In what is perhaps one of the most surprising moves ahead of the network upfront presentation next week, NBC has reversed its decision to cancel the freshman time-travel drama Timeless.

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The news comes just two days after NBC axed the sci-fi series, which averaged 4.6 million viewers and a 1.1 demo rating over the course of its first season, on par with the recently renewed Taken. Interestingly enough, the series also outperformed fellow NBC series Blindspot, which nevertheless was picked up for a third season. So why did NBC cancel Timeless, it's sixth-highest rated drama, in the first place?

Financial considerations, apparently. Unlike most of NBC's drama lineup, the pricey Shawn Ryan-Eric Kripke series is produced by an outside studio, Sony Pictures Television. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony offered the network a majority of the profits in exchange renewal.

Timeless stars Abigail Spencer (True Detective,” “Rectify), Matt Lanter (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and Malcolm Barrett (The Hurt Locker) as members of a team recruited to travel back in time to protect the past from a mysterious criminal.

It's unknown when the second season will air, although Ryan tweeted that Timeless could return as early as spring 2018.