Under the Dome to end this season

CBS is putting the residents of Chester’s Mill out of their misery.

The network has decided to end its summer thriller Under the Dome next month— which is still two years after the show was originally expected to conclude.

CBS has officially decided to not order a fourth season of the series, which is based on the Stephen King bestseller about a Maine town suddenly trapped under a mysterious force field.

Instead, the Sept. 10 finale will serve as a series ender.

“Two years ago, Under the Dome broke new ground in the summer and became an instant hit on CBS, as well as with viewers around the world,” said Nina Tassler, chairman, CBS Entertainment. “Dome’s event storytelling and multi-platform business model paved the way for more original summer programming with the successful rollouts of Extant and Zoo. We’re excited to present the final chapter in Chester’s Mill as the story comes full circle, with the Dome coming down as dramatically as it went up.”

Previously Tassler had teased that the dome was going to come down at the end of the season. The network also revealed the closer will chronicle “two groups of residents engage in one final conflict that some won’t survive” and that the dome’s “mysterious origins will be revealed.” We’re told there are no plans to shop Dome around to other potential networks or streaming companies.

The verdicts are not yet in on the other two CBS summer shows Tassler mentioned — the sophomore drama Extant and freshman drama Zoo. Just looking at the ratings, one would have expected Dome to outlive Extant. But given Tassler’s quote above, and the decision to cap off Dome, the odds for the two remaining shows just went up (especially for Zoo).

Dome was originally conceived as a limited series, then producers had to figure out how to keep the story going when CBS decided to order another round. So for producers to have kept Dome alive for three years is indeed an accomplishment.