One of the most dramatic Lethal Weapon moments didn’t play out on screen this season. After the behind the scenes drama involving co-star Clayne Crawford came to light, the season three renewal of the series came into question. Last week we learned that Crawford had been dropped and that FOX was looking to recast. It came down to the wire but Lethal Weapon has been renewed for a third season and Seann William Scott is stepping in to replace Crawford but as a new character.
In his first series regular role, Scott will play a new character who will be partnered with Damon Wayans’ Murtaugh. The recent season two finale of Lethal Weapon laid the groundwork for Crawford’s exit with a cliffhanger, in which (SPOILER ALERT) Crawford’s Riggs, already planning to move back to Texas with Molly and her son, was shot in the chest. There is chatter that Scott could play Riggs’ brother.
A number of actors were approached in the last couple of weeks to replace Crawford and Scott emerged as a choice earlier this week, with negotiations wrapping over the span of a few days. His casting was sealed after he met with Wayans over the weekend.
Lethal Weapon, as the youngest and highest rated of the three Warner Bros TV drama series for FOX, was considered a shoo-in for renewal until the behind-the-scenes problems involving Crawford put the renewal into question. Crawford did publicly apologize for two on set incidents that came to light but this apparently wasn’t enough. The powers that be wanted him gone and it just came down to finding an actor to replace him.
WBTV would not deliver the series to FOX with Crawford in it. According to sources, the decision to replace the actor was not made lightly, as it could’ve jeopardized the future of a series that is a profit-generator for the studio, and it stems from the studio’s zero-tolerance policy on behavior that is deemed inappropriate.
This season, Lethal Weapon averaged a 1.7 most current rating among adults 18-49 and 6.9 million total viewers. In multi-platform average audience, Lethal Weapon averages 8.7 million (+105% vs. Live+Same Day) and is Fox’s No. 2 returning drama behind Empire. While Lethal Weapon is down 29% in adults 18-49 and 25% in total viewers vs. last season as it moved to a new, more competitive time slot (Tuesday 8 PM) — ranking No. 4 among broadcast programs in adults 18-49 in the hour — the show is placing among the season’s top 20 broadcast dramas among men 18-49 and top 10 with men 18-34. It also over-indexes in African-American homes (165 index) and ranks among the season’s top 15 broadcast dramas among African-American adults 18-49.
Lethal Weapon also stars Keesha Sharp, Kevin Rahm, Jordana Brewster, Johnathan Fernandez, Dante Brown, Chandler Kinney and Michelle Mitchenor.
