CBS' Ransom Renewed For Season 2 After Everyone Thought It Was Cancelled

cbs ransom luke roberts as eric

While one of the hottest current TV trends involves revamping older shows (and movies) for modern audiences, we're down to see more from the "renewing shows that were previously cancelled" approach. The most recent series to get un-victimized in such a way is CBS' drama Ransom, which was renewed for Season 2 after initially getting its plug pulled back in May. It likely didn't involve any ransom letters, either.

Without a whole lot of major fanfare involved, CBS announced this week that Ransom wouldn't be spending its future known as a one-and-done series, and that Season 2 was ordered and production is set to kick off in Hungary. No specific dates have been noted for either the production start or the eventual release, but fans can expect to see Season 2 hitting the broadcast network's schedule in 2018. Barring future changes, the second season will also be told in 13 installments, the same as Season 1. It's noted in the announcement that further details would be coming soon, so we'll likely know a bit more about Season 2 in the near-ish future.

Kicking off on New Years Day proper, Ransom was something of a risk for CBS, as it was the first scripted series in quite a few years to air on Saturday evenings. To be expected, Ransom didn't exactly blow ratings expectations away with that non-coveted primetime slot, but it regularly brought in over 3 million viewers an episode on the night, even if the actual key demo rating for adults 18-49 regularly hit lower than 0.5, which is usually indicative of a death knell.

And as such, it was in the next month that CBS seemingly cemented the decision to cancel Ransom along with Training Day (which had its own tragic problems). But Ransom wasn't just a CBS show, as it was also co-produced by Canada's Global, France's TF1, and Germany's RTL. And it was unofficially revealed a few months ago that Global and TF1 were both interested in keeping this drama going for at least one more season, with only RTL definitively pulling away from the project.

Based in part on the world-renowned crisis negotiators Laurent Combalber and Marwan Mery, Ransom was created by David Vainola and The X-Files' writer-producer Frank Spotnitz. It stars Luke Roberts as the criminal-thwarting Eric Beaumont, with Sarah Green starring as Maxine, his second banana. Nazneen Contractor and Brandon Jay McLaren also star.

We likely won't know any pinpointed dates for Ransom's Season 2 release, but at least we know it's coming in 2018. (That is, until another report later reneges on this and offers up new info.) Until we find out updates, be sure to head to our fall TV premiere schedule to see everything that's hitting the small screen for the rest of the year.

While one of the hottest current TV trends involves revamping older shows (and movies) for modern audiences, we're down to see more from the "renewing shows that were previously cancelled" approach. The most recent series to get un-victimized in such a way is CBS' drama Ransom, which was renewed for Season 2 after initially getting its plug pulled back in May. It likely didn't involve any ransom letters, either.

Without a whole lot of major fanfare involved, CBS announced this week that Ransom wouldn't be spending its future known as a one-and-done series, and that Season 2 was ordered and production is set to kick off in Hungary. No specific dates have been noted for either the production start or the eventual release, but fans can expect to see Season 2 hitting the broadcast network's schedule in 2018. Barring future changes, the second season will also be told in 13 installments, the same as Season 1. It's noted in the announcement that further details would be coming soon, so we'll likely know a bit more about Season 2 in the near-ish future.

Kicking off on New Years Day proper, Ransom was something of a risk for CBS, as it was the first scripted series in quite a few years to air on Saturday evenings. To be expected, Ransom didn't exactly blow ratings expectations away with that non-coveted primetime slot, but it regularly brought in over 3 million viewers an episode on the night, even if the actual key demo rating for adults 18-49 regularly hit lower than 0.5, which is usually indicative of a death knell.

And as such, it was in the next month that CBS seemingly cemented the decision to cancel Ransom along with Training Day (which had its own tragic problems). But Ransom wasn't just a CBS show, as it was also co-produced by Canada's Global, France's TF1, and Germany's RTL. And it was unofficially revealed a few months ago that Global and TF1 were both interested in keeping this drama going for at least one more season, with only RTL definitively pulling away from the project.

Based in part on the world-renowned crisis negotiators Laurent Combalber and Marwan Mery, Ransom was created by David Vainola and The X-Files' writer-producer Frank Spotnitz. It stars Luke Roberts as the criminal-thwarting Eric Beaumont, with Sarah Green starring as Maxine, his second banana. Nazneen Contractor and Brandon Jay McLaren also star.

We likely won't know any pinpointed dates for Ransom's Season 2 release, but at least we know it's coming in 2018. (That is, until another report later reneges on this and offers up new info.) Until we find out updates, be sure to head to our fall TV premiere schedule to see everything that's hitting the small screen for the rest of the year.

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.