FX’s biker drama series Mayans M.C. will return for a fifth season in 2023, according to network officials. 

The series, a spinoff of FX’s 2008-14 Sons of Anarchy series, follows Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes (played by JD Pardo) and the Mayans M.C. charter on the California-Mexico border, according to the network. Also starring in the series is Clayton Cardenas, Edward James Olmos, Danny Pino, Carla Baratta, Michael Irby, Raoul Max Trujillo, Emilio Rivera, Sarah Bolger, Frankie Loyal, Joseph Lucero and Vincent Vargas.

Also: FX Renews 'Atlanta' For Fourth and Final Season

Mayans is executive produced by Kurt Sutter and Elgin James. James broke the renewal news to fans at a panel session at San Diego Comic-Con. 20th Television President Karey Burke said there that James signed a new multiyear overall deal with the Disney-owned studio, which co-produces Mayans with FX Productions.

“The Mayans have battled for respect, territory and power through four intense seasons that have set the stage for an explosive fifth season that will test their very survival under ‘EZ’s’ newly claimed leadership,” Nick Grad, president of original programming for FX Entertainment, said in a statement. “Elgin James and the creative team, the brilliant cast, crew and our partners at 20th Television have kept fans coming back for more and we are ready to take that ride with them for another season.” ■

“There’s a reckoning upon us,” is how FX describes the fourth season of Mayans M.C. as part of a new trailer for the drama series.

The 10-episode season continues to follow the life and exploits of EZ Reyes, his brother Angel and the rest of the Santo Padre MC as they face retaliation from other charters after a failed attempt to consolidate under one leader, according to the network.

JD Pardo stars in the series along with Clayton Cardenas, Edward James Olmos, Danny Pino, Carla Baratta, Michael Irby, Raoul Max Trujillo, Richard Cabral, Emilio Rivera, Sarah Bolger, Frankie Loyal, Joseph Lucero and Vincent Vargas.

Mayans M.C., a spinoff of FX’s Sons of Anarchy, is executive produced by Kurt Sutter, Elgin James and Hilton Smith.

Fx will debut the fourth season of its biker drama series Mayans M.C. on April 19, the network said.

The series, a spinoff of FX’s Sons of Anarchy series, follows the life of Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes, played by JD Pardo, who is a member of the Mayans M.C. charter on the California/Mexican border. 

The series also stars Clayton Cardenas, Edward James Olmos, Danny Pino, Carla Baratta, Michael Irby, Raoul Max Trujillo, Richard Cabral, Emilio Rivera, Sarah Bolger, Frankie Loyal, Joseph Lucero and Vincent Vargas.

Created by Kurt Sutter and Elgin James, Mayans M.C. is executive produced by James, Sutter and Hilton Smith. ■  

FX Friday unveiled a new video for its sophomore drama series Mayans M.C., which returns on Sept. 3.

The series, a spinoff of FX's successful Sons Of Anarchy series, stars JD Pardo as Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes, a prospect in the Mayans M.C. charter who in the series' second season is trying to reconcile with his brother “Angel” (Clayton Cardenas) while searching for the truth behind their mother’s death. Meanwhile, their father “Felipe” (Edward James Olmos) is struggling to lead his sons down a righteous path, according to FX.

The 10-episode second season of Mayans M.C. is executive produced by Kurt Sutter, Elgin James and Kevin Dowling, and produced by Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions.

FX Thursday (July 19) dropped the official trailer for its upcoming drama series Mayans MC.

Mayans M.C. is the next chapter in Kurt Sutter’s Sons of Anarchy saga, FX said. Set in a post-Jax Teller world, Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes (JD Pardo) is fresh out of prison and a prospect in the Mayans M.C. charter on the California-Mexico border. 

Now, EZ must carve out his new identity in a town where he was once the golden boy with the American Dream in his grasp. 

Sons of Anarchy ran on FX from 2008-2014.

If a little “anarchy” at NBC Universo can bring big ratings and new advertising opportunities, the NBCUniversal pay TV network will likely be thrilled.

