Ray Donovan Bosses Shocked By Cancellation

Ray Donovan bosses "never" thought the show would be cancelled.

Showtime announced earlier this week they were not renewing the drama for an eighth series, leaving those who work on the programme blindsided as they were "so used" to the network pushing them for more episodes.

Showrunner David Hollander admitted: "We're still scratching our heads. We had no indicator that the show was ending.

"We were behaving creatively as though we were in mid-sentence. And so, there was no sense that this was going to be a completion. This was in no way a series finale...

"Every other year, it was them dragging us out kicking and screaming. We were so used to it being the other way, where we were burned out by a show that was very hard to make and the network would pull us and cajole us and push us.

"We were used to being a show that was not cancelled. We never thought we would be cancelled."

And Hollander — who believes the merger between CBS and Viacom may have contributed to the cancellation — won't rule out the show returning on another network but thinks that would have to happen soon.

He told Vulture: "To be fair to our bosses, Ray Donovan, for the Showtime model, was a very expensive show.

"We were going into our eighth season with salaries and all the step-ups for union. And the move to New York was extraordinarily expensive, so there's that.

"Is there an audience that wants to see this, that will create a demand cycle where someone will absorb the risk? I would never say never.

"It is much easier to do in the now. The sets are still standing. The people are still contracted. The mechanisms are in place. Once we tear down the sets and put the costumes away... it's a lot of actors who are in demand." — BANG