ABC pulls the plug on ‘Oz’ spin-off series

The ‘House of the Dragon’ season finale has arrived early — and not on HBO’s terms.

The network has officially pulled the plug on the network’s much-touted fantasy drama about the House of Night, the organization responsible for guarding the gates to Oz, due to its alleged affiliation with the Chinese government, which is seen as a clear conflict of interest.

In the 10-episode third season, aired first on February 6, the show’s writers were tasked with writing a new episode each week that would be the basis of its season finale. They were also tasked with a difficult task in coming up with a way of tying the remaining episodes back together, a task that proved to be impossible.

“None of us in the writing staff could think of any way of doing it other than just pulling the whole season,” series creator and star Jessica Chastain told The Hollywood Reporter. “When it came time to discuss the season finale, we realized it was going to have to go on for another 17 or 18 episodes, which none of us could have done.”

Though ABC has not yet announced how it will handle its own ‘Oz’ spin-off series, ‘The Wicked + the Divine’ or the new ‘Dollhouse’ season, sources close to the production say that the show’s finale will be on HBO’s network on March 14. Its initial order came in at $6 million per episode, which would make a total of more than 30 million for the season, but that number will probably go down because so many more episodes will be shot by so many more cameras.

“I don’t think HBO can afford to buy three or four episodes of the show,” said a source about the plan. “We’re working on a six-episode season at the moment and we’re hoping to get as far as eight or nine before it comes to a halt.”

The series was renewed after winning the Writers Guild Award and Golden Globe for best television series as the series had been created for HBO by ‘Walking Dead’ creator Frank Darabont and was the only one to get the nod.

The series, which stars Chastain and Jason Gann as FBI Agent Olivia Benson and the supernatural assassin known as M, respectively, has been a ratings hit for HBO leading up to its March 14 finale, with its Monday audience share surpassing the viewership for all of last

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