'The Last Ship' season 3 news: Premiere postponed after Orlando nightclub mass shooting
The two-hour season 3 premiere of TNT's post-apocalyptic action/drama series "The Last Ship" was pulled from Sunday night's schedule following the Orlando nightclub mass shooting, the worst mass shooting in the history of the United States.
The Orlando mass shooting left 50 people dead and another 53 injured. It has sent Orlando and the rest of the country reeling in the wake of a senseless and hate-filled crime that claimed the lives of dozens of young people with bright futures ahead of them.
According to TVLine, TNT made the decision to postpone the season 3 premiere of "The Last Ship" in response to the Orlando massacre, as the premiere episode features a scene in which gunmen open fire in a Vietnamese nightclub, killing several clubgoers.
The sequence, which reportedly comes in the back half of the episode's first hour, is part of the abduction of several characters, which opens up a major arc in the third season.
"As a result of the shootings this weekend in Orlando, tonight's originally scheduled season premiere of 'The Last Ship' has been postponed," TNT said in a statement, as quoted by Entertainment Weekly. "Our hearts are with the victims and their families."
Instead of airing the season 3 premiere on Sunday, TNT re-ran the final two episodes from the second season of "The Last Ship." The network has yet to announce a new premiere date for season 3.
The Orlando massacre took place at Pulse, a local gay nightclub. Pulse is only miles away from the scene of the shooting death of "The Voice" alum Christina Grimmie, who was shot and killed by a disgruntled fan on Friday, June 10.
The suspect in the Orlando mass shooting has been identified as Omar Saddiqui Mateen, 29, of Fort Pierce, Florida. He was killed in a gunfight with police officers after opening fire and taking hostages at the nightclub.
"The Last Ship" was not the only TV show affected by the mass shooting in Orlando. The Tony Awards ceremony, which aired on CBS on Sunday night, was dedicated to the "families and friends of those affected" by the massacre. During the show, muskets that were to be used as props in a performance featuring songs from the hit musical "Hamilton" were pulled from the production.
