Previously canceled All Rise gets revived for season three at OWN

The Simone Missick-starring series ran for two season amid significant behind-the-scenes drama at CBS

By William Hughes | September 29, 2021 | 11:14pm

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Previously canceled All Rise gets revived for season three at OWN

Simone Missick in All Rise Photo: Erik Voake/CBS

Four months after CBS gave it the axe—and 6 months after creator Greg Spottiswood was fired from the series over accusations of creating a toxic work environment—All Rise has suddenly been revived. Variety reports that the two-season legal drama, which starred Simone Missick as a rookie judge navigating the world of the Los Angeles court system, has now been revived at OWN.

Missick will resume her staring role as the Honorable Lola Carmichael, who oversees a variety of cases ripped as neatly from the headlines as the series can manage. (In one of the show’s later episodes, she was arrested amid the COVID lockdowns/Zoom court for putting her principles above the law, and the distinctions between crimes like “felony swatting” and “misdemeanor swatting” are the kinds of cases that are parsed.)

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Also returning to the series: Dee Harris-Lawrence, who was brought on to serve as Spottiswood’s co-showrunner and executive producer for the show’s second season, after complaints from the writers’ room that Spottiswood was tone-deaf on matters of race and given to bullying toward employees who disagreed with him. Harris-Lawrence was named the show’s sole showrunner after Spottiswood was fired, a promotion that was largely academic, given that CBS pulled the plug on the series just a few weeks later.

But now it’s back, courtesy of OWN, with network president Tina Perry stating today that, “All Rise has been a great performer, achieving strong ratings and growing its share from season one to two. Featuring a strong character front and center, Judge Lola Carmichael’s story reflects our audience with powerful affirmation.” Warner Bros. TV, which produced the series for the Viacom-owned CBS, also issued its own statement about its happiness about finding the show a new home.

(And if you want to get way out in the weeds on this one, it’s not hard to imagine that the ongoing efforts by Warner to merge with Discovery—which co-owns OWN—had to have made this transition almost as easy as the decision to give streaming rights for the series to HBO Max and Hulu. Merger machine go nom.)

Anyway: All Rise is back. No word yet on how many of the show’s stars—including Wilson Bethel, Jessica Camacho, and J. Alex Brinson—will be joining Missick and Harris-Lawrence for their surprise return.