The Nashville fans were devastated when ABC decided to cancel the series after Season 4. The show had enjoyed an excellent viewership with almost 7 million viewers per week.
However, the hard days were soon over since Nashville Season 5 was picked up by CMT soon enough.The moment Nashville was cancelled by ABC, the show was pitched to streaming services and both Hulu and CMT had expressed interest in taking up Nashville for the fifth season and more.
There were talks about Nashville being cancelled after the fourth season, but the producers were very confident that the show will be picked up by other networks. Deadline reported that the producers were so sure of Nashville that they decided to go ahead with the original cliffhanger finale for Season 4.
The fourth season of Nashville had ended in a cliffhanger showing a plane crash. There was speculation that some major character will be left out citing death. The fans were scared that Hayden Panettiere, who plays the role of Juliette Barnes, might be killed since there was no news of her return in Nashville Season 5.
Hayden Panettiere was suffering from postpartum depression for the major part of Nashville Season 4 and the writers decided to include the same for her onscreen character and took her out, with the plot of a missing plan, so that the actress could seek treatment for the depression.
Daily Mail has since then pacified the fans with the confirmation that Hayden Panettiere is coming back for Season 5 of Nashville. The fourth season had ended with Juliette rushing off to unite with her ex (Jonathan Jackson) and their daughter and the viewers then saw that the plane she was on had gone missing.
It looks like the actress is doing well and is hence ready to come back and join the cast of Nashville in Season 5. Hayden Panettiere is a popular actor who had a huge fan following in the series, and her absence would have affected the rating of the show to a large extent.
With Hayden Panettiere confirmed for Nashville Season 5, fans are happy that she is alive, but they will have to wait for her story to unveil when the series returns. While the majority of the original cast is coming back for Nashville Season 5, Daily Mail has revealed that Aubrey Peeples and Will Chase aren’t going to reprise their roles of Layla Grant and Luke Wheeler respectively.
Nashville premiered in 2012 and was created by Callie Khouri. The series was set against the music scene in Nashville and deals with the story of Connie (Rayna Jaymes), a country singer who finds her popularity dwindling. She is forced to pair up with another rising singer, Juliette so that her record sales doesn’t plummet any further.
Given that Nashville was cancelled and picked up by another network, there are going to be new writers working on it. Showrunner Dee Johnson will be replaced by new showrunners, Ed Zwick, and Marshall Herskovitz.
The focus of the series might also change a bit and creator, Callie Khouri has revealed that the show is going to be more hard-hitting from Season 5. The central theme of the show is going to be intact, but it is likely to explore the fall of the music industry because of piracy.
According to Taste of Country, the writers are keen on depicting piracy and streaming and the problems associated with these in the upcoming episodes of Nashville Season 5. They feel that the viewers need to have a better idea about how their action is severely affecting the music industry.