Loudermilk Season 4 - Will It Ever Happen?
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The sobriety-centric comedy "Loudermilk" has been on uneven ground since its original network, Audience, abruptly folded before the already completed third season had a chance to air. While Amazon jumped in to at least give those episodes a new home on its Prime Video subscription streaming service, the critically acclaimed show's future has been up in the air ever since.
"Loudermilk" was co-created by Peter Farrelly, who made his name producing, directing, and writing blockbuster gross-out comedies such as "There's Something About Mary," "Dumb and Dumber," and "Me, Myself & Irene," but then won two Academy Awards for the historical, civil rights dramedy "Green Book." "Loudermilk" falls somewhere in the middle of Farrelly's scale, revolving around the titular Sam Loudermilk (Ron Livingston), a wisecracking, deeply cynical Seattle music critic and recovering alcoholic who leads a support group for others also hoping to achieve and maintain sobriety. Other central figures include Ben (Will Sasso), Loudermilk's lovable sponsor who has his own struggles with addiction, and Claire (Anja Savcic), Loudermilk's newly sober roommate.
While Season 4 has yet to be confirmed, the show's creators and cast have been vocal about their hopes to continue the story of "Loudermilk," offering fans tons of clues about what might come next. Here is everything out there regarding "Loudermilk" Season 4 — should it ever come to pass, that is.
Why isn't Loudermilk Season 4 happening yet?
There may not be a release date officially announced for "Loudermilk" Season 4 yet, but plenty of things have fallen into place for the show that could set the stage for another set of episodes. Here are some of the opportunities the show has taken advantage of as well the hurdles it needs to overcome before Season 4 becomes a reality. "Loudermilk" didn't have the easiest time reaching viewers when it began its run. Seasons 1, 2, and 3 of the series debuted on Audience Network, an AT&T-owned outlet that ran exclusively on the company's DirecTV premium television service. When AT&T decided to shut down Audience, it left "Loudermilk" without a home — the show wasn't canceled, but its network was.
According to Deadline, that unique conflagration of events meant that the rights to "Loudermilk" reverted to the series' creators, Peter Farrelly and Bobby Mort, who then allowed Amazon to acquire the already-produced seasons. But the Audience closure also released all of the show's principal actors from their contracts to appear in more episodes. As both the show and its cast are now technically free agents, there might be a lot of timely and expensive legwork involved in making Season 4 a reality.
What has creator Peter Farrelly said about Loudermilk Season 4?
About a year after the cancellation of "Loudermilk" after its third season, by way of AT&T shutting down the series' network, Audience, in 2020, Amazon acquired the rights to air previously produced seasons of the moody recovery comedy. "Loudermilk" co-creator Peter Farrelly viewed the acquisition optimistically, as older episodes of the series at least had a home and where future installments could be a possibility.
"I could not be more pleased that 'Loudermilk' is finding a second life on Prime Video," Farrelly told The Hollywood Reporter in 2021. "[It] deserves to be in the conversation with 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Cobra Kai,' shows that started on one network but found a much wider audience on another," he added, referring to how "Schitt's Creek" became a cultural phenomenon when Netflix picked up the rights to early seasons from POP, and how "Cobra Kai" earned more viewers after switching from YouTube Red to Netflix. There's only one major problem, should the prospect of a "Loudermilk" Season 4 ever be seriously explored: Re-assembling the cast of a show that's no longer contracted to stick around, and who have all moved on to other things. "We are going to get them back, we are going to do it," Farrelly said, apparently undeterred.
What could be explored in Loudermilk Season 4?
Season 4 of "Loudermilk" isn't some vague, hoped-for idea, at least not for co-creator Peter Farrelly. He's got several arcs mapped out, which includes some major character and plot arcs for a fourth season — and beyond. "It is the year Loudermilk gets his mojo back," Farrelly told Deadline. "He writes a book at the end of Season 3, it's all about the music world. It becomes a huge smash hit in Season 4. And all of a sudden, he is back in the game, people are inviting him to parties, and he is hanging out with real musicians." Of course, after three seasons of careful sobriety and leading a relatively low-key life, success and readmittance to a more glamorous mode of living come with their own challenges. Farrelly said, "Now the question is, will he have time for that sad, sad group he has been babysitting for the last three years? Will he be able to maintain the sobriety now that he is back in the fast lane?"
Whatever the case, Farrelly has said the story doesn't even stop there. "We want to do Season 4, Season 5, Season 6, Season 7."
If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Who would star in Loudermilk Season 4?
"Loudermilk" co-creator Peter Farrelly feels confident that he can get all of the key players back on board for another go, in the form of a Season 4. "Everybody wants to come back and do Season 4," Farrelly told Deadline in late 2020. If that turns out to be the case, fans can expect to see Ron Livingston back as grumpy yet compassionate recovery support group leader Sam Loudermilk. Other principal cast members likely to return include Will Sasso as Ben, Loudermilk's close friend and sponsor, alongside Anja Savcic, who plays Claire, Loudermilk's roommate and sponsee.
While those two characters are Loudermilk's main companions on his adventures in the outside world, a significant portion of the show occurs within the confines of the support group, which includes a rotating cast of characters. One of the most visible is Mugsy, played by Brian Regan, a recovering alcoholic trying to repair his relationships with his eight estranged children. In the same Deadline article that Farrelly noted the cast's willingness to return, he also specifically mentioned that Danny Wattley, who played Cutter in Season 1, would return for a new arc in Season 4.
Where to watch previous seasons of Loudermilk
When it was actively in production and airing new episodes on the regular, "Loudermilk" was part of the Audience Network TV lineup. Acting like a premium cable network in that it didn't edit for contact or sell advertising space during shows, it was a service exclusive to AT&T owned content providers, most notably the DireTV satellite-based TV service and cable alternative. That meant "Loudermilk" could only be viewed by people who used AT&T as their premium television provider. In 2020, AT&T shut down Audience, thus giving "Loudermilk" a de facto cancellation, per Deadline. Amazon then purchased the streaming rights to "Loudermilk," including all three existing seasons of the show as part of its Prime Video subscription-based streaming service. As of 2023, all episodes of "Loudermilk" — Seasons 1, 2, and 3, and any potential future installments — are available only on Prime Video. Despite its previous and lengthy life as an Audience Network series, Amazon touts the series as a Prime original.