One of the scariest movies of all time, The Exorcist is so famous that even non-horror fans are familiar with it, but it also had a lesser-known sequel TV series, also titled The Exorcist. Released in 1973, the original Exorcist movie rocked the cultural landscape at the time, and the image of Linda Blair's head spinning all the way around is still one of the most iconic scenes in horror movie history.
The Exorcist was so successful that it launched a cinematic franchise still going to this day, with Mike Flanagan set to direct the next Exorcist movie. It's not uncommon for other popular horror movie series to branch out into TV, with Hannibal, Chucky, and the recent IT: Welcome to Derry being prime examples. But The Exorcist's TV adaptation never reached those heights despite its high quality.
The Exorcist Show Takes Place After The Original 1973 Film
The Exorcist TV show premiered in 2016 on Fox, and served as a direct sequel to the original 1973 movie in the overall Exorcist timeline. In doing so, it ignored all of The Exorcist's other sequels — a wise move considering the messy lack of continuity among them.
Though it takes place in present-day Chicago, The Exorcist series acknowledges that the events of the first film are very real. Like the movie, the show centers on two priests tackling new cases of demonic possession, with plenty of lore and Easter eggs from The Exorcist for fans of the franchise to spot and enjoy.
The Exorcist show also puts a spotlight on a particular family, the Rances, in which matriarch Angela (an excellent Geena Davis) fears that her daughter, Casey, has been possessed. As The Exorcist is a franchise that plays its scares straight, it's important for a lead character to keep the story rooted in reality, and Davis accomplishes this with aplomb in her underrated performance as a desperate, terrified mother.
The Exorcist (2016) Is Better Than Most Entries In The Franchise
1973's The Exorcist may be considered one of the greatest horror movies ever made — it was the first in the genre to ever receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture — but the same can't be said for its sequels, even though Hollywood keeps making them.
In terms of tone and genre, The Exorcist sequels were all over the place. Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) took the story in a bizarre sci-fi direction that had nothing to do with the original's vision, while others were accused of employing fan service-driven nostalgia by bringing back iconic characters without giving them a real purpose. Others just felt like shallow derivatives of the first movie.
This is what sets The Exorcist show apart and makes it the best sequel in the franchise. It expands on the lore rather than exploits it, and though religion is at the core of the series, it doesn't rely on heavy religious themes or imagery like the other follow-up movies.
Furthermore, the main characters, from Geena Davis's Angela Rance to the two priests, Father Tomas Ortega (Alfonso Herrera) and Father Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels), feel lived-in and nuanced. The series serves the story of these characters first, rather than simply hitting familiar Exorcist movie series beats.
Sadly, despite its excellence and critical acclaim, earning a highly respectable 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, The Exorcist was canceled after only two seasons. It lasted for a total of 20 episodes, with The Exorcist series finale airing on December 15, 2017.
The reason for The Exorcist's cancellation was a simple and common one: low ratings. The Fox series aired on Friday nights, which, in the days when network TV reigned supreme, was seen as the "death slot." With The Exorcist being the lowest-rated drama on the network, it's actually a surprise that it held on for a second season, but a devout (if small) following carried it through past season 1.
Streaming broke out in the 2010s, and many network shows were spared cancellation when platforms like Netflix and Prime Video swooped in to save them. Sadly, this wasn't the case with The Exorcist, despite series creator Jeremy Slater having a storyline for The Exorcist season 3 mapped out, in which Marcus gets a call from God to seek Tomas out after their partnership had dissolved in season 2.
While there's precious little hope that The Exorcist TV show will ever be resurrected, and the sequel films have all been disappointments, there's still hope for the franchise. With Mike Flanagan set to direct the next Exorcist movie, the renowned film director may be exactly what the series needs. Flanagan is known for his unique vision, and he'll likely avoid pandering and cheap cash-grab tactics — just like the show did.