Don’t worry, clients: Little chaos will come thanks to the impending arrival of Sons of Anarchy.

The hugely successful FX original series about a biker gang has been dubbed in Spanish, and NBC Universo has nabbed the Spanish-language U.S. television cable rights from Twentieth Television.

NBC Universo expects to begin airing all 13 first-season episodes, in Spanish, in early 2017. An air date and time slot have not yet been announced.

Created by Kurt Sutter, Sons of Anarchy is one of FX’s most successful series and one of the highest-rated scripted programs in FX’s history.

"I love that this is finally happening,” Sutter said. “At its core, Sons of Anarchy is a show about family. And the Latino culture, like no other culture I know of, is rooted so deeply in the bonds of family.”

Described as “an adrenalized drama with darkly comedic undertones,” Sons of Anarchy explores a notorious outlaw motorcycle club’s desire to protect its livelihood while ensuring that their sheltered town of Charming, Calif. remains charming. The club must confront threats from drug dealers, corporate developers and overzealous law officers. Behind the bikers’ familial lifestyle and legally thriving automotive shop is a ruthless and illegal arms business driven by the seduction of money, power and blood.

Given the traditional plot lines of the Spanish-language telenovela, the subject matter will likely prove appealing to NBC Universo’s core bilingual and bicultural audience.

“Following the success of The Walking Dead en Español, we are thrilled to take our viewers on another unprecedented wild ride and experience the gritty tough biker world in their own language,” NBC Universo senior vice president of programming and production Joa Bilai Silar said. “We continue to raise the bar by offering audiences alternative quality content with great storylines and offbeat characters that is currently not available on any other Spanish-language cable network.”

Sons of Anarchy features such stars as Katey Sagal, Jimmy Smits and Drea de Matteo. It is executive produced by Sutter, Paris Barclay, John Linson and Art Linson and was produced by Fox 21 and FX Productions. 

RELATED:MCN Original Video: One Question for ... 'Hand of God' Star Ron Perlman

Actor Ron Perlman is no stranger to playing larger-than-life roles, like superhero Hellboy on the big screen and tough biker Clay Morrow on FX’s drama series Sons of Anarchy. In Amazon Studios’ new series Hand of God, premiering this month on Amazon Prime (see Review), Perlman once again tackles a seminal role in the morally corrupt Pernell Harris, a politically connected judge who finds religion — and vengeance — after believing he has heard the voice of God through his comatose son.

Perlman spoke with Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead about Hand of God (read our review), the current state of TV (and streamed) content and his SOA legacy. Here’s an edited transcript.

MCN:Were you concerned thatHand of God, which features a storyline dealing with touchy topics like religion and spirituality, would be shunned by content distributors?

Ron Perlman: I knew we were going to push some buttons — it pushed some buttons for me when I was reading it. But the takeaway is the genius of what [series writer] Ben Watkins was able to thread together. You are really never told what to believe or not believe. What you are watching is somebody who is making these choices based on their own survival. You are brought into this thing and questioning, would I do this, or would I do the same thing this guy is doing given the same set of parameters?

MCN:Do you see any of your personal traits in the character of Judge Pernell Harris?

RP: You bring what you have to bring. The character is not me, but the invention of Ben Watkins. But my job is to make it look like I’m him, so I have to constantly look inward to see what’s in myself that can be useful in depicting this guy. A lot of it is imagination, because there are things about this guy that I’m not even close to in real life, but that’s the fun of being an actor — taking something that’s abstract in real life and making it look like he’s been here all along.

MCN:How influential was Amazon in the creative process ofHand of God?

RP: Amazon has been a phenomenal entity to collaborate with because they recognized how dangerous this project was, and, rather than trying to compromise it, they embraced the uncomfortableness and the boldness of it. So on that level I’m in love with them because they have balls. No. 2, they gave us huge amounts of resources to make as good a show as we could. They seem to be real fans of what we were doing. They have been as forthcoming and creative as an executive organization has ever been, and I’ve been lucky enough to participate in a few of them. FX was phenomenal in that way too.

