For quite a long time now, fans have been wondering if the fifth season of Nashville will see the light of the day. ABC network dropped the series. And now, a few months after CMT network reportedly took the show in, a release date for season 5 has finally been decided upon. Christian Times reports that at the Grand Ole Opry concert that was held last week, show creator Callie Khouri announced that the show's returning to the small screen this December on CMT and on Hulu.
TV Line reveals that the new season is packed with 22 episodes. That had always been the plan at CMT, and each of these episodes will be streamed by Hulu one day after their original air dates.
Apart from the changes in the hosting network, there seem to be pretty heavy changes involved in the casting team as well. Actor Will Chase, who plays Luke Wheeler, and actress Aubrey Peeples, who portrays Layla Grant, are both not returning for the CMT stint. Consequently, these two characters are going to be written off the show.
In an interview with Hollywood Life, CMT network's development head Jayson Dinsmore expressed his hope that they don't lose more members of their core cast. He went on to add, "When we announced that we picked it up we had several of the cast members onstage with us at CMA's Best last week. We had Chip (Esten) and Claire (Bowen), so our expectation and our hope is that everyone will participate in this next cycle."
On the other hand, there's some good news too. We know that least four of the regulars are returning this season. This includes Hayden Panettiere, who plays Juliette Barnes on Nashville, and Connie Britton, who will return as Rayna James. Also, Scarlett O'Connor will once again be immortalized on TV by Clare Bowen, and Chip Esten will be Deacon Claybourne again.