The Equalizer Renewed for Two More Seasons by CBS
CBS today announced that The Equalizer will be back for seasons three and four, as well. Queen Latifah stars in the series as a woman with a mysterious and dangerous background, who helps people who are out of options and have nowhere else to turn. The Equalizer is Sunday's #1 scripted series, averaging 9.46 million viewers. In the second season to date, the show has amassed 1.2 billion potential social media impressions. The series had a major shakeup this season, as William Bishop (Chris Noth) was written out, the character killed in a plane crash back in April.
The original Equalizer series ran for a total of four seasons on CBS between 1985 and 1989, with Edward Woodward starring in the lead role. Director Antoine Fuqua rebooted the franchise as a pair of films starring Denzel Washington.
"The Equalizer continues to pack a powerful punch on Sunday nights, and we're thrilled to have it back for two more seasons," said Thom Sherman, senior executive vice president of programming at CBS Entertainment. "The success of THE EQUALIZER is due to the sum of its parts – an outstanding cast led by the superb Queen Latifah, plus the exceptional creative team that has continued to evolve their storytelling with a compelling mix of everyday justice, family dynamics and real-world issues that connect and resonate with audiences."
Because the Washington films were released in the last few years, many people were quick to compare the Latifah version of the property to those movies. Earlier this year, Latifah explained that, while the two projects are different, Washington's version of the character inspired the direction of her new series.
"I am absolutely excited and love the fact that Denzel made this a relevant product again because I did watch the original series as a kid," Latifah said during the Television Critics' Association press tour. "What Denzel did with the feature films has been incredible. If anything, he set a bar in a way but also gave us a lot of room to go a completely different direction."
Queen Latifah, Lorraine Toussaint, Tory Kittles, Adam Goldberg, Liza Lapira and Laya DeLeon Hayes star. Andrew Marlowe, Terri Edda Miller, Dana Owens (Queen Latifah), John Davis, John Fox, Debra Martin Chase, Richard Lindheim (co-creator of the original "Equalizer" TV series that ran on CBS for four seasons), Shakim Compere and Joseph C. Wilson are executive producers for Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with CBS Studios. As previously announced, executive producers Joseph C. Wilson and Adam Glass will be the co-showrunners next season.
The Equalizer airs on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.