Humans: AMC and Channel 4 officially cancel sci-fi series

After almost a year of no news, AMC and Channel 4 pull the plug on Humans.

In a Twitter post today co-creators Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley officially announced the sci-fi series would not be returning for a fourth season. Humans has always been the little show that could on AMC, where it never quite hit the popularity it did in the UK. Nevertheless, the series was critically beloved and managed to ask some interesting questions about what it means to be human. The cancellation is something many fans had resigned themselves too since season 3 had aired last June with no updates from then until now.

The series revolved around robots, known as synths, which were manufactured to essentially be helpers to humans. However, a specific group was created with consciousness and fought to live freely rather than be subjected to “slavery”. Over time, all synths became conscious setting up a legal and moral fight about how to integrate them into society.

Often compared to Westworld, Humans always felt like a more grounded take on artificial intelligence. How would the world react to synths which were physically perfect and almost incapable of making a mistake in factories or engineering? With the rise of automation in the world, it would make sense to see people grow fearful of being replaced even when many synths simply just want to live in peace.

It also addressed whether synths would have a full degree of legal rights as any human. Could they own property if people had originally purchased them? Does being conscious automatically mean they should be treated like a human being? If not then are they responsible for committing crimes like murder, fraud, battery, etc? It was always an interesting argument to see Humans try to fully explore.

Sadly, fans won’t get to see what direction the fourth season was heading in. The show ended on a major cliffhanger which would have taken the series in a different direction. However, as Vincent and Brackley point out, they’re always open to returning to the show if there are any takers. Also, kudos to the creators for that little dig at the Game of Thrones petition circling around.

Are you upset Humans won’t be returning? Be sure to tell us in the comment section below!

Source: Deadline