Since SurrealEstate wrapped its third season six months ago, I’ve checked about once a week to see whether there was any news on cancelled or renewed. As long as there was no decision, there was still hope for a fourth season. This week, series creator George R. Olson let the fans know that SurrealEstate will not be returning. While my heart sank at the news, I was grateful to have confirmation one way or another. Unlike the previous seasons where there was still maybe a chance for a reversal—which we’ve seen before—this time, there will not be one. [I say, “yet.”]
If you’re a regular visitor to TV Goodness, you know that I went all in on SurrealEstate. They are the kindest group of humans telling the wildest tales with an unlikely fusion of heart, humor, and horror, and I wanted seven seasons. But I’ll take the three we got. And that’s a common refrain shared by Olson and series star, Tim Rozon, who I had the chance to speak with today.
Over the next few days, I’ll have those full interviews for you, and they’re an absolute treat. But first, here’s what they had to say about getting to live in this wonderful world for three seasons, over almost five years, with a spark of an idea that came to fruition during the pandemic, with a cast that met for the first time when they started production.
Olson has been in the denial stage of grief over the cancellation, but wanted to finally confirm it for the fans with his IG post on Monday. “As pouty as I’ve been the last couple of weeks, the thought that we got to make this show for three seasons, and I got to work with the cast, all of the wonderful guest stars that we had, the crews in both St. John’s and Ottawa, the directors … and I’m speaking in broad terms because I will forget somebody’s name if I start … and we got to make 30 little movies about these guys and this situation … I feel very, very fortunate,” he shares.
“I’ve been in a little bit of mourning obviously since we got the news, but I’ve really tried to do that thing where you don’t be sad it’s over, be happy that it happened. The opportunity to work with all of those people and to watch them at work and to learn from them and to sit there and giggle at stuff that I wrote, that they are making so much better than it was when I wrote it. That’s just one of the great joys that the show has brought.”
“As sad as I am that it’s over, I’m so, so happy that we were able to do it. The worst part about it is I’m gonna miss the people, the cast, the crew, the directors, all of my friends. And I hope to stay in touch with them in the future and maybe work together someday.”
Rozon has been down this road before, most notably, of course, with Wynonna Earp, which clawed out four seasons and then returned for a successful Tubi film. With SurrealEstate, the loss hits differently. “The first thing that comes to me is just how grateful I am to have gotten to do it. Unfortunately, I am used to shows that kind of go this way … smaller fan base, smaller network. But they’re also just the most special shows, I think, in so many ways,” he says.
“I just feel so grateful and lucky to be a part of the show and to be Luke over three years. This was my first lead role. I’ve been doing this 30 years. It means a lot that they took a chance on me. It’s a lot of people that I worked for before, that I had worked hard for before, and they appreciated that. And they thought I was the right person.”
“And I’m grateful again to all the people at Blue Ice and Josh Van Houdt, and of course, George. Good old George. And Sci-Fi and just of course more than anybody, all the fans that stuck with us. I always drink from a SurrealEstate cup that a fan gave me in Australia. We had fans all the way Down Under and it meant so much. I’ll never forget it was Denver Comic-Con the first time I saw someone dressed as Luke Roman in cosplay. And I don’t think I’ve ever felt happier.”
“Thank you to all the fans and to everybody else that watched and of course the incredible cast and crew for just giving more than anybody would’ve asked from them over the years. And the press. I think every person that I met really liked our show. And I felt it in the times that we talked. And it means a lot and we feel the love, and it’s appreciated. So thank you.”
After the previous near-cancellations, Rozon says he was pragmatic but hopeful when they got to come back for a third season. “There’s a saying that if you love something and you lose it, and then you get it back, it’s yours forever. That’s not quite true in the sense here, but it is in the sense that you never know how much you love something until you lose it. And then how absolutely fortunate I was to get that back,” he explains.
“Most people don’t get that. It was really special to get season three, in so many ways. I went in with the idea of, ‘Okay, this could be it.’ Could, never is it, because there’s just always something special about SurrealEstate that I feel will always continue.” [I’ll just be over here manifesting a Halloween SurrealEstate movie on Tubi.]
I’ll have much more from George Olson and Tim Rozon coming up before Christmas. You can catch all three seasons of SurrealEstate now on Hulu in the US and Crave in Canada. All of our previews and interviews are here.
Photos courtesy of Syfy and Blue Ice Pictures.