MCN:Judge Harris is a little different than Clay Morrow, your character in FX’sSons of Anarchy. Were you surprised at the long-term success and popularity ofSOA?

RP: I think we all were. I’ve been at it longer than any of the others at Sons — I’m in my 40th year in professional acting — and I know for a fact that that was the biggest success I ever enjoyed. It was the biggest game-changer, in terms of going around the world and being recognized and people wanting to have their picture taken with Clay. So it had to be the same for all the other guys. For most of us it will never get better. It really hit a nerve.

MCN:At this point in your career, would you rather do television shows or movies?

RP: The reason I was so insistent on finding another television show after Sons was that I really believe that we are now living in the most exciting period in television. First came the [premium] cable channels, which opened up the conversation — with HBO and Showtime you could show nudity, say anything and deal with any subject; then came the basic-cable channels with almost as much [creative] expanse. Now Hulu, Netflix and Amazon have come around. All of these new players have created a world in which the only thing that can get you market share to compete with what the other guys are doing is to be more original. Whenever you’re in a situation like that in a creative medium, that’s where you want to be, and television is there right now. I think in 10 years it will burn out and they’ll manage to [mess] it all up like they do everything else, but for right now that’s where we’re at, and that’s why I was so insistent on hopping from one TV show to another, because I knew I would never find that originality anywhere else.

MCN:Are you working on any other projects?

RP: Actually, in defiance of that reality, I’m in the process of launching my own movie studio. We have four movies in production now that I’m producing and three or four movies in pre-production. That’s the tail that wags the dog for me — I’m a movie freak. The fact that the movie business is in the state that it’s in right now, I take that kind of personally. I feel that has more to do with market forces, which are [weak] reasons to kill a distinguished art form. So, I’m starting this movie studio because it’s too beautiful to turn away from and see if we can make some nice movies that get a little resonance.

The final season of FX’s Sons Of Anarchy finished as the most watched of any network show with Live +3 ratings, according to network officials.

The seventh-season of the biker drama averaged 7.5 million total viewers and 5 million adults 18-49, upending season six of the series, according to FX. The Dec. 9 final episode of the series delivered 9.2 million viewers (Live +3) and 6 million adults 18-49, 2.8 million adults 18-34 and 6.2 million adults 25-54, said network officials.

The premiere airing of the episode garnered 6.4 million viewers and 4.2 million among adults 18-49 accordng to Nielsen. 

FX’s post-show series Anarchy Afterward delivered 4 million total viewers and 2.69 million adults 18-49, said network officials.

Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products and retailer The Great Frog are celebrating the final season of Sons of Anarchy, with a hand-carved, sterling silver, three ring collection, available for purchase Nov. 20.

Finished in Great Frog’s flagship store in London, the jewelry collection will be available in the retailer's stores around the world, at thegreatfroglondon.com and at Sons of Anarchy website. The three rings will be individually numbered and range from $200-$350 with a certificate of authenticity.

“Sons of Anarchy has popularized an aesthetic that we have been championing since 1972, and we feel honored that we were chosen to design and produce officially-licensed jewelry, hand-made to our exacting standards in our London workshop and sold throughout the world," said Great Frog's Reino Lehtonen-Riley in a release.

The FX series is in the middle of its seventh and last campaign, with the finale to air on Dec. 9. 

The Sons of Anarchy cast will make their first joint talk show appearance on TBS's Conan Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 11 p.m., the network announced today.

Stars Charlie Hunnam, Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Smits, Drea de Matteo, Mark Boone Junior and series creator, Kurt Sutter are set to appear, and more guests will be announced.

Produced by Conaco LLC, Jeff Ross serves as the executive producer on Conan. 

Conan has featured the entire casts from the hit shows Orange Is The New Black, The Walking Dead, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Breaking Bad as well.

AMC’s juggernaut drama series The Walking Dead continued to outpace ESPN’s Monday Night Football telecast for top ratings honors among cable shows last week.

