Shark: CBS Gives James Woods Series the Hook — No Season Three
CBS has decided to cancel Shark after two seasons on the air. What killed the series?
Shark debuted on September 21, 2006 and stars James Woods as Sebastian “Shark” Stark, an arrogant and cutthroat prosecutor. The TV show did pretty well in its first season on CBS. It ranked 24th for the season with an average of 13.7 million viewers. The one downside was that the show’s viewers tended to skew older. But, in a season littered with prematurely cancelled drama series (Smith, 3 lbs., The Nine, etc.), the show’s ranking and survival was an impressive achievement. The series was renewed for a second season.
Season two kicked off on Sunday, September 23, 2007. In that 10pm timeslot, Shark had to compete against ABC’s popular Brothers & Sisters and consistently lost in total viewers and the all-important 18-49 demographic.
Like most shows, Shark’s production schedule was interrupted by the writers strike. When the strike was over, production resumed and four more episodes were created. After a long absence, new episodes began airing in late April. In the show’s new Tuesday night timeslot, it was easily beaten by ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and FOX’s Hell’s Kitchen in both total and 18-49 viewers.
The show’s chances for a third year were still up in the air until just recently. Ultimately, the combination of Shark’s inability to attract younger viewers, the writers strike, and CBS’ excitement over its new dramas is likely what led the network to cancel the series.
Woods tells the LA Times that the cast and crew were “very saddened” by the news but were trying to stay positive. He continues, “We’re a little baffled by the decision but we’re very supportive… None of us can figure out quite why. But we have no bad feelings. This show did an enormous amount for me personally. We all won doing the show.”
>The current season, cut short by the writers strike, is made up of only 16 episodes. Shark’s series finale is scheduled for Tuesday, May 20th. It’s unlikely that the episode will offer any kind of closure for the series. Stay tuned! 
June 4th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I just don’t get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 These guys are idiots! There is nothing but trash on Friday and Saturday’s why not just air these great shows then??????????????? I know lots of peolpe who would watch them!
June 4th, 2008 at 1:32 am
I’m sad. I was just watching the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and he mentioned CBS cancelled Shark. I really wish these reality shows would cease and good old fashioned drama would return. CBS knows best how to make this work so I just don’t understand why they end up with great drama and cancel it! Glad to see the Unit back on this fall and wish we still had Jericho. Heaven forbit Criminal Minds, Numbers, Without A Trafce or either CSI Miami or CSI (las vegas) were to be cancelled. I love the “whodunit” drama. Still saddened to have Shark gone.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Shark was a great show. My wife, 12-year-old son, and I watched it every week. I hope some other network picks it up. I’d love to see another season.
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:58 pm
TV is changing for the worse.Its pretty sad when an actor like Mr.Woods and his amazing cast is taken off the air and crap reality shows are turning up on all networks.A huge loss to quality tv dramas.Will miss Shark .Whats next.CSI???
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:19 pm
I recently finished watching ‘Shark’ Season 1 on the DVD boxset I ordered from Amazon and was wondering why I just can’t track down Season 2, which eventually lead me to this cancellation news. I don’t watch tv and don’t have a tv for the matter, but I couldn’t resist myself getting a DVD boxset after seeing the first episode, where James Woods’s presence was highly appreciated. Again.
I was fascinated by this guy and began ordering his movies from Amazon then comes along this disappointing news- I hope some other station is smart enough to pick this series and continue to truly entertain many audiences out there.
June 2nd, 2008 at 5:59 pm
ill be looking for revenge, what do they think, that we are all stupids? im going to start an anticbs campaign, this isnt right they shouldnt be able to play with people like this and those kind of abuses cant be left unpunished. i truly hate cbs executives theyve been doing this kind of thing for too long now.
