CBS's decision to reboot 'The Equalizer' with Queen Latifah as its lead received praise from fans, but is the show coming back or is it canceled?
It's easy to rag on networks and production studios greenlighting the same intellectual properties over and over again. Sometimes the ire is well-deserved — like, did we really need a Josie and the Pussycats movie or a crappy sci-fi war flick inspired by the board game Battleship?
But there's a reason reboots happen: It's because more often than not, people tune in to watch them. But is that the case for The Equalizer? Has CBS renewed the show, or was it canceled?
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Was 'The Equalizer' renewed?
According to TVLine, CBS has renewed The Equalizer for a third and fourth season. Thom Sherman, CBS Entertainment’s Senior EVP of Programming, stated that the show's continued success was due to its winning sum of production elements: "An outstanding cast led by the superb Queen Latifah, plus the exceptional creative team that has continued to evolve their storytelling with a compelling mix of everyday justice, family dynamics and real-world issues that connect and resonate with audiences."
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When does Season 3 of 'The Equalizer' end?
The Equalizer Season 3 will air its finale on May 21, 2023.
So, after 18 episodes, fans will get to see the third season wrap up — or they will have to live with a cliffhanger until Season 4's premiere. All we know for now is that the fourth season of The Equalizer is set to start airing in the fall of 2023.
Meanwhile, Seasons 3 and 4 are helmed by two new showrunners. Per the previously mentioned TVLine report, The Equalizer's co-creators, Andrew W. Marlowe and Terri Edda Miller, are stepping down as showrunners.
Stepping into their shoes are Adam Glass and Joseph C. Wilson. The latter has worked on The Equalizer since Season 1.
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Season 2 of 'The Equalizer' has received mixed reviews from viewers.
TVLine hosted a viewer poll for The Equalizer's Season 2 finale. Roughly 84 percent of voters have graded the finale with an A, with less than 1 percent of voters giving it an F.
However, Season 2 garnered mixed reviews from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes. The season as a whole has earned a score of just 48 percent based on 33 user ratings. While some have called the show "amazing" and "addictive," others have criticized Queen Latifah's acting and have slammed the writers for creating "two-dimensional" characters.
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Meanwhile, Seasons 2 and 3 held steady with viewership between 5 and 7 million people per episode.
CBS is the most-watched cable network on TV in 2023 at time of writing according to Deadline. Other top-watched shows on the channel include Fire Country, Young Sheldon, the NCIS franchise, Blue Bloods, and the FBI franchise.
And so it seems The Equalizer is part of the network's secret sauce, with CBS renewing the show for a fourth season — and we couldn't be more excited to see what the series brings. While we wait for The Equalizer Season 3 finale, you can stream episodes you missed on Paramount Plus.
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