NBC Cancels Mysterious Freshman Series Before Mystery Is Solved

Debris, a rare original science fiction series, was canceled by NBC on Thursday after low ratings for its first season. The series starred Jonathan Tucker, Riann Steele, and Norbert Leo Butz as members of an international task force investigating alien debris. The show's central mystery was not answered at the end of its first 13 episodes and creator J.H. Wyman recently said there was more to the story.

The show's expected cancellation came a few days after its finale aired on May 24. Debris began with mysterious alien wreckage landing across the Western Hemisphere, and the pieces start ruining the laws of physics on earth. CIA agent Bryan Beneventi (Tucker) and MI6 agent Finola Jones (Steele) are assigned to investigate and track down the debris. Meanwhile, Anson Ash (Scroobius Pip), a member of an extremist group, is also searching for the debris for a mysterious reason.

Debris debuted on March 1 and drew a decent audience at the start, but struggled to survive a dip in live ratings, reports Variety. The show averaged under 5 million viewers and a 0.7 18-49 rating in Nielsen Live+7 ratings. Wyman was an executive producer on the show, alongside Jason Hoffs, Jeff Vlaming, and Samantha Corbin-Miller. Lionsgate Television and Universal Television co-produced the series.

Wyman, a veteran of high-concept sci-fi shows including Fringe and Almost Human, told Deadline he hoped the show would be renewed. If it was renewed, Wyman was prepared to tell NBC he had a "five-year plan" for the show. "I think what's great about, as you know, from Fringe, you discover things along the way, and you're like, that's interesting," Wyman said. "It's a little detour that could enhance, and can sometimes hurt you. I see a five-year sort of plan, and I know exactly where it's going to end."

"It would be a disappointment for me personally if the show wasn't renewed, because not only did I take a leap here, but more importantly, audiences took a leap," Tucker told Deadline. "And they have been rewarded over the course of this season, particularly with the last, you know, four or five episodes. So, you know, people are offering their time and their lives, and you want to be able to honor that other side of the agreement. That's why people have generally peeled off from network television onto streamers, because those streamers have made that commitment."

NBC still needs to make decisions on the future of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Good Girls, and Manifest. Some of the shows renewed for the 2021-2022 season include all three Chicago shows, both Law & Order series, New Amsterdam, Mr. Mayor, The Blacklist, Young Rock and Transplant. This Is Us is ending next season, while Brooklyn Nine-Nine will start its last season in the summer.