AppleTV has finally renewed ‘Murderbot’ for a second season, hurray!

CB and I are both watching Murderbot, which is a rare thing. Our TV-show Venn diagrams rarely overlap, but Murderbot appeals to both of us. It’s based on Martha Wells’ book series, The Murderbot Diaries, and AppleTV has spent what looks like a good deal of money to adapt the stories for the screen. Alex Skarsgard stars as Murderbot, the robot who somehow gained sentience and free will, and he uses that free will to watch TV shows and hang out with humans. Skarsgard also executive-produces the show, and it’s all really well-done. My biggest complaint is that the episodes are WAY too short. The average episode is under 30 minutes, which is insane! But the first season has been amazing – I haven’t watched the season finale (which comes out today), so no spoilers! Well, just 24 hours before the season finale dropped, AppleTV confirmed that Murderbot is coming back for a second season.

“Murderbot” was picked up for a second season at Apple TV , the streamer announced on Thursday. The news came just ahead of the sci-fi series’ Season 1 finale on Friday.

Alexander Skarsgård executive produces and stars as an artificially intelligent security bot who must hide its free will while on assignment. The series was created and showrun by Oscar nominees Chris and Paul Weitz and based on Martha Wells’ bestselling Hugo and Nebula Award-winning book series. Season 1 covered Wells’ first novella.

“We’re so grateful for the response that ‘Murderbot’ has received, and delighted that we’re getting to go back to Martha Wells’ world to work with Alexander, Apple, CBS Studios and the rest of the team,” creators and EPs Chris and Paul Weitz said in a statement.

“Chris, Paul, Alexander and the entire ‘Murderbot’ team have delivered a brilliantly original, addictive, witty and vibrant adaptation that has captured the imagination of audiences everywhere,” Matt Cherniss, Apple TV ’s head of programming, added. “We can’t wait to unveil what’s next for ‘Murderbot’ and, of course, ‘Sanctuary Moon’ in Season 2.”

[From The Wrap]

“Sanctuary Moon” is the show-within-a-show, it’s a cheesy sci-fi soap opera which Murderbot binge-watches and references constantly. Alex ended up giving his dear friend Jack McBrayer a job on “Sanctuary Moon,” and John Cho and Clark Gregg also make spectacular cameos. The Sanctuary Moon mini-universe is perfectly unhinged, like a 30 Rock skit sending up Star Trek. It’s perfect. Anyway, this is one of the best new shows of the year, and I’m glad Apple is sticking with it. I have no idea if Murderbot is getting the kind of audience it deserves, but I hope Apple keeps investing in it, and eventually people will pick it up and binge-watch it.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, poster courtesy of AppleTV.