Starz has opted not to renew J.K. Simmons-starring drama Counterpart for a third season. The Feb. 17 Season 2 finale of the sci-fi espionage thriller, from creator/executive producer Justin Marks and executive producer Jordan Horowitz, will be its series finale on Starz. Counterpart producer MRC is currently shopping the show to streaming platforms.
"Justin, Jordan, J.K. and the entire cast and crew delivered a beautifully executed series," Carmi Zlotnik, President of Programming at Starz, said in a statement to Deadline. "It was a pleasure working with this team on two seasons of expert storytelling brought to life by best-in-class performances across the board."
I hear Starz made its decision not to proceed with the series beyond its original two-season order in late December/early January. The cast extended their options until Feb.1 to give MRC, which is said to believe strongly in the show, time to find a new home. The actors' options have now expired, and they are free to get new series jobs, though I hear MRC is still pitching the series to potential buyers in the streaming space.
Marks just confirmed the series' status on Twitter.
"Hey #counterpart fans, a bit of sad news… Starz has decided not to pick up our show for a 3rd season. It's been an absolute dream for this team… we got to make EXACTLY the show we wanted to… perfect cast, perfect crew on 2 continents… and we're so grateful to our network for the time we had…"
Continued Marks, "Thank you to everyone who made this journey so special for us. Your tweets, podcasts, and intricate conspiracy theories have made it all worthwhile. Fingers crossed that our wonderful studio, MRC, can find a way to keep the dream alive! But in the meantime, one more episode until the end of a chapter. See you Sunday!"