'Under the Dome' season 3 premiere: CBS' renewal of series remains a mystery

The second season of "Under the Dome" had finally concluded, yet CBS is still keeping mum about the future of the hit sci-fi TV drama.  Fans are left wondering about what is in store for the Chester's Mill residents after the end of the season. Will they find their way out of the dome?

CarterMatt pointed out that the producers made the season two renewal announcements before the first season ended last year. Yet they failed to do the same this time around.

Speculations have been going around about the low turnout of ratings for the sci-fi drama's second season. During its series debut, "Under the Dome" earned a whopping 13.5 million viewers for the pilot episode, and had an average of 11 million viewers for the rest of the season. It was considered as the highest TV drama premiere from any network since 1992. If the DVR figures will be added, the show earned a total of 17.76 million viewers.

On the other hand, season two had dismal ratings all throughout, raking only 8.55 million viewers during the live telecast, and 12.21 million viewers with DVR numbers.

However, CBS head Les Moonves said that the network is not very much affected with the show's performance at the ratings game since the production is being paid mostly by international distributors and Amazon.com.

Moonves also shared in one of the show's fan sites that the network had been earning from the Stephen King-adapted series even before it officially aired on TV.

In addition, actress Rachelle Lefevre said in an interview with TVLine that the season two finale could be a set up for an upcoming season.

The actress, who plays the role of investigative reporter Julia Shumway, shared: "What it is set up to do [in Season 3] is create the idea of a new world and a broadening of the scope of the show, and so our [Season 2] finale is designed to hint at where the show is going to go and what the new mythology is gonna be like."

Fans of the show are also keeping their hopes high for a third season after the Sept. 22 finale appeared to be a cliffhanger, keeping them waiting to find out more about the residents of the show.

CBS has yet to comment about the renewal of "Under the Dome" for season three.