Fans Of American Rust Just Got The News They've Been Dreading

The television drama "American Rust," which is based on the novel of the same name by Philipp Meyer, debuted on Showtime on September 12, 2021. Developed by Dan Futterman, the series is set in a small Rust Belt town in Pennsylvania where the chief of police, Del Harris (Jeff Daniels), finds himself investigating a murder. It is revealed that the prime suspect in the case is Billy Poe (Alex Neustaedter), the son of Grace (Maura Tierney), the woman Del loves deeply.

Despite "American Rust" failing to break a million viewers in any of the episodes aired this season, audiences seemed to take a liking to the new drama series (via TVSeriesFinale). On Rotten Tomatoes, the show boasts a fairly high 73% audience score. However, that adequate audience score is sitting next to a not-so-high 28% Tomatometer score. Many critics compared "American Rust" to another recent small-town crime show, HBO's "Mare of Easttown" starring Kate Winslet, with the consensus being the former does not live up to the latter. For example, The Daily Telegraph's review noted, "America's industrial decline is an interesting topic. But 'Mare of Easttown' got there first, and did it way better."

Thus, while "Mare of Easttown" sparked reports of a potential second season, the odds for a continuation of "American Rust" have not looked so good. Now, we have an answer as to whether or not fans of the new series will get more episodes past the nine episodes of the first season — and they won't be too happy.

Fans of "American Rust" are getting the news that they've been dreading. On Tuesday, it was first reported by Pittsburgh's Tribune-Review — and later picked up by larger outlets, including TV Line — that Showtime has officially canceled "American Rust." The news arrived just a few months after the show aired its Season 1 finale on November 7, 2021.

Per the Tribune-Review, a representative from Showtime said in a statement, "We can confirm that 'American Rust' will not be moving forward with a second season. We would like to thank our partners at Boat Rocker, our talented showrunner Dan Futterman and the rest of the wonderful writers, and our amazing cast led by Jeff Daniels and Maura Tierney."

Unfortunately, for the fans who became invested in Chief Harris' (Daniels) investigative work, they will not get to see how his story, as well as the stories of the rest of the town's residents, continues. For those fans who want to relive "American Rust" Season 1 — or intrigued newcomers who are just looking to start the show — all episodes of Season 1 can currently be streamed on Showtime Anytime.