‘Evil’ Season 2 Making Major Change That Might Upset Some Viewers

Evil creators Robert King and Michelle King were worried about the show’s future when ViacomCBS chose to put the show’s second season on Paramount+ instead of CBS, but now they are jumping at the opportunity for more creative freedom. After learning their show would not be airing on a broadcast network, the Kings, who previously created The Good Wife and The Good Fight, went back to the editing room to add scenes that would be impossible to air on a traditional network. As Robert King told Variety, they are no longer “bound into that 42-minute straitjacket.”

The show’s second season started production in New York City this fall, but CBS never put it on the 2020-2021 schedule. When CBS announced the 2021-2022 schedule, the Kings thought Evil would be there but were surprised to hear from CBS Studios president David Stapf that Evil was being moved to Paramount+. Stapf said this would help “broaden the audience” for Evil. It also meant that Evil wouldn’t have to wait until fall 2021 to return. Instead, Evil Season 2 will premiere on Paramount+ on June 20 and The Good Fight Season 5 on June 24.

The Kings also understood that Evil was never really a good fit for CBS anyway. “Everybody, including us, had been saying, ‘Well, we’re sort of doing a streaming show on the network. Isn’t that peculiar?’” Michelle told Variety. Once the show hit Netflix in October 2020, the streaming-friendly nature of the show became clear.

The first four episodes were already edited when the Kings heard about the venue move. Now, they have gone back to beef up the episodes already completed because they were cut to fit into a 60-minute block with commercials before. They also added in things “to do with language and sexuality,” Robert explained. “We are now editing with Paramount Plus in mind. So it will feel like a streaming show,” Michelle said. “It’s been tough to do sin with network standards.”

Evil is a unique procedural drama by any network’s standards. Katja Herbers stars as Dr. Kristen Bouchard, a forensic psychologist hired by Mike Colter‘s David Acosta, a former journalist studying to become a Catholic priest. The two investigate possible supernatural incidents. Acosta uses hallucinogens to see visions, but he is not sure if they come from his own mind or from God. The rest of the main cast features Aasif Mandvi, Kurt Fuller, Marti Madulis, Brooklyn Shuck, Skylar Gray, Maddy Crocco, Dalya Knapp, Christine Lahti, and Michael Emerson.

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