The Bastard Executioner creator Kurt Sutter announces show's cancellation via an ad

By Stephanie Topacio Long Updated November 18, 2015

the bastard executioner kurt sutter cancellation fx episodic — FX Networks

TV series cancellations typically come from the networks themselves, but The Bastard Executioner creator Kurt Sutter decided to deliver the blow himself. After informing his cast and crew, Sutter took out an ad in THR, revealing that “meh” ratings ultimately led to the 14th-century period drama’s demise.

According to Sutter, the writing had been on the wall for a while. Unlike his popular series Sons of Anarchy, TBX‘s audience didn’t swell over the course of its run. Instead, the show lost more than half of its audience within the first six weeks on air, so Sutter and FX Networks CEO John Landgraf eventually sentenced it to cancellation. The final episode of season 1, which aired on November 17, is the last of the series.

Interestingly, Sutter shared that he didn’t get “the official word” that TBX had been canceled, but he took out the ad knowing that the show wasn’t doing well in terms of numbers. “[The ad] was about letting folks know what a great experience I had, and how proud I was of them,” Sutter told THR.

While there have been other shows that have survived cancellations by jumping networks, TBX likely won’t be one of them. “I don’t write in a vacuum … I like an audience,” said Sutter. “I don’t want to write something that nobody’s f—ing watching.”

Moving forward, Sutter already has multiple projects in the works. Not only will he be producing a Sons of Anarchy spinoff based on the Mayans motorcycle club, he has a movie and two TV ideas that he hopes to bring to fruition. Sutter didn’t share much about the potential series, but he did say that there would be “no horses involved” this time around, and it will shoot on U.S. soil.

Topics

Stephanie Topacio Long

Contributor

Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…

Entertainment

The best animated movies on Netflix right now

A cat points a bat at another cat in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

While Nimona has been the big Netflix original animated film of the summer, it's far from the only addition to the lineup. Netflix is making sure that animation fans are well served in August with the first two Despicable Me movies, Bee Movie, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2. However, Netflix's biggest recent addition is one of 2022's biggest animated hits: DreamWorks' Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Netflix's deals with Sony Pictures Animation, DreamWorks Animation, and Universal Pictures have given it a powerhouse library of animated films. And that's before we even get into Netflix's impressive originals like The Sea Beast. To help you keep track of what's new and what you can stream right now, we've updated our list of the best animated movies on Netflix.

Entertainment

From Barbarella to Howard the Duck: the 7 cheesiest sci-fi movies ever

Howard the Duck in "Howard the Duck."

The science-fiction genre has a vast smorgasbord of cheesy films stretching way back to the early days of cinema. Such pictures are known for their weird stories, unrealistic dialogue, low-budget productions, and exaggerated acting.

While many of these films have been panned by critics and audiences alike, some of them have garnered success for being "so bad, they're good." Whether or not they have been held up by a dedicated fan base, these seven movies stand out as the cream of the cheesy sci-fi crop.
Flash Gordon (1980)

Entertainment

10 best Batman stories ever, ranked

Batman Year One cover

Bounding from rooftop to rooftop, the Dark Knight never misses his mark. He operates like a well-oiled machine tracking bad guys, beating them to a bloody pulp, and throwing them in the slammer - or Arkham Asylum should they be anyone of Gotham's notable supervillains. As the brainchild of Bob Kane and Bill Finger, an artist and writer duo, Batman has been pounding the pavement of Gotham ever since his debut in Detective Comics in 1939. He's undergone a number of changes since his original conception ultimately becoming the brooding powerhouse we know today.

Most understand the basic tenants of Batman these days. His parents were murdered before his young eyes leading him down this path of personal vindication and pursuit of justice. Batman, in most iterations, never resorts to killing -- the one crime that separates his outlaw vigilante operations from the real criminals. Of course, it wasn't always that way. In Batman's earliest days, he had no qualms about ending the lives of baddies on the streets. Even now, some stories and films like Tim Burton's gothic take on the character depict him looking on with cold and uncaring glares as criminals meet their end. Regardless, Batman is mostly a well-established hero simply seeking justice and there are countless stories of the Caped Crusader. Let's take a look at the best among them.
10. Hush