The Fargo Movie Had A Real TV Sequel (But It Sucked)

The Fargo movie had a TV sequel produced in 1997, but it wasn’t picked up. While a Fargo show did eventually happen, the pilot was much worse.

While FX’s Fargo TV show has nothing to do with the 1996 Fargo movie, the film actually did have an actual TV sequel – it just wasn’t very good. While Fargo has always been synonymous with quality, with the four seasons of the FX show being beloved, that nearly wasn’t the case. In fact, a Fargo TV pilot that was meant to serve as a sequel to the film was so bad that it wasn’t even initially released.

1996’s Fargo follows Officer Marge Gunderson (played by Frances McDormand) as she untangles a web of seemingly unrelated crimes while investigating the murder of a police officer. Fargo is considered one of the Coen brothers’ best films, with the movie being a financial and critical success. Because of this, many viewers have wondered why the story of the film was never continued, as there was a seemingly endless potential of stories that could be told in the Fargo universe. While the Fargo anthology series did begin in 2014, a direct sequel was actually meant to come out much sooner.

Related: Is Fargo A True Story? How The Movie & Show Tricks (& Mocks) You

The 1997 Fargo Sequel Pilot Wasn’t Picked Up

A Fargo pilot that was meant to serve as a sequel to the film was made in 1997, but it was never picked up. The unaired pilot was directed by actress Kathy Bates, with it directly continuing the story of Fargo‘s Marge Gunderson. The episode follows Officer Gunderson as she investigates the death of a pharmacist not long after the events of the first Fargo. The show continued the Fargo movie’s timeline, with Marge still being pregnant during the events of the pilot. Although Edie Falco replaced McDormand as Marge, actor Bruce Bohne reprised his role as Officer Lou, further cementing the connection.

While it was produced soon after the Fargo movie was released, the Fargo pilot was never picked up. The biggest reason for this was potentially down to quality control, as the pilot is more jarring and simply doesn’t feel like the Coen brothers’ Fargo did in terms of budget or its sense of comedy. On top of that, networks may not have had confidence in the project due to the Coen brothers not returning, as well as a pre-Sopranos Edie Falco starring in the show. While the pilot was eventually released in 2003, no further episodes of the Fargo sequel show were ever produced.

Why It’s Good The Fargo TV Show Sequel Got Canceled

Although it may not seem like it, the 1997 Fargo show getting canceled was actually a good thing. FX’s Fargo anthology series probably wouldn’t have happened if a Fargo show had already been done in the late 1990s, and from the looks of it, the FX version is a lot better than the unaired pilot. Fargo works a lot better as an anthology series, with FX’s series of criminal vignettes being preferable to a continuation of the movie’s story.

If the Fargo TV pilot had been picked up, it may have ruined the film’s legacy. The Fargo pilot was produced only a year after the movie was released, not giving the film much time to breathe. If the two projects had been released so close to each other, they undoubtedly would have become linked in the minds of audiences, and it’s a good thing that this didn’t happen to the movie. In the end, the Fargo movie is much better off without the unaired sequel pilot.

More: Fargo Season 5 News & Updates: Everything We Know