The Walking Dead drew 15.1 million viewers for the second episode of its fifth season this past Sunday, outdistancing the 12 million viewers ESPN drew for its San Francisco 49’ers-St. Louis Rams Oct. 13 MNF telecast, said network officials.

The Walking Dead’s numbers were down from the cable record 17.3 million viewers the series devoured during its Oct. 12 seaon five premiere, which that week beat out ESPN’s Oct. 6 Seattle Seahawks-Washington Redskins MNF telecast.

ESPN was the most watched cable network for the week of Oct. 13 to Oct. 19, averaging 2.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen. TBS finished second with 1.9 million viewers for the week, followed by Fox News, Disney Channel and USA Network, all tied with 1.7 million viewers.

Nickelodeon and Disney Channel finished in a tie for first place on a 24-hour basis with 1.2 million viewers as both kids-targeted networks continue to roll out Halloween-themed programming. ESPN and Adult Swim followed close behind with 1.1 million viewers each, according to Nielsen.

Most Watched Cable Shows For The Week Of Oct. 13 – 19

DateShowNetwork Total Viewers

10/19    The Walking Dead                                        AMC                 15.1 million

10/13    Monday Night Football: 49’ers-Rams        ESPN                12.7 million

10/14    MLB Playoffs – Royals-Orioles                   TBS                     6.0 million

10/19    Talking Dead                                                 AMC                    5.1 million

10/15    MLB Playoffs – Giants-Cardinals                FS1                     5.0 million

10/16    MLB Playoffs – Giants-Cardinals                FS1                     4.8 million

10/15    American Horror Story: Freak Show           FX                       4.5 million

10/14    Sons Of Anarchy                                            FX                       4.4 million

10/19    NASCAR Sprint Cup                                    ESPN                  4.3 million

10/15    MLB Playoffs – Royals-Orioles                   TBS                      3.9 million

Source: Nielsen

Expanding on its Watchathon initiative, Comcast is providing its video subscribers with a week-long opportunity to catch up on some of the best that cable has to offer via live viewing and an array of on-demand fare.

The Free Channel Week extends from Sept. 22 and Sept. 28 and affords Xfinity TV Digital customers unlimited access across myriad devices to thousands of TV shows and movies from more than 30  channels.

The programming play, aimed at providing sampling and ultimately customer acquisition, encompasses Encore, A&E, AMC, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Food Network, FX, History, Lifetime, Movieplex, MLB Network, National Geographic Channel, Nick Jr., Sprout, Sundance, Syfy, TNT, TBS and USA Network, among others.

The initiative, which builds on Comcast’s highly successful Watchathon on-demand gambit by adding live viewing to the mix, will give Xfinity customers a chance to reacquaint themselves with or watch some of cable’s most successful programming for the first time during broadcast’s premiere week, including AMC’s zombie hit, The Walking Dead, FX’s biker skein, Sons of Anarchy, and TNT’s summer hit, The Last Ship.

Free Channel Week also has kids (and parent) appeal with access to Nick Jr.’s Paw Patrol and Disney XD classics like Lab Rats and Phineas and Ferb, while sports fans can check out the final week of the 2014 baseball season’s pennant chases, via coverage on MLB Network.

The nation’s leader distributor provided details about Free Channel Week on its "Comcast Voices" blog.

The final season ride of Sons of Anarchy began with the biggest telecast in FX history.

The biker drama, after drawing 6.2 million total viewers on Sept. 9 for its 10 p.m. premiere on a live+ same-day basis, added some 3 million watchers on a live+3-day gauge to push the total count to 9.25 million. FX said that is most any single telecast has drawn in network history, including live+7 delivery.

Adding in encores, Sons of Anarchy scored 10.62 million viewers, including 6.92 million watchers ages 18-to-49 on a live+3 basis. 

Year to date, the show ranks as cable’s number two scripted series, behind The Walking Dead and ahead of Game of Thrones, as seventh-season premier posted more than a 33% gain in viewers over the show's sixth season average, and 11% over last season's debut.

