After lighting up the screen with 1.6 million viewers for its first episode, Channel 7 confirmed today that they will not be renewing their 1800’s bushranger drama Wild Boys. The show will see out it’s 2011 season.
After launch the show settled around 900,000 viewers per episode, however it did constantly face stiff opposition in the 7:30pm Sunday timeslot winning it irregularly. For any other network the ratings for Wild Boys would have been sufficient to call for at least another season, however given the dogged push by Channel 7 to remain number one after so long languishing in second place it would seem unless the show was a consistent timeslot winner it isn’t worth the expenditure.
The cancellation leaves fans in the lurch, as all 13 episodes of the series are through the production cycle and ready to go to air (only two remain). Whatever cliffhanger resolution was planned for the start of season two will be left to the ages.
It was a bold move to commission the series that cynics say was a knee-jerk reaction to Channel 9’s Underbelly franchise plans to deliver a period drama story for it’s 2011 franchise entry . Wild Boys was a rare PG-rated drama series that the whole family could watch: minimal sexual innuendo; larrakin humour; stories drawn from Australia’s rich bush history. This writer hopes it doesn’t send the wrong message to an Australian drama industry already constricted by cost and copycat ideas – that you must have sex/nudity/overt violence (or vapid, self absorbed baby-boomers/Gen Y’s) to be deemed “successful”. The story is still key and Wild Boys proved it could deliver a well-constructed, threaded storyline.
The demise of Wild Boys is best summed up by Dan MacPherson, who played the lead role of Bushranger Jack Keenan. He offered this to his twitter followers this afternoon:
I want Wild Boys to have a Season 2 and more. Please run the show again. My only 1 hour I stop everything for. Please don’t cancel it.
Channel 7 please reconsider the cancellation of Wild Boys. This is one of the few Australian shows that I really enjoy!!! Fantastic acting, love the humour and it keeps our Aussie actors employed and also keeps them in australia. Our tv is swamped with american reality or crime shows and it is refreshing to have something different, entertaining and definitely a show that I take time out to watch.
please dont cancel wild boys give it to another station or change its time slot
At the least could someone get me a contact to the writer of this series as I think it’s a great story, well intended and played very well by all involved, shame on ch7 as maybe if they had a hard look they may find, not everyone wants to watch amarican rubbish.
Wild Boys is a fanatastic series, give it another go. After letting everybody fall in love with these characters it’s at least worth a second season. Especially since so many of my favourite Aussie shows got the axe this year, City Homocide,Sea Patrol, Rescue Special Ops, Rush. Are we only going to get to watch American stuff, I’m so over reality tv. Come on Australian producers don’t drop out of the Drama market altogether.
please do NOT cancel wild boys, I love the show so much, please reconsider a time slot or channel because its is the only thing i look forward to during the long school week. I think wild boys is definitely my favourite show and my friends enjoy watching it a lot to.
Hi, I was so surprised and disappointed when I found that Wild Boys wasnt being continued to a 2nd season .. I think it was one of the best series Channel 7 has ever put on besides Home and away which I watch religiously as I also did with Wild Boys and couldnt get enough of it. .Each episode seemed to fly past so fast I felt sorry it had ended and had to wait till the next week for the next exciting episode. Please reconsider your decision regarding cancelling the show as I think it would be a big loss to Australian TV. The actors were excellent in it and it seemed to just be so Australian and fitted in with our history.
So disappointed to hear this show has been cancelled. The actors were so loveable and always made me smile, great storyline, easily the best Aus show but it seems all people want is packed to the rafter copies. Sooooooo DISAPPOINTED! 🙁
So typical of Australian TV just get a good show going and They F#$% it all up buy not continuing a series and yet they play the S%$# like Home and Away……
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DONT CANCEL WILD BOYS IT IS THE BEST SHOW EVER
CMON CHANNEL SEVEN
No devastated my fam loved watching wild boys. Come on give it one more season before you completely pull the plug on a awesome Australian tv show
Just saying. Even we from Sweden is looking on this show. Another season is not to much to ask. Western/country is a long missing part between all the dam reality, crime and doctor shows.
More “Wild Boys” to the people!
Pleeeeeaaaaase make another wild boys…I loved series one and Daniel MacPherson. This is such a great show, it’s Australian, it’s different and I love it please reconsider and run a season 2