USA cancels The Purge and Treadstone as it moves away from scripted series

Deadline

The Purge has been canceled after two seasons, while Treadstone won't return for Season 2. Both shows were based on Universal movie franchises, The Purge and Bourne, respectively. "Both dramas were expensive while not drawing enough eyeballs on linear television," reports Deadline's Nellie Andreeva. "(The Purge was a breakout in Season 1, but its linear viewership was down 50% in Season, while remaining a solid demo performer). For USA sibling UCP, the studio behind both series, that could not be offset by streaming deals the company had with Amazon Prime." The Purge and Treadstone's cancelation comes two weeks after USA axed Dare Me. "This is part of an overall programming shift at the NBCU network away from ongoing scripted series toward more live and unscripted programming, along with 'eventized' scripted projects," says Andreeva.