Every year of late we have at least one surprise renewal announcement. I thought that the renewals for Agents of SHIELD and Once Upon A Time might count for that this year, but then we had plenty of hints on those two announcements in advance. So instead, FOX’s The Exorcist gets to be the winner of that category this time as the network announced late yesterday that the show will be coming back for a second season. I had pretty much written that one off because its ratings were pretty low in Fall (even for a Friday show) and it never seemed to trend too well on the social nets nor did it seem to build up much of a fanbase. But the series was well-liked by critics and according to Variety the FOX executives liked the show as well. This one will likely play well to international audiences and its first season wrapped up its story with Year 2 bringing “a new chapter of the iconic franchise” according to FOX. So if this one goes for season-long story arcs, it will play well to binge seasons. The network may have also considered the renewal as a good way to plug up an hour on low-viewership Friday with a show that they could eventually sell to the streaming services.

The Exorcist is a sequel of sorts to the 1973 film that follows two priests who defy the church to perform and exorcism on a possessed girl. It stars Alfonso Herrera, Ben Daniels, Hannah Kasulka, Alan Ruck, and Geena Davis, though the cast may change up some for the show’s second season.

This leaves Scream Queens as the last FOX genre entry awaiting word on its fate. I had written that one off along with The Exorcist, but I guess its possible it could still stick around for another year and maybe also be used to fill an hour on Fridays. You can see a rundown of this season’s cancellations and renewals so far at this link. And be sure to stay tuned to this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for updates and breaking news.