When AMC renewed “Hell on Wheels” for a third season and banished it to Saturday nights, the future of the show seemed to be in doubt.
But now that “Hell on Wheels” has proven to be a reliable performer on Saturdays, AMC has renewed the series for an expanded fourth season of 13 episodes. John Wirth will remain the showrunner for season four.
In a statement, AMC President Charlie Collier said “John Wirth and his team on both sides of the camera delivered a remarkable third season and Hell On Wheels fans responded. AMC has served passionate Western fans for three decades, so it is particularly gratifying to see these viewers capping off their Saturdays with an original Western on what has historically been a tough night of the week for television.”
Through the third season, “Hell on Wheels” averaged 3.3 million viewers when factoring in Live+3 numbers. That was actually a higher average than “Hell on Wheels” pulled in on Sunday nights during the second season.
With “Hell on Wheels” renewed, the only drama not currently renewed by AMC is “Low Winter Sun;” the corrupt cop saga launched on the back “Breaking Bad” last summer. “Low Winter Sun” wasn’t the breakout hit that AMC was apparently hoping for. At the moment, there’s no indication whether “Low Winter Sun” will be back or not.
