Big Sky is getting started on its premiere season and it seems ABC is happy to give fans the remainder of the season.
THR reported that ABC gave Big Sky a full season order on Monday.
Big Sky receives a full-season order
ABC had ordered Big Sky Season 1 and waited to see how it played out before they decided whether or not it would get a full season or end up canceled.
ABC likes what they have seen and ordered six more episodes. This means that with the 10 already ordered, the show will now finish the first season with 16 total episodes.
While that is shorter than most network shows, it might be normal in 2020-21, which will almost universally have shortened seasons due to the limited filming due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Based on the novels by C.J. Box, Big Sky is about a private detective played by Kylie Bunbury and an ex-police officer played by Katheryn Winnick who are trying to solve the crime of missing people in Montana.
Ryan Phillippe was the biggest star advertised for the show, but he died already, something that surprised many fans but was straight out of the novels.
The show also features Brian Geraghty, Dedee Pfeiffer, Natalie Alyn Lind, Jade Pettyjohn, Jesse James Keitel, Valerie Mahaffey, and John Carroll Lynch.
Big Sky controversy
The extra episodes come despite the fact that Big Sky is embroiled in controversy.
THR reported that the show features abductions that take place at truck stops in Montana. However, the truth is that there are indeed missing people cases in Montana, and the majority of the missing are Indigenous people.
Several groups want ABC to enter a dialogue with them about the large number of Native American and Indigenous women who go missing and are murdered each year, while the show has none.
The original letter was signed by Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council executive director William F. Snell, Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana chairman David Sickey, and Global Indigenous Council president Tom Rodgers.
A week later, The Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Association (GPTCA) and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) have also added themselves to the protestors.
The accusations include “serious concerns of at best, cultural insensitivity, and at worst, appropriation,” and “not having any tribal representation in the show.”
While the network never responded to the groups, it did release a statement along with producer David E. Kelly, saying “our eyes have been opened to the outsized number of Native American and Indigenous women who go missing and are murdered each year, a sad and shocking fact.”
Big Sky airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on ABC.