Halle Berry's "Extant" is cancelled by CBS after two seasons, Entertainment Weekly reported. The cancellation isn't much of a surprise since the Stephen Spielberg-produced sci-fi drama has struggled to gain ratings since its debut July 2014.
"Extant" opened to 9.58 million viewers, but the season closed out to only 5.45 million viewers. For season two, the rating plummeted with only 5.2 million viewers when it debuted and 4.5 million viewers for the season finale.
"Extant" starred Berry as an astronaut who returns to earth carrying an alien offspring. The drama went through a major reinvention by cutting original characters Camryn Manheim and Goran Visnjic and adding actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan to the cast.
Despite the cancellation, Berry isn't out of a job. The network announced that the 49-year-old Oscar-winning actress has teamed up with CBS to produce the upcoming legal drama, "Legalease."
"CBS, Halle Berry and the producers have decided to conclude the 'Extant' story after last season's exciting and fitting conclusion," Glenn Geller, CBS Entertainment president, said about the show's cancellation, according to EW.
He added, "'Extant' played an important role in expanding CBS' lineup of original scripted programming in the summer. We are proud of the show's success on the network, as well as its popularity on Amazon Prime Video. We also want to thank the incomparable Halle Berry for her commitment and support for the series, and look forward to working with her on our next project together."
Berry's new drama centers on a biracial lawyer from Chicago who follows a case to New Orleans, "where she finds herself partnering with a white attorney while working in a very particular justice system that will ultimately expose the biases we all harbor," EW confirmed.
The drama will be penned by the "Good Wife's" Steven Lichtman and also produced by Dan Thomas and Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas.
"I am so proud of what we accomplished on 'Extant,'" Berry said in a statement. "This season seemed such a natural place to end Molly's journey that I, along with CBS, felt it best served the story to leave it there. I've loved this experience working with such a talented cast and creative team. It was my first foray into episodic television, and I'm excited to continue my relationship with CBS, producing more compelling stories through my 606 Films production banner."
The cancellation news comes shortly after CBS axed "Under the Done" after three seasons. CBS has renewed freshman drama "Zoo."
