Entertainment

'Still The King's Season 3 Chances May Break Your Achy Heart

by Kayla Hawkins
Mark Levine/CMT

Before Billy Ray Cyrus was best known for his talented children, he was a popular country music star in his own right, and he's taking advantage of his "Achy Breaky Heart" fame by starring in sitcom Still the King, where Cyrus plays a washed up former country singer. Over the course of the show's two seasons, Cyrus' character goes to jail, gets out, becomes a dad, and hopes to mount a comeback, but will Still the King return for Season 3 and even more adventures? Normally, it would seem like an easy assumption that a comedy anchored by a major country music star would be an easy renewal option.

But there are some hints that Still the King might be over after just two seasons. First of all, the series' timeslot is currently 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday nights, making the Still the King Season 2 ratings low, averaging 0.03 million viewers between 18 and 49 per episode. That's 30,000 people, on a series that had an average of 0.12 million 18-49 viewers in Season 1. The series' network, CMT, doesn't have many scripted series, besides the revival of Nashville, so you'd think that perhaps Still the King would have a good amount of effort behind it, the network was a little quiet about the fact that the show's sophomore season was airing during summer 2017.

Even star Billy Ray Cyrus doesn't seem that invested in promoting Still the King in order to grow the show's audience. It's not entirely clear whether or not the series will be back on the network next year. Burning off two episodes at a time starting at 1:00 A.M. doesn't really sound like CMT is deeply invested in the show's future. In fact, it might be wise for Still the King fans to either mount a serious fan-driven campaign to drive night owls towards the show's Season 2 finale, because otherwise, it seems pretty hard to justify the series' return.

If the show is canceled, fans will be able to keep up with Cyrus not in the persona of Vernon. According to CMT News, Billy Ray Cyrus will be inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in a ceremony set for May 11, 2018, alongside "late Grand Ole Opry and Hee Haw star David “Stringbean” Akeman, along with bluegrass musician Dale Ann Bradley, Christian performer Jason Crabb, singer-songwriter Jackie DeShannon and country singer-musician Bobby Lewis." Additionally, in Season 13, Cyrus will be joing The Voice as an advisor, working on a team with his daughter Miley, who made the announcement on Instagram with a "#TeamMiley."

Both of those events are a few months away, but it's something to look forward to for Still the King fans, who may be disappointed if CMT announces its intentions for the scripted comedy — Season 3 feels like a longshot, even with the star power of both the fictional and real country singers on the show.