Prodigal Son will not see a third season on Fox. The network called the cancellation “an incredibly difficult decision.”

“We loved the show, which was one of the most imaginative and intricate dramas on broadcast,” said a Fox spokesperson. “But, unfortunately, it did not draw as strong of a response from viewers as we had hoped.”

The drama follows Malcolm Bright, a criminal profiler with a knack for getting inside the heads of murderers. He picked up this skill from his father, Dr. Martin Whitly, a serial killer known as The Surgeon. 

Tom Payne played Malcolm Bright. Michael Sheen was Dr. Martin Whitly. Bellamy Young portrayed Jessica Whitly and Lou Diamond Phillips was Gil Arroyo. 

Season two began in January. Prodigal Son airs its finale May 18. 

Berlanti Productions produces the show in association with Warner Bros. Television and Fox Entertainment. Chris Fedak & Sam Sklaver created Prodigal Son, and are executive producers, showrunners and writers on the series. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Adam Kane executive produce. 

Fox added, “We want to thank our partners at Warner Bros. Television and Prodigal Son’s incredible cast, producers and crew, including Michael Sheen, Tom Payne, Bellamy Young, Lou Diamond Phillips, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Halston Sage, Aurora Perrineau, Frank Harts, Keiko Agena, Chris Fedak, Sam Sklaver, Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter.”

B&C has partnered with always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv to bring you a weekly chart we call Promo Mojo: exclusive data showing the top five TV promos ranked by ad impressions. Our data covers the seven-day period through Jan. 10.

On the strength of 351.7 million TV ad impressions, an NBC promo for the Ted Danson sitcom Mr. Mayor takes first place.

Traditional broadcast networks also grab the next three slots in our ranking, with CBS hyping Clarice in second and Fox promoting Prodigal Son in third as well as 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star in fourth. Closing out the top 5: an NFL promo — in partnership with CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN — for NFL Football.

Notably, the NFL spot has the highest iSpot Attention Index (138) in our ranking, meaning viewers were on average highly likely to watch it all the way through (vs. interrupting it by changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV).

1) Mr. Mayor, NBC

Impressions: 351,683,038

Interruption Rate: 1.61%

Attention Index: 97 (3% more interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 85%, Local 13%, VOD/OTT 2%

In-network Value: $3,538,887

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $1,176,141

2) Clarice, CBS

Impressions: 336,808,128

Interruption Rate: 2.15%

Attention Index: 99 (1% more interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 97%, Local 2%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $7,615,717

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $0.00

3) Prodigal Son, Fox

Impressions: 292,033,094

Interruption Rate: 1.41%

Attention Index: 108 (8% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 93%, Local 6%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $2,365,088

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $1,896,851

4) 9-1-1 | 9-1-1: Lone Star, Fox

Impressions: 256,059,209

Interruption Rate: 1.28%

Attention Index: 95 (5% more interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 96%, Local 3%, VOD/OTT 1%

In-network Value: $375,497

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $3,140,350

5) NFL Football, NFL

Impressions: 255,337,553

Interruption Rate: 1.26%

Attention Index: 138 (38% fewer interruptions than avg.)

Imp. Types: National 98%, Local 2%, VOD/OTT 0%

In-network Value: $20,727

Out-of-network Est. Spend: $10,645,172

*Data provided by iSpot.tv, TV Ad Measurement for Disruptive Brands*

Impressions - The total impressions within all US households including National Linear (Live & Time-shifted), VOD+OTT, and Local.

Attention Score - Measures the propensity of consumers to interrupt an ad play on TV. The higher the score, the more complete views. Actions that interrupt an ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV.

Attention Index - Represents the Attention of a specific creative or program placement vs. the average in its respective industry. The average is represented by a score of 100, and the total index range is from 0 through 200. For example, an attention index of 125 means that there are 25% fewer interrupted ad plays compared to the average.

Imp. Types - Impression types tracked include National (Live + Time-shifted), Local, VOD & OTT. See below for further details.

In-network Value - Estimated media value of in-network promos.

Out-of-network Spend - The estimated amount spent on TV airing time for this promo's spots during a given date range.

National: Live - A national promo which was viewed during live linear television broadcast or same day, via DVR or on-demand.

Local - A promo that was aired during a local ad break slot.

VOD - This includes promos that run in on-demand content past three days (i.e. do not contain the linear promo load)

OTT - On-demand streaming content (i.e. Hulu, Roku, Fire TV Stick, Chromecast).

The Masked Dancer debuts on Fox Sunday Dec. 27. Featuring masked celebrities showing off their dance moves, the spinoff of The Masked Singer, inspired by a segment on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, is hosted by Craig Robinson. The panel includes Ken Jeong, Paula Abdul, Brian Austin Green and Ashley Tisdale. 

After its premiere, The Masked Dancer shifts to Wednesdays starting Jan. 6. 

Comedies Call Me Kat and Last Man Standing start on Fox Sunday, Jan. 3. Hell’s Kitchen premieres Jan. 7, The Resident and Prodigal Son debut Jan. 12, and 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star get rolling Jan. 18. 

Call Me Kat stars Mayim Bialik, who executive produces with Jim Parsons and Darlene Hunt. Bialik plays a woman who struggles every day against society and her mother to prove that she can still live a happy and fulfilling life despite being single at 39.  

After their Sunday premieres, Call Me Kat and Last Man Standing shift to Thursdays. It will be season nine of Last Man Standing, and its final one. Tim Allen stars. 

It will be season 19 of Hell’s Kitchen. Chef Gordon Ramsay takes the show to Las Vegas for the first time. 

It will be season four of The Resident, showcasing the daily heroism of today’s healthcare workers. Matt Czuchry and Emily VanCamp star. 

Prodigal Son starts season two. Tom Payne plays a criminal profiler and Michael Sheen plays his father, a notorious serial killer. 

9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star will have back-to-back season premieres Jan. 18. Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear created the shows. 

Fox has renewed Prodigal Son for season two. The show is about a psychologist with a gift for understanding how serial killers think, because his father was one. 

Tom Payne plays psychologist Malcolm and Michael Sheen plays his father Martin, who is known as The Surgeon. 

“From the moment Prodigal Son premiered, fans have been captivated by the astounding performances turned in by Tom Payne and Michael Sheen, as they go head-to-head in one of most unique family relationships on television,” said Michael Thorn, Fox Entertainment president. “Adding to these searing dynamics are the equally compelling portrayals from Bellamy Young, Lou Diamond Phillips, Halston Sage and the entire cast in a brilliant premiere season as told by Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver.  We’d like to thank our friends Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter, and everyone at Warner Bros. Television for helping make a series that left everyone wanting more, and we’re thrilled to have Prodigal Son return for our 2020-21 slate.”

Prodigal Son averages 8.9 million total viewers in multiplatform audience. 

Berlanti Productions produces the show in association with Warner Bros. Television and Fox Entertainment. Chris Fedak & Sam Sklaver created the show, and are executive producers, showrunners and writers on the series. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Adam Kane executive produce.