Canceled CBS Drama Set to Make Surprise Return on OWN

The CBS legal drama All Rise might live on at another network. Three months after the show was canceled, Oprah Winfrey‘s network is reportedly in talks to order a third season. Former Luke Cage star Simone Missick led the series’ ensemble cast as the idealistic Los Angeles Judge Lola Carmichael.

After CBS canceled the show in May, OWN parent company Discovery and AT&T’s Warner Media announced plans to merge. All Rise was produced by Warner Bros. Television, but the talks remain complex, sources told Deadline Friday. The other issue is that not every actor might return, as cast options all expired in June. Warner Bros. TV started fresh talks with Missick and other actors, including Jessica Camacho, J. Alex Brinston, and Wilson Bethel. OWN and Warner Bros. TV representatives did not comment.

All Rise was created by Greg Spottiswood and centered on the lives of judges, prosecutors, and public defenders at a Los Angeles courthouse. At the start of the series, Missick’s Lola Charmichael is a former prosecutor and newly appointed judge. Bethel starred as Deputy District Attorney Mark Callahan, while Camacho played public defender Emily Lopez. Brinson played the bailiff Deputy Sheriff Luke Watkins. Ruthie Ann Miles, Lindsay Mendez, Marg Helgenberger, Lindsey Gort, Audrey Corsa, and Reggie Lee rounded out the main cast.

If All Rise were to return, the show would have to overcome a series of controversies that arose after the first season aired. First, it was reported that some members of the show’s writing staff left in protest of Spottiswood’s depiction of race and gender. Staff members also filed complaints with Warner Bros. Television’s human resources over Spottiswood’s leadership, but the studio still kept him on the show. They brought on an African American female corporate coach to help him. In March, Warner Bros. TV fired Spottswood over misconduct allegations.

After Spottiswood was fired, Dee Harris-Lawrence took over sole showrunner duties. Harris-Lawrence would likely return if All Rise gets a third season, alongside executive producers Len Goldstein and Michael Robin reports Deadline. Harris-Lawrence also has a track record at OWN, as she is also the showrunner for David Makes Man.

“The characters of this show were always going above and beyond to fight for what’s right and I’m taking that with me. All my love and respect to the wonderful cast, the hardworking crew, and the bad— writers,” staff writer Lucy Luna tweeted after All Rise was canceled. “I want to echo [Luna]. My admiration, love, and respect to this hardworking cast, crew & badass writers of [All Rise] this season,” Harris-Lawrence tweeted. “Determined to tell [important] & impactful stories through a pandemic, with a diverse cast, headed up by a Blk Female Judge. The 1st on [CBS].”