It’s FX’s day at the Television Critics Association press tour, which, as always, brings with it a load of news about new shows (Louis C.K. and Zach Galifianakis are developing a comedy for Galifianakis to star in), new deals (the FX Now streaming app is finally ready to launch, if your cable system cuts a deal with FX), and on returning shows. On the latter case, the biggest news was official confirmation that “Justified” will end after next season, the show’s sixth. (The second episode of the fifth season airs tonight at 10; I’ll have a review up later, but it’s a good one.)
In the middle of his executive press conference (Fienberg has all the details on it in his live-blog), FX president John Landgraf called “Justified” one of his favorite shows, and would have gladly kept the show around for several more seasons. Instead, creator Graham Yost and star Timothy Olyphant said they felt the story was winding down.
“We talked about it a year ago and they felt that the arc of the show, and what they had to say, would be best served by six seasons instead of seven,” Landgraf said, “so regretfully I accepted their decision.”
Yost, Olyphant and the rest of the “Justified” gang will also be here for a panel, and I imagine they will have a lot more to say about the decision then. But I’m fine with it. “Justified” is one of the best shows on TV, but for the most part, TV shows shouldn’t run forever, and too many shows in this golden age suffered from sticking around past their creative expiration date. If Yost and Olyphant think they’ve only got one more year of good stories after this one (just as Terence Winter apparently felt about “Boardwalk Empire,” which will end after its next season), I trust them.
What does everybody else think? Sad our time in Harlan is running out, or do you agree we’d be risking diminishing returns if it ran much longer?