The period series about Blacks involved with the Underground Railroad, “Underground,” was canceled just after two seasons. Fans of the drama series wondered what would happen to the John Legend-produced show since being dropped. Apparently, “Underground” saw its final chain snap when the series was purchased by Sinclair Broadcast Group. John Legend expressed his concerns about the new ownership via Twitter and hinted that there was no coincidence that the show was soon cancelled. Sinclair allegedly has ties to the Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Word on the curb is that OWN, BET and Hulu were considering picking up the show. But, Oprah Winfrey shot down those rumors and says “Underground” is just too expensive for OWN. The media mogul also stated that – outside of being a great show – the viewership just didn’t justify the millions of dollars it takes to produce it. “I can’t afford Underground,” Winfrey stated at a LA press event. “It cost twice as much to make as Queen Sugar. As a matter of fact, my dear friend John Legend called me personally and asked me about it, but we’d already been talking about how we could make it work […] it’s like $5 million an episode, so we can’t afford it. It’s not cheap, I think because it’s a period piece.” “We really tried to make it work,” she says. “I wanted to make it work because I think it’s a good show. I wanted to be able to save that show, but it did not make good business sense for me.” “Underground” starred Jurnee Smollett and Aldis Hodge. Source: Refinery29
