Fox Cancels ‘Deputy’ With Stephen Dorff After One Season

FOX is hanging up the badge of one of its freshman dramas, as Variety reported on Friday that the network had canceled the Stephen Dorff led Deputy. The one-hour drama, which originally premiered in January, centered on a career lawman who stepped into the position of acting sheriff of Los Angeles county after his predecessor died suddenly. The show was created by Will Beall and was produced by Entertainment One, with FOX serving as a co-producer.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Deputy did not enjoy positive reviews during its 13-episode run. The outlet reported that the FOX drama has a 40 percent and 57 percent rating amongst critics and viewers, respectively, on the site Rotten Tomatoes. The series wrapped its television run on March 26, with its Season 1 finale now serving as a series finale. THR reported that Deputy‘s cancellation has nothing to do with the current industry-wide shutdowns amidst the coronavirus crisis.

THR additionally reported that star Dorff had recently come off of a successful run on True Detective prior to his time on Deputy. Dorff, who was also an executive producer on the show, reportedly received upwards of $250,000 per episode (plus executive producing fees) for Deputy. Back in January, the True Detective alum even spoke about his role on the FOX series, particularly noting that the character he played, Bill Hollister, was full of spontaneity.

“This is a guy that’s starting to like his position of power because he can, in a smart way, use that power to do the right thing,” Dorff told Collider. “That’s what people out in the real world are gonna start to love about him, as opposed to the guy who’s in a position of power, that’s going to the meetings and doing the things he’s supposed to do.”

“I like that spontaneity is him. I think that’s what makes it fun and unique, as opposed to just, ‘Oh, he’s the sheriff and he’s gonna meet the mayor. Next week, he’s gonna meet the governor and go to this dinner party.’ Hell no! If there’s a f—ing bank robbery going down and he doesn’t have his car, he’s gonna ride his horse down there and go get them. He’s an animal,” the actor added. “That’s been fun to play. I’ve never really played a guy like that. He says what he wants to say, and he says things he shouldn’t say sometimes. He’s not always politically correct, in the office of the sheriff. He’s an anti-hero and an interesting guy.”