Jeff Bridges Just Got Some Tough Career News

Jeff Bridges just received some pretty tough news. Deadline reports his FX series The Old Man has been canceled after two seasons. Bridges starred on the action thriller as Dan Chase, a former CIA operative and Vietnam veteran who goes into hiding after an intruder breaks into his home. After renting a room from Zoe McDonald, the two are forced to go on the run together.

Starring an ensemble cast that also includes John Lithgow, Alia Shawkat, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Amy Brenneman, Navid Negahban, and Jacqueline Antaramian, The Old Man premiered in June 2022 and became the most-watched cable series premiere since January 2021. It was also the most-watched FX series debut on Hulu during its opening weekend. Despite the high ratings and positive reviews, it just wasn’t enough to keep it going.

The Old Man, which is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Perry, was just nominated for three Critics Choice TV Awards, including Best Drama Series, Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Bridges, and Best Supporting Actor for Lithgow. Bridges was also nominated for the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, while cinematographer Sean Porter was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (One Hour), both at the 2024 Emmy Awards.

The reason for the cancellation is unknown, but production has not made it easy to get the show off the ground. The first season, which started filming in 2019, had just three episodes left of its seven-episode season when production shut down at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Production resumed in late 2020, and Bridges had to leave soon after when he was diagnosed with lymphoma. The show briefly stayed in production to film scenes from the remaining episodes that did not feature Dan Chase, with production eventually resuming in February 2022 as Bridges’ cancer went into remission in September 2021.

News of the cancellation comes less than two months after Season 2 wrapped airing. The eight-episode second season premiered on Sept. 12 and concluded on Oct. 24. As of now, it’s unknown if the show is being shopped around. Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine created The Old Man, and they also serve as executive producers alongside Dan Shotz, Warren Littlefield, Jon Watts, Bridges, David Schiff, Craig Silverstein, Ann Johnson, and Graham Littlefield. 20^th Television was the producing studio with Quaker Moving Pictures and The Littlefield Company.