A&E officially gives Longmire a third season

By Phil Dyess-Nugent | November 25, 2013 | 10:12pm

Aux Features TV

A&E has finally officially renewed its modern-cowboy mystery series Longmire for a third season, after prolonged negotiations with the show’s production company, Warner Horizon. The show posted strong ratings for its second season finale in late August, after which executive producer John Coveny tweeted, “SEASON 3 for #Longmire is a GO!” His excitement may have been wasted on the hardcore fan base of the popular, yet “older-skewing” show, as it’s likely few of them get their entertainment news from Twitter. Meanwhile, A&E itself remained silent on the matter until this morning, when the announcement was made that it had committed to another 10 episodes.

Set in Wyoming’s Big Sky country and based on a book series by Craig Johnson, Longmire stars the Australian actor Robert Taylor as a macho-but-sensitive veteran sheriff, whose stubborn adherence to traditional concepts of right and wrong in the face of changing times is somehow connected to his incomprehension of beautiful, flirty women and his refusal to buy a cell phone. The announcement comes at the same time as the news that the four-year-old The Glades has been taken out and fed to the alligators, leaving Longmire and the baroque, horror-tinged soap opera Bates Motel as the only original scripted shows currently on A&E.