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Civil War drama “Mercy Street” is finished after two seasons on PBS



The cancellation comes just a few days after the show wrapped its six-episode second season. The series starred Josh Radnor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead and centered on a hospital in Alexandria, Va., just outside Washington, during the Civil War.

PBS says “the complicated nature of aligning production timelines and funding commitments” contributed to the decision to call it quits for the series.

“We are extremely proud of both seasons of ‘Mercy Street,'” PBS chief programming executive Beth Hoppe says in a statement. “Our talented executive producers, Lisa Wolfinger, David Zabel and David W. Zucker, brought to life an entertaining and historically accurate account of this time, along with the equally talented team of actors led by Josh Radnor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead; the directors, producers and crew who created a visually rich, high-quality series; and our sponsors and partners who helped make ‘Mercy Street’ possible.”

“Mercy Street” performed pretty well for PBS. The first three episodes of Season 2 averaged 6.5 million viewers with a week of DVR viewing added to the night-of audience. (DVR data for the remaining episodes isn’t all in yet.) That’s on par with the premiere of “Victoria,” which delivered 6.3 million viewers over seven days of viewing.

Several members of the cast, including Gary Cole, Jack Falahee and Patina Miller, also have roles on other shows. That may have been part of the “aligning production timelines” issue PBS cited.