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Earlier this week,Ray Donovanfans were shocked when Showtimepulled the plugon the acclaimed drama after seven seasons.
What happened?Were 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.
I think the easiest external impact wasthe merger[between CBS and Viacom].
Whatever new environment grew from the merger clearly had some impact on their choice.
Had the show been on the bubble before?
Did you consider ending it earlier?Not even remotely.
Every other year, it was them dragging us out kicking and screaming.
We were used to being a show that wasnotcanceled.
Weneverthought we would be canceled.
Did you call the cast?
How did they respond?Yes, I talked to everybody after I spoke to Showtime.
The responses execute the gamut from people being sad and grateful to anger and confusion.
Did you know what season eight would have been?Very much so.
Thats why we went into such detail to find the right cast.
That [flashback] story was a helpful pivot, at least for me creatively.
I felt really good about it.
And so, that story was going to run directly against the idea of Ray and Mickey now.
Did you have an endpoint in mind?Eight was it.
Is there any chance that happens anywhere else?I never know.
This is a big show.
We were going into our eighth season with salaries and all the step-ups for union.
And themove to New Yorkwas extraordinarily expensive, so theres that.
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.
Every show has a feeling more than a fact.
What do you want to say to fans?Thank you, first and foremost.
A huge, huge thank you.
All we can do is hope that we have an audience that cares.
The gratitude is really meaningful to those of us who are feeling a little bit lost by whats happened.
The other thing that I feel is a bit apologetic.
Im proud of the work that we all did.
Im proud of the way that this year ended.
It was powerful and well-acted and they achieved what I hoped they would.
However, this wasnt meant to be [the ending].
I always want the opportunity to try.
I just wish I had.
Is there any part of you that wishes this had happened a season earlier?
Because if the show stopped then, it would have worked as an ending?Yes, totally.
It totally would have.
The end of season six was the completion of an idea.
And we were pretty burned out.
It felt like the end.
I think it would have been an extraordinary series finale because it had enough open and enough closed.
And Showtime knew that?They knew that was my approach.
Thats why this season has some places where we lay up and build plot.
There are certain times when you have to refuel.
Youre gathering some strands and building for the future.
I was shooting for a longer arc, for sure.
The people who made this decision are the same people who brought this to the air.
They were unbelievably supportive creatively.
They were always deeply in the artists corner, and deeply committed to our success.
There was never a moment where I saw any of them negatively charged toward our show.
They were always proud of it.
They always accepted our indulgences.
They put up with the fact that I was demanding a visual template as strong as anything out there.
And thats time and money.
They were cool with that until they werent.
