NBC crime drama "Aquarius," starring former "X-Files" actor David Duchovny, has been renewed for season two, Deadline Hollywood reported. The show was part of the network's new experiment, which factored in online streaming data when making its decision to order a second season.
"Aquarius" was the first series to be made available to stream in its entirety, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Jennifer Salke, president of NBC Entertainment, said the experiment helped the network better assess its viewership patterns.
"With its riveting drama and innovative release strategy, Aquarius has excited the critics, hooked millions of viewers and energized our summer," Salke said. "It's no secret that the way people watch television is evolving, so we took a unique approach to how we delivered Aquarius and it's driven some record numbers for NBC Digital and helped us reach viewers who might have otherwise overlooked a great summer drama."
Duchovny's character, Sam Hodiak, is a Los Angeles cop hot on the trail of 1960s cult leader and criminal Charles Manson. The period crime series placed second on NBC's most-viewed drama premiere on both NBC.com and the NBC app, trailing behind NBC's other hit series, "The Blacklist," The Wrap reported.
Show creator John McNamara said that he envisioned "Aquarius" running for six seasons.
"I planned out the show in terms of six seasons, and every season is approximately six months," McNamara told the Hollywood Reporter. "If you Wikipedia Manson, he was doing stuff, some of which we portray in the show, and some of which we are making leaps and connecting dots ourselves. He was not inactive. He's a psychopath and we do not shy away from that."
