Starz Cancels 'Black Sails'

Starz' ambitious pirate series, Black Sails, had a good run on the premium cable network, but that run is going to come to an end next year. The network announced this week that the upcoming fourth season of the series will be its last.

"While it was a difficult decision for us to make this season our last, we simply couldn’t imagine anything beyond it that would make for a better ending to the story," said series executive producer Jonathan E. Steinberg.

Black Sails was conceived as a prequel to Treasure Island, the classic Robert Louis Stevenson novel. It is set 20 years before the events of the novel and provides the backstory for Captain Flint, a character who plays a key role in the novel. Steinberg says that the series-ending season of Black Sails is meant to present a "natural handoff" to the novel's story.

Black Sails was produced by Michael Bay, and it won an Emmy for best special effects in 2014. The series has also been a solid performer for Starz, pulling in an average of 3.6 million viewers per episode.

The series' fourth season will air in 2017, and it will be briefly be Starz' longest-running series - until Power airs its just-announced fifth season the following year.