PITTSBURGH — It looks like we won’t be finding out how the citizens of Buell, Pennsylvania, dealt with the fallout from the violence that defined the last few months of their lives — at least not on Showtime.
Showtime confirmed to the Post-Gazette on Tuesday morning that it would not be ordering a second season of “American Rust,” which was set in western Pennsylvania and shot here last year over the course of five months. The show was created by Dan Futterman and starred Jeff Daniels and Maura Tierney in the television adaptation of Philipp Meyer’s 2009 novel of the same name.
“We can confirm that ‘American Rust’ will not be moving forward with a second season,” Showtime said in an emailed 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” finished airing its first season in November and left many lingering questions regarding the future of several key characters. Futterman told the Post-Gazette in a November interview following the Season 1 finale that a writers’ room had already been formed to begin working on storylines for a potential Season 2.
“While Showtime doesn’t understandably lay all the money on the table and say, ‘We’re making this, 100%,’ the plan is that hopefully the scripts and story turn out in a way that make all of us happy, Jeff and Maura are happy, and hopefully we get to make a second season,” Futterman said at the time.
Both Daniels and Tierney seemed to enjoy their time filming in Pittsburgh. Tierney told the Post-Gazette in September that she recognized “a certain point of pride” in folks saying they’re from Pittsburgh. Daniels brought up a funeral scene in Season 1 as a prime example of the aesthetic opportunities inherent in making a movie or show in this region.
“Only near Pittsburgh could the cemetery be on the hill, and the tombstones are stacked everywhere,” Daniels said. “And behind me, you can see one of the three rivers. Way across on the other side of the river is this train that’s going through the middle [of a mountain]. You can’t build that. You point the camera at it and you shoot that.”
Though Showtime won’t be producing any more episodes of “American Rust,” there is hope that the series might continue elsewhere.
Pittsburgh Film Office director Dawn Keezer told the Post-Gazette on Tuesday morning that while she’s disappointed in Showtime’s decision, “American Rust” production company Boat Rocker Media has already started engaging in discussions about finding the show a new home on another premium cable network or streaming service.
“They’re pretty optimistic that they’ll get a second network to pick it up,” Keezer said. “I for one want to see what happens in Season Two! That finale leaves so many cliffhangers. We can’t be done yet.”
Keezer mentioned the original bidding war for Season 1 that landed “American Rust” at Showtime in the first place as evidence of how in-demand it was. She is “very proud of the work Pittsburgh did” to bring the novel to life and would love local actors and crew members to get another chance to work on the series.
Plus, Keezer is keen to see Daniels appear in public again with Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.
As she put it: “We can’t let Rich Fitzgerald’s identical twin go that easily!”
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