TV Talk: Showtime cancels filmed-in-Pittsburgh ‘American Rust’

Almost three months after its first-season finale, Showtime canceled filmed-in-Pittsburgh “American Rust.”

“We can confirm that ‘American Rust’ will not be moving forward with a second season,” read a Showtime statement. “We would like to thank our partners at Boat Rocker, our talented showrunner Dan Futterman and the rest of the wonderful writers, and our amazing cast led by Jeff Daniels and Maura Tierney.”

“American Rust” producers may try to shop the series to other outlets but the odds of salvation seem slim. The show is likely viewed as damaged goods given the disappointing initial reviews (an average of 48 out of 100 on Metacritic and a paltry 28% fresh among critics on Rotten Tomatoes) and a decided lack of buzz surrounding the series.

It probably didn’t help that “American Rust” was immediately followed by Showtime’s well-reviewed buzz magnet “Yellowjackets” (78 out of 100 on Metacritic and 100% fresh among critics on Rotten Tomatoes).

Midway through its run, Showtime said “American Rust” was averaging 3 million cumulative weekly viewers across all platforms and that the show’s streaming audience ranked second of all-time among Showtime debut seasons. Then “Dexter: New Blood” and “Yellowjackets” arrived and promptly left “Rust” in the dust.

Set in fictional Buell, Fayette County, “American Rust” followed the life of Del Harris (Jeff Daniels), the police chief who covers up a crime for the benefit of the woman he loves, Grace Poe (Maura Tierney). Grace’s son Billy (Alex Neustaedter, “Colony”) stands to look guilty of murder if not for Del’s intervention.

The timing of “American Rust” may also have hurt the show, premiering a few months after and compared unfavorably to HBO’s “Mare of Easttown.” “American Rust” featured a more generic rust belt setting and largely lacked regional specificity, including any trace of the Western Pennsylvania dialect, elements that became a hallmark of Eastern Pennsylvania-set “Mare of Easttown.”

And then there was the decision to provide TV critics with just the first three, slow-paced episodes of the series even though in episode four “American Rust” revealed the identity of the killer and made clear it was not a whodunit. With episode four the show’s pace began to improve but most critics probably never got beyond the first three episodes to discover “American Rust” actually got pretty good and then ended with a terrific first-season finale.

In a November interview after the season finale aired, “American Rust” writer/showrunner Dan Futterman said his goal was to make a series with a different structure, “that has surprise built into it in. You think it may be one kind of show and it’s actually a different kind of show.”

When I asked if he was startled by the initial negative reaction to the series, Futterman said, “I don’t honestly care that much. I just think that people sometimes think they have a handle on things with very limited information. If you spend some time with this show it morphs into something very, very different and exciting — not that I think it wasn’t exciting from the beginning — it was just a very different show with the seeds of what it becomes, what it grows into.”

You can reach TV writer Rob Owen at rowen@triblive.com or 412-380-8559. Follow Rob on Twitter or Facebook. Ask TV questions by email or phone. Please include your first name and location.