'Shooter' Canceled After 3 Seasons at USA Network

USA Network is saying an early goodbye to Ryan Phillippe and Shooter.The drama series is currently [...]

USA Network is saying an early goodbye to Ryan Phillippe and Shooter.

The drama series is currently airing its third season, which will now serve as its last on the network.

Since Season 3 began in June, the show has seen a downfall in the ratings. The show is currently averaging a 0.2 rating in adults 18-49 and 738,000 viewers per episode, Variety reports, down over 40 percent in both measures from Season 2.

Universal Cable Productions and Paramount Television, which co-produce the series, are said to be shopping the show for a potential fourth season in another network. Discussions are said to be underway at Paramount Network, though a source told the outlet it is unlikely it will land there.

Season two, which jumped 133 percent in the demo and 96 percent among total viewers, The Hollywood Reporter writes, was cut short by two episodes after star Phillippe broke his leg. That led to a super-sized season three of 13 episodes (up from 10 and eight in seasons one and two, respectively), as the latest and now final season picked up immediately where its sophomore run left off. The upcoming Sept. 13 finale will serve as its final episode.

Shooter is based on the Stephen Hunter book series that follows the adventures of expert sniper Bob Lee Swagger, which inspired the 2007 film Shooter starring Mark Wahlberg.

Phillippe stars in the show as Swagger, a highly-decorated veteran who is coaxed back into action to prevent a plot to kill the President. When Swagger's former commanding officer Isaac Johnson (Omar Epps) solicits his expertise in a clandestine operation, Swagger discovers that he has been framed and must do everything in his power to protect his family and clear his name.

Wahlberg serves as an executive producer on the series via his Closest to the Hole Productions. Stephen Levinson of Leverage Entertainment and Lorenzo di Bonaventura also executive produce along with John Hlavin, who wrote the pilot. Phillippe is also a producer.

The cancellation comes as USA is looking to bolster its originals lineup. The cable network reportedly ordered four projects to pilot back in April, including a cop drama starring Denis Leary and a drama series set in the Jason Bourne universe.

It has been a bloody summer at the network, with both Falling Skies and Colony also getting the axe earlier this month.

After the cancellations USA Network's drama roster now includes Suits, its spinoff series Suits: Second City, Mr. Robot, Queen of the South, The Sinner and Unsolved.

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