Being sent to Saturday nights doesn’t necessarily mean a death sentence. AMC drama Hell On Wheels proved it with its recent third season and is now being picked up for a fourth, which will consist of 13 episodes vs. 10 for the series’ first three cycles. Hell On Wheels will return next summer with John Wirth, who took over the show after Season 2, back as executive producer/showrunner.

AMC opened a third night of original programming this past summer when it opted to move period Western Hell On Wheels from the network’s signature original programming Sunday lineup to Saturdays. Airing with a 15-hour compatible lead-in, as AMC airs Western features and shows all day long on Saturday, Hell On Wheels delivered 3.3 million viewers in Live+3 for Season 3, slightly higher than its Season 2 average on Sunday and doubling AMC’s Saturday night prime audience. “John Wirth and his team on both sides of the camera delivered a remarkable third season and Hell On Wheels fans responded,” said AMC president Charlie Collier. “AMC has served passionate Western fans for three decades, so it is particularly gratifying to see these viewers capping off their Saturdays with an original Western on what has historically been a tough night of the week for television.” HOW, from Entertainment One and Nomadic Pictures, is exec produced by Wirth, Mark Richard and Endemol Studios’ Gold, with eOne’s John Morayniss and Michael Rosenberg and Nomadic’s Mike Frislev and Chad Oakes overseeing production. There is no decision yet on AMC’s low rated freshman Low Winter Sun.