By Brent McKnight | 8 years ago

In the wake of all of this Star Wars hullabaloo and excitement, here’s a bit of a kick in the groin to bring sci-fi fans back to Earth. NBC’s post-apocalyptic drama Revolution is going away, a least for a little while.

After the show finishes its currently scheduled run in November, it will go on a four-month hiatus, and will not return until March 25th of next year. Revolution is one of the network’s few bona fide hits. Averaging around nine million viewers, the show has performed well in the valuable 18 – 49-year-old demographic.

Given the ratings, it’s a no-brainer to bring the show back, but here’s my big concern. Revolution is still a relatively new and unknown commodity. A run through November is really just enough time for fans to build a strong connection to the characters and a genuine interest in the plot and story. Taking four months off—which is longer than the show will have been on the air by that point—just gives an already fickle television audience time to forget about it.

Hardcore fans and sci-fi specialists will come back for sure, but will casual fans come back as well? This has happened to countless shows before, including genre offerings like V, FlashForward, and The Event. None of those had the initial ratings of Revolution, but that worry is difficult to look past. It is a move more likely to drive viewers away than build up anticipation for the return to a fever pitch.

There’s no official reason for the delay given in the press release, but Revolution was only initially given an order for a partial season. This was recently expanded to a full season, so you have to wonder if the postponement is to allow them to film more episodes.