Fox Exec Breaks Silence on Surprising Show Cancellation

Fox execs are weighing in on the cancellation of freshman series Rescue HI-Surf.

Despite speculation that the expense of filming on location in Hawaii caused Rescue HI-Surf to be wiped out by the network a month after its Season 1 finale, it was the ratings that actually marked the beginning of the end for the lifeguard drama.

Rescue HI-Surf averaged 2.8 million total viewers with delayed playback during its freshman series, putting it in fourth place out of the seven dramas Fox aired this season over Accused, Alert: MPU and The Cleaning Lady.

“We went all in on two shows last season — HI-Surf and Doc, and we’re so proud of the success of Doc,” Michael Thorn, President of Fox Television Network and Fox Entertainment, told reporters Sunday, as per TV Line. “Unfortunately, HI-Surf just didn’t catch on like we had hoped.”

Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade added that it “certainly wasn’t the locale or the budget” that played a role in HI-Surf‘s cancellation, adding, “It just didn’t quite grab the audience.”

“We love our partnership with John Wells and Warner Brothers [Television], and hope to do more with John and are doing more with Warner Brothers,” Thorn added, “but [Rescue HI-Surf] just didn’t resonate with our audience the way we needed to be able to return it.”

Rescue HI-Surf wrapped its first season on a cliffhanger as Adam Demos’ Will told Arielle Kebbel’s Em that he was going back to Australia. Meanwhile, Sonny (Robbie Magasiva) forced Vince (Moronai Kanekoa) to resign after learning he had been dealing drugs as Laka (Kekoa Kekumano) was promoted to lieutenant.

Fans were concerned that Will didn’t give a timeline for his return to Hawaii, but showrunner Matt Kester told TV Insider that if the show was renewed for a Season 2, Demos would be back.

“I love me some Adam Demos,” Kester said. “I hope the audience does, too. He’s incredible. He’s a really good actor. We love working with him. Yeah, we’ll definitely be having Adam back.”