The after-show, follow-up, Anarchy Afterword, featuring host Chris Franjola and guests Kurt Sutter, Charlie Hunnam and Katey Sagal, aired for the first time live in its entirety on FX  (from 11:50 p.m.-12:30 a.m) and delivered 3.98 million total viewers and 2.59 million adults 18 to 49, making it the fourth-ranked program of the day in the demo.

Anarchy Afterword dates are:

September 30 (After Episode Four) – Online and FX

October 21 (After Episode Seven) – Online and FX

December 2 (After Episode 12) – Online and FX

December 9 (After Series Finale) – Live on FX

Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner has been entertaining television viewers for the more than three decades since he burst on the scene as teenager Theo Huxtable in the 1980s megahit sitcom The Cosby Show. The 44-year-old actor has most recently turned his acting efforts to cable with a role as a Special Investigative Services lieutenant on TNT’s top crime series, Major Crimes, and as a biker-gang member in FX’s drama Sons of Anarchy.

Multichannel News programming editor R. Thomas Umstead caught up with Warner to discuss the veteran actor’s career, as well as to talk about television’s diversity efforts both in front of and behind the camera. An edited transcript follows.

MCN: You’re well known for your comedy roles, particularly as young Theo Huxtable onThe Cosby Show. Has the transition from doing comedy shows to cable drama series been difficult for you?

Malcolm-Jamal Warner: No, I always jump at the chance to do something different, and the whole single-camera world is the kind of a place where I want to be. So, the transition has been pretty cool, and because I’ve been doing some guest spots on onehour shows, it’s kind of given me a chance to exercise some of my drama muscles.

MCN: How has the industry changed in terms of the roles that you’re getting? You have not been typecast as a child actor, or certainly have not suffered through the transition from a child actor to an adult performer that some actors have. What’s your secret?

MJW: Well, I think I was very clear and very vocal all throughout the show on Cosby that I didn’t want this show to be the end-all and be-all of my career. So I was very aware of the typecasting issue that could possibly arise. Even during Cosby, I always sought out work and characters that were different from Theo.

I’ve done a lot of theater, doing characters that were different from Theo, because I was always clear that I could plant the seed in people’s minds that there was more to me than just that character. And longevity was something that my mother had really impressed upon me, literally, during season one of the show. So for a lot of my teenage years, I grew up with this maniacal obsession with not wanting to be one of those “Where Are They Now?” kids.

MCN: When you were onThe Cosby Show— a show that featured an African-American family — it was one of the biggest shows on television. As we’ve gone through a number of decades since, do you think television has become better in terms of reaching out to African-American viewers with content that appeals to them, or have we gotten away fromThe Cosby Showmodel and are not seeing that type of broad-reaching show anymore?

MJW: I think it’s a little bit of both. I do think it’s very much so the latter, and that may be hard to swallow, but we probably will never have a show like that again. I also think that given the dumbing down of America all across the board and entertainment being so spread out, I think the industry has definitely reached out and satisfied a lot of the voices that have a want.

As black people, we are multifaceted, so there are a ton of people who love, let’s say, Tyler Perry-type entertainment, and those voices are being heard, and that demand is being supplied. I think for people who may have different interests, we don’t necessarily make our voices heard enough and make that demand loud enough for it to be supplied, if that makes sense.

MCN: It definitely does. There are a lot of African American-targeted shows out there that don’t necessarily rise up to the quality in content thatThe Cosby Showpresented during its run.

MJW: At the same time, we also have to look at whether there are [predominantly] white shows that are living up to that as well. I’m really interested to see how it comes out because television’s different and the television viewing audience is different. And I also think a lot of what’s happening on television is because there are so many outlets. Television, just like the record industry, is not making the kind of money that it was making before. So, I think … and again, in an attempt to supply the demand that’s being heard … television’s kinda trying to reach that. The problem is that there’s so much stuff on cable, Netflix and Amazon that a paradigm shift is happening, so it’s almost like everybody’s desperate and grasping for straws, trying to grab whatever viewers they can grab.

(Pictured is Malcolm-Jamal Warner -- photo credit: Mary Lou Sandler of www.cubestudios.com)