‘Designated Survivor’ Season 3 Date Announced at Netflix

Designated Survivor will be back for its third season — its first at Netflix — on Friday, June 7, TVLine reports. The Kiefer Sutherland-led political drama was rescued by the streaming giant after it was canceled at ABC last year.

“Creatively, we’ve had a lot of behind-the-scenes churn on the show in terms of the number of showrunners involved,” then-ABC entertainment chief Channing Dungey explained after announcing the cancellation. “We were less confident with the creative path forward than the other shows we brought back.”

Fans will notice plenty of new faces come season 3. Neal Baer (ER) will be the showrunner for the 10 episodes of season 3, and ER alum Anthony Edwards will recur as Mars Harper, President Tom Kirkman’s likable chief of staff. Lauren Holly (Picket Fences) will recur as Lynn Harper, Mars’ wife who suffers from an opiate addiction as a result of a back injury.

Additionally, Julie White (Nurse Jackie) will play campaign manager Lorraine Zimmer; Benjamin Watson (The L.A. Complex) will recur as Dontae Evans, the West Wing’s new Digital Officer who doesn’t shy away from doing his part as a gay black man to keep Kirkman’s administration on issues that affect African Americans and LGBTQ people. Elena Tovar (General Hospital) is also new to the lineup, playing the White House’s director of social innovation.

Season 3 will find President Kirkman (Sutherland) campaigning to stay in the White House. The season will reportedly explore the current real-world atmosphere surrounding political campaigns, smear tactics, debates, campaign finance and “fake news.”

Aside from Sutherland, the season will see the return of stars Kal Penn, Adan Canto and Italia Ricci.

“We are so excited that Designated Survivor is coming back for the third season, largely in-part because fans of the show really petitioned for its return,” Sutherland said in a message posted to Twitter when news broke of the series’ return.

In a statement, executive producer Mark Gordon also addressed the renewal: “The continuation of the show via Netflix is a win-win for all involved. The story of President Kirkman and those around him has not been fully told and we look forward to working with our new partner in continuing the show for a global audience.”

The second season reached a tense conclusion as Emily (Ricci) handed in her resignation following her recent negative actions fueled by her ambition for power. Kirkman’s fate was left in limbo after he announced he would be running for president as an independent, and then received a call that will reveal whether he will be facing criminal charges after a federal investigation.