with 2002's 28 Days Later and Resident Evil, and it wasn't long until the hordes were on the march again in every medium. The Walking Dead graphic novel by Robert Kirkman was ripe with potential for a TV show, with The Shawshank Redemption's Frank Darabont coming on board to direct the pilot and act as showrunner.
The Walking Dead has since grown to become a huge franchise, spawning multiple shows, video games and even upcoming movies. One thing the show has been routinely criticized over, however, is its relentlessly dour and grim tone. Life in an actual zombie apocalypse is unlikely to be much fun, but the series' commitment to the darkness has turned some viewers off over the years. On the other side of the spectrum is Z Nation, a zombie show that debuted on SYFY back in 2014.
While Z Nation had its share of shocking deaths, such as Lost star Harold Perrineau originally being sold as the star but whose character is dead by the end of the first episode. Z Nation lacked the budget of The Walking Dead but made up for that with a demented sense of fun, and never took itself too seriously. Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin even cameoed as a zombie version of himself during the second season.
Z Nation was never a huge ratings hit either but it did respectable business for SYFY - which is why fans were heartbroken to hear of its season 5 cancellation. When it comes to the reasons why the series was canned, it might have something to do with the fact the network tends to cap all their shows at five seasons max, likely due to the raising costs involved with continuing.
Z Nation fans could at least take solace that when it was cancelled production was already underways on the prequel show Black Summer. This depicted the origins of the outbreak seen on Z Nation, though the tone of the two shows are quite different. The series will return for at least one more season too, though the possibility of characters from Z Nation crossing over has been all but ruled out.
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