Ensuring that fans of TV zombie action will now have to look elsewhere for their undead fix, Syfy announced today that it’s canceling Z Nation after five seasons on the air. Per THR, the network confirmed the news earlier today, after producer David Michael Latt—also the CEO of horror-studio/Sharknado factory The Asylum—released a video on social media, thanking fans and making it clear that the show’s December 28 season finale will be its last.
Although it never quite escaped its low-budget roots, Z-Nation frequently distinguished itself by being weirder and more intense than its more stolid (and especially AMC-based) contemporaries, buoyed by strong performances from the likes of Kellita Smith and Keith Allan. And it was honestly just kind of nice to have a zombie show that was unabashedly playing in the tropes of the genre, rather than trying to constantly subvert them (not that it didn’t do that from time to time, too), or devoting most of its run time to a big long “We are the walking dead”-style mope.
This isn’t the end for the show’s universe, at least; THR confirms that plans still continue apace for Netflix to pick up an 8-episode run of a prequel series, starring Jaime King and titled Black Summer.