FX’s latest installment of Fargo is being pushed to November 21 amid Hollywood’s dual strikes.
Though the series was never publicly dated, multiple sources say it had been circling a release date in September. But with stars including Jon Hamm and Juno Temple unable to promote the fifth chapter in Noah Hawley’s Fargo universe as long as there’s a work stoppage, FX made the choice to hold the Emmy-winning anthology series back.
The decision comes as executives across the TV and film landscape have been debating whether to release or shelve their completed projects. In recent weeks, Max’s Rap Sh!t and FX’s A Murder at the End of the World, a limited series starring Clive Owen and Emma Corrin, were both delayed from August to November. Expect other series to follow suit.
But as many of the executives who spoke to THR for a story on this subject noted, not every series will or even should be held. Certainly, shows without name talent are more likely to stay put, as well as programs that are already publicly dated and have had media spent against them. What’s more, these same execs say, there can be real upside to keeping shows on cycle, delivering them to viewers when the latter has come to expect them.
Of course, in the case of Fargo, the Hulu-distributed series has been off the air since the fall of 2020. Plus, it has star wattage, particularly in Hamm, for whom this and The Morning Show mark his return to prestige television, that it won’t be able to take advantage of so long as there is a strike.
The now-delayed season is set in Minnesota and North Dakota in the year 2019. Temple plays “Dorothy ‘Dot’ Lyon,” who lands in hot water with the authorities, with Hamm as North Dakota Sheriff “Roy Tillman,” who has been searching for her for a long time. In the promotional materials, Roy is described as a rancher, preacher and a constitutional lawman, who believes that he is the law and therefore above the law. The season also stars Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joe Keery and Lamorne Morris.
