CBS Cancels Drama Series Zoo

After three seasons on CBS, Zoo is coming to a close. The Hollywood Reporter confirms that the network has officially decided to cancel the scripted drama series. 

Based on James Patterson's best-selling sci-fi thriller novel of the same name, Zoo documented a series of violent animal attacks against humans that took place around the world. The main cast featured James Wolk as zoologist Jackson Oz, Kristen Connolly as journalist Jamie Campbell, Nonso Anozie as safari guide Abraham Kenyatta, Nora Arnezeder as French intelligence investigator Chloe Tousignant, Billy Burke as veterinary pathologist Dr. Mitch Morgan, Alyssa Diaz as Dariela Marzan, Josh Salatin as Logan Jones/Edward Collins, and Gracie Dzienny as Clementine Lewis. 

The show was ordered straight to series in the summer of 2014, and was one of the network's more expensive series from there on out. However, it was also the first series under CBS' Under the Dome business model that saw the show stream on Netflix after its seasons wrapped. This allowed Zoo to turn a profit for CBS. 

Produced by Josh Appelbaum (Life on Mars, Star-Crossed), Andre Nemec (Star-Crossed), Jeff Pinkner (Fringe), and Scott Rosenberg (Life on Mars), Zoo drew in an average of 2.65 million viewers during its third season on CBS, a decrease of almost two million viewers from its second season. 

Though CBS pulled the plug on Zoo, it still remains the network's longest-running original summer drama. News of its cancelation comes shortly after the network renewed the Charlie Rowe-led drama Salvation for a second season, which was the only other scripted series that aired on CBS this summer.