A&E cancels The Returned, definitively distinguishing it from its French counterpart
Look, we like to have fun here at Newswire, because passing along the day’s entertainment news can grow a bit monotonous. In the past year and change, a lot of that fun has been had at the expense of The Returned, A&E’s English-language remake of the fantastic Sundance import The Returned (known as Les Revenants in its native France). Like the mysteriously revived living corpses at the show’s center, it seemed as though fate was set against The Returned from the start: Not only did it have to live in the shadow of its older, more experienced Francophone twin, but its arrival was heralded by the similarly themed ABC show Resurrection, which was itself based on an unrelated-to-Les Revenants novel called The Returned—and perversely opened with an episode titled “The Returned.” It all seemed like a joke on the easily confused American viewing public, a football (not a football) The A.V. Club was all too eager to run with.