Fargo fans should be thrilled to hear that Noah Hawley’s Emmy-winning anthology series is officially returning for a fifth season.
FX announced during their presentation at the Television Critics Association’s virtual winter press tour that the network has ordered a fifth season of the series inspired by the Coen Brothers’ 1996 cult classic film.
We reported back in July that a 5th season might happen, and that Fargo creator, showrunner, and director (of 4 episodes) Noah Hawley claimed that IF there would be a 5th season, it would be the last. At the time, he didn’t have the story completed.
Hawley shared with Vanity Fair, “I don’t have it yet. I have pieces that will have to survive. They’re not connected. I think it would be good to create an ending, and deliberately come to something, knowing it’s the last one and see how one might wrap up this anthology.”
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At the time, the interview focused on his new Alien series and Hawley continued, “What’s next for me, it looks like, is [an] Alien series for FX, taking on that franchise and those amazing films by Ridley Scott and James Cameron and David Fincher.”
However, it seems that Fargo is actually what’s next for him. FX chairman John Landgraf said Fargo will shoot before Alien. At this time it is unclear exactly where the series will take place, but Landgraf teased that it occurs in the “upper-midwest.” The casting, filming dates, or locations have not yet been announced, let alone a premiere date. We will just have to wait and see if the series returns home to Chicago for filming.
While the show is based on the 1996 film, the series is divided into seasons, a stand-alone narrative each set in a different era. Season 1 took place from January 2006 to February 2007 and starred Bob Thornton, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks and Martin Freeman. Season 2 took place in March 1979 and starred Kirsten Dunst, Patrick Wilson, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart, and Ted Danson. Season 3 took place between 2010 and 2011 and starred Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Carrie Coon, and David Thewlis. Season 4 was set from November 1950 to early 1951 and starred Chris Rock, Jessie Buckley, Jason Schwartzman, Ben Whishaw, and Jack Huston. Violence, deceit, and murder play a major role in the plot of each volume.
Season five will be set in 2019, with the media release teasing “when is a kidnapping not a kidnapping, and what if your wife isn’t yours?”
It was 3 ½ years between Fargo season 3 and season 4, due partially to the pandemic. Now, when Fargo airs in the second quarter of 2023, it will be another 3 year gap since it aired in 2020. Season 4 of Fargo premiered on FX on September 27, 2020, and concluded on November 29, 2020. The season was filmed primarily at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios on the West Side. The show filmed in the city and the suburbs with several spots made to look like they belong in the 1950s. Season 4 was the first season Fargo filmed in Chicago; past seasons shot in Canada.
Fargo has earned 6 Primetime Emmy awards, 2 Golden Globes, and has been nominated for 222 awards total, between Season 1 and Season 3. Season 4, which debuted in September 2020, has received considerably less acclaim and experienced a drop of over 50 percent in viewership more than likely because of the 3 year gap between the previous season.
MGM Television and FX Productions produce Fargo, with MGM as lead studio. Noah Hawley writes, directs and serves as showrunner and executive producer via his 26 Keys production company. Warren Littlefield is also an executive producer via his Littlefield Company; Joel and Ethan Coen, whose 1996 film serves as the basis for the series, and Steve Stark of Toluca Pictures are also Executive Producers.
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