It has not been a good summer for Kiefer Sutherland. First, Netflix canceled his show Designated Survivor and now he was forced to cancel the remainder of his tour. When he is not acting, he is singing and selling out venues all over the World. At least until now and explained why he regrettably had to pull out of the last three shows.
Sadly I slipped on the steps of the bus whilst travelling to Denmark and seriously injured a rib, making it difficult to breathe and impossible to sing. Regretfully, I will not be able to perform the last 3 shows of our tour but have every intension of making up these shows up in September / October when we return. I am so sorry for any inconvenience
that I have caused to the fans who have bought tickets. I will do everything I can to make it up to you.
Thank you for your understanding
Kiefer, you might not be a designated survivor anymore, but you still are a survivor. Get well soon!
Last year, ABC cancelled Designated Survivor and then Netflix picked it up for a third season in September. Today, they announced that they too are cancelling the show. Even though we will not get any more new episodes, the old ones will continue to stream for years to come.
Netflix said this about the cancellation, “We’re especially thankful to star and executive producer Kiefer Sutherland, who brought passion, dedication and an unforgettable performance as President Kirkman. We’re also grateful to showrunner/executive producer Neal Bear for his guiding vision and steady hand, creator/executive producer David Guggenheim and EPs Mark Gordon, Suzan Bymel, Simon Kinberg, Aditya Sood and Peter Noah along with the cast and crew who crafted a compelling and satisfying final season.”
However, the news is not really a surprise. Kiefer Sutherland is busy with his musical career, Kal Penn has a new show on NBC and Italia Ricci is expecting her first child.
Last year, I was OK with the show getting the ax, but this season I am going to miss it. It was as thrilling as the first half of season one when the show was really enjoyable. At least we got one more season.
You know if Netflix keeps cancelling the shows I watch, I might have to cancel them.
When ABC cancelled Designated Survivor last year, I was not that upset about the cancellation. When I heard that Netflix picked up for a third season, I was like that is nice. Maybe I will watch it. Then I saw the trailer for it, and I was like this looks totally amazing. I am so going to watch the show about Kiefer Sutherland becoming President when everyone else in the government was killed except for him.
The third season is centered around President Kirkman (Sutherland) running for President for real as a third party candidate. The season starts off with him losing it at the State of the Union and the results are disastrous. Luckily, Mars Harper (Anthony Edwards), his new Chief of Staff, is there to steer him in the right direction. Not only that the White House Press Secretary Seth Wright (Kal Penn) always finds a way to get the press to talk about him and not his boss.
Meanwhile, as all of that is going on in DC, Emily Rhodes (Italia Ricci), Kirkman’s most loyal employee even before he became POTUS, is in Florida by her dying mother’s side. Seth calls her up and tells her she needs to return to DC to help out Kirkman. She begrudgingly agrees and winds up staying there. Asking her mother to come live with her during her final days. This storyline is so brilliantly acted out by Ricci, she will make you cry harder than she did when she was the one with cancer on Chasing Life.
Kirkman needs a really good campaign manager to help him do the impossible, win the race as a third party candidate. He picks Lorraine Zimmer (Julie White) as the woman to lead his campaign. She will do anything to win, and I do mean that. She will ask Kirkman and his staff to do things they don’t agree with in order to win. She is a tough lady who really uses the ability to curse. Now that the show is not on broadcast television they can say words that they could not say before.
Yes, that is right, there is cursing and a lot of it. It feels natural and gives the show a whole new dynamic with the writing. It is something the drama needed and we did not know it until now.
Back to the show. Besides dealing with the contentious election against Kirkman’s Conservative Secretary of State Cornelius Moss (Geoff Pierson), the show, as it has in the past, will take on current hot topic issues. Throughout the season, they are going to tackle marriages between a minor and an adult, opioid abuse, transgenderism, being HIV positive and undetectable, helping an undocumented child who needs a transplant, assisted suicide, finding out you are the father because you were a sperm donor in college, being proud of your heritage, nuclear threats, domestic terrorism with biochemical warfare and so much more.
And yes, the season ends with us finding out who will be the next President of the United States.
While the show is not as much about the heart that it had the first season, it is still there. Except for this time around Kirkman finally found his balls. He is not being pushed around like he used to be thanks to the strong people around him. He is still the president I want. Can Sutherland run in 2020? If Canuck Ted Cruz could run in 2016, so can fellow Canadian Kiefer Sutherland with the writers of the show writing his presidency for him! Totally realistic right?
The show has a much different feel, one that makes you glad it is bingable. Like a good book, you will want to watch it all in one sitting. You cannot even wait two minutes to find out what happens next.
Why is does the show feel different? Besides being on Netflix and being able to swear, Neal Baer (ER, Law & Order: SVU) took over as EP (something that was always the plan). He helped to make this show more realistic and got rid of the over the top, unnecessary conflicts for the White House to deal with. Those storylines took away from the premise of the show which is about being President when you are not supposed to be. This show is now about a President running the country and running to keep his job.
Whether you have watched the show from episode one or this will be the first time you have seen it, you are going to be hooked from minute 1 of the third season. This is what saving a cancelled show is all about. Thanking the fans for saving it by making it even better.
The best thing about conventions is they reunite actors who might not have seen each other in over 30 years. Recently Corey Feldman reunited with Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric, and it was the first (and probably the last time) they have been in the same room in 32 years. You know, since their iconic film came out.
Just when I thought that a Frog brother could get along with some vampires, I found out I thought wrong. I guess they will always be mortal enemies. Too bad Lost Boys never got the sequel it truly deserved.
ABC impeached Designated Survivor and Netflix elected to give it a third season. Today, they released the first trailer for the new season, that begins streaming on June 7th, and I am blown away. Just like all the elected officials, but President Kirkman, were in the pilot episode.
Designated Survivor had a great first half season, but then they changed showrunners a few times and the show was not about his presidency. Instead, it was about conspiracies and attacks. It lost its heart.
It does not look like it will be like it was when it was great. However, it might be even better because it looks like an engaging political thriller.
Kiefer Sutherland plays the President like one America desperately needs. Too bad he is Canadian. But if Ted Cruz can run, why can’t he?
