AMC must really be liking this split final season thing because it is getting ready to do so for a third time. Hell on Wheels, which is currently in the middle of its fourth season, will be wrapping up its run with a two-part fifth season.
Hell on Wheels’ final season will feature 14 episodes, with the first seven airing in summer 2015. The final half will start in summer 2016. This is the same format AMC has followed for Breaking Bad and Mad Men, which starts part two of its final season this spring.
“With season five of Hell On Wheels,’ we are proud to bring our trans-continental journey to conclusion for the large, loyal audience that has traveled with Cullen Bohannon and his crew for so many years,” AMC President Charlie Collier said in a statement posted at TVByTheNumbers. “We look forward to appropriately honoring Hell On Wheels in this final season. Enormous thanks to the terrific writers, cast and crew for all they have achieved and for all that lies ahead in the Wild West.”
Despite making the switch to Saturdays last year, the show has thrived, averaging 3.4 million viewers this season so far. A new episode will air this Saturday night.
While loved by its fans, the show hasn’t been an awards magnet, unlike Mad Men and Breaking Bad. The only Emmy nomination it ever received came in 2012 for its title music. The Western features Anson Mount, Colm Meaney, Common and Phil Burke. It was created by Joe Gayton and Tony Gayton.
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