AMC's 'Hell on Wheels' Officially Given Third Season

John Wirth to be new executive producer/showrunner

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/12/2012 12:35:37 PM

AMC has officially ordered a 10-episode third season of Hell of Wheels, to air in third quarter of 2013.

John Wirth (V, Falling Skies, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) has been tapped as the new executive producer and showrunner for the western drama. He replaces John Shiban, who left the series last month. The search for a new showrunner had been holding up the network officially announcing the show's renewal, which was first reported in October.

"As we gear up for season three of Hell on Wheels we are pleased to have such an accomplished show runner as John Wirth join our team," said Susie Fitzgerald, AMC's senior VP of scripted development and current programming. "With the help of our partners at Entertainment One, Endemol and Nomadic, we look forward to a new season of the poetic and pulpy adventures of Cullen Bohannan and the other characters as they build the railroad across the US."

Hell on Wheels' second season averaged 2.4 million viewers, down from the roughly 3 million it averaged in its first season, which aired out of the highly-rated Walking Dead.