Connie Britton knows a thing or two about switching platforms. Back in 2008, Friday Night Lights jumped from NBC to DirecTV’s 101 Network, where it aired for three more seasons. Now her current show is attempting a similar Hail Mary. According to Variety, there’s still hope that Nashville might return, despite the fact that it was unexpectedly cancelled by ABC. In fact, Lionsgate executives claim four or five “different parties” have expressed interest in picking up the series for a fifth season. Lionsgate head of TV Kevin Beggs claims the cast all have long-term deals and would return if the show moves elsewhere. And he notes that while Lionsgate is mostly focused on finding a home for the fifth season, he’d be happy to see the show extend well beyond that as well.
Interestingly, the soapy country music drama filmed both a cliffhanger ending and a “happy ending” for the fourth season finale, but chose to air the cliffhanger version to try to make the show more appealing to a new distributor. If the series doesn’t get picked up, the creators have promised to release the non-cliffhanger version online. And if it does get picked up, get ready about an ongoing plot about Juliette Barnes’ missing airplane.