David Guggenheim created the American political thriller television series Designated Survivor. It aired three seasons on ABC before being exclusively televised on Netflix for its final season. Kiefer Sutherland plays Thomas Kirkman, an American academic who is named the survivor of the State of the Union address. He suddenly rises to the post of U.S Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and becomes President of the United States. Kirkman tries to understand the motives behind the attack while dealing with his inexperience as a head of state.
The pilot stage was not necessary. The project was moved straight to series, and the official announcement came on May 6, 2016. To a crowd of more than 10 million viewers, the first episode aired on September 21, 2016. A full-season order was made eight days later. The series was renewed on May 11, 2017. It premiered on September 27, 2017. After two seasons, ABC ended the series in May 2018. In September 2018, Netflix announced that Entertainment One and Netflix had made a deal to acquire Designated Survivor for a third series of 10 episodes. The latter was responsible for all production. On June 7, 2019, Netflix premiered the third season. Netflix cancelled the series in July 2019 due to problems with the contracts of the actors.