June 2nd, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I just found out this afternoon that Shark has been cancelled. What a HUGE mistake. I’m not sure how they get all their stats but I have a 20 yr, 22 yr old , 16 yr old and all of their friends ALL love shark! I’m only 42 and my husband is 47 and we both don’t miss an episode. Hopefully one of the cable channels will see the error in CBS’s way and pick up the series. I was shocked when I found out VEGAS was cancelled as well. There are some fantastic opportunities out there for cable tv if they will jump on them. Believe me, audiences are wearing thin with reality tv. I watch tv to escape reality. I love comedy and drama but could care less about Denise Richards, People destroying their marriages to win a million dollars on a tell all game show or the other stupid ideas we have been subjected to as of late. Creativity is in the toilet anymore. Heck, most of the time all this generation does is copy my generation and REMAKE our stuff. GET AN IMAGINATION!
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I cannot believe Shark has been cancelled. I thought it was one of the better shows on TV. James Woods is a wonderful actor and deserves more than being dumbed by CBS. I hope another station has the “smarts” to pick it up. I have no interest in the reality shows that are on.
May 31st, 2008 at 7:14 pm
I live in Greece and have been watching shark on cable tv. I was looking forward to the new season and just now i read that it’s been canceled. Oh no, it’s a fantastic series, i love James Woods and all the cast is great, why cancel it ???? Give it some time and I’m sure the “precious” ratings will increase . All my Greek friends loved Shark as much as Law and Order, its not fair, other garbage airs prime time and we’re sick of these shows……..
May 30th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I was disappointed to see one of my favorite shows cancelled. I do hope that the powers to be decide to re-evaluate their decision. The cast was great and it seemed like the enjoyed being with each other. I do hope that we all get to see some more of “Shark” tv series. This year was not very fair to any show with the writer’s strike going on - that was a mark against each one. I had each one of the Shark episodes taped so that I could watch it over during the week. Thanks for listening.
May 29th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I was really disappointed to hear of this show’s cancellation. I’m going to purchase the DVD’s to watch. I don’t understand it! I missed it when it came back on because CBS kept changing the day!! I was the only show I never missed and the only time I tuned into CBS. Someone in corporate has made an error.
May 28th, 2008 at 9:54 am
The major networks are chasing thinking people to the History and Discovery Channels. As it was stated by others, networks are putting out mindless and non-thinking shows that are pure crap! Wake up people, the market the networks are going after is our future learders! We should be scared!
May 27th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Wow… Shark was just awesome, he made the show absolutely jump!; smart, witty, clever as only he can deliver. Guess that ain’t good enough anymore. I will bill CBS for my therapy
May 27th, 2008 at 9:12 am
CBS is stupid to cancel the show. I would be willing to pay $10 per episode to download the show, so come on CBS! This is the best show I have ever watched.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:39 am
I LOVE THIS SHOW AND WHEN I READ IT HAD BEEN CANCELLED I COULD’NT BELIEVE IT! GREAT STORIES, GREAT ACTORS, WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT? ALSO MOONLIGHT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. TWO OF MY FAVE SHOWS WILL BE NO MORE.
May 26th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I am truly saddened by the cancellation of this show. It was one of the best shows that I can remember in my 54 years of watching tv. I guess I’ll just have to watch the “stars dancing”. How sad!!
May 25th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
I have to agree with all of the previous comments about the demise of Shark. I am so sick of all the trash and stupid garbage on TV now - so it was great to have this terrific show with a wonderful cast headed by the amazing award winning actor James Woods. The execs at CBS are truly idiots for not renewing this program. I wish that they would rethink their decision. Shark would only continue to get better with time as it did over the last 2 years.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:56 pm
I am saddened to hear that ‘Shark’ will be cancelled. This is one of my favorite shows. Its a witty show that allows James Woods to show his great acting and comedic talent. I will greatly miss this show!
!SAS Entertainment
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I agree with Ruth. Many good shows are getting the boot while reality trash monopolizes the prime-time time slots.
I understand that television is a buisness, and that reality shows are inexpensive to produce, and are therefore, all proffit for the networks. But for Vader’s sake! Why the hell would these moronic execs take out good shows when there are pleanty of cookie-cutter dramas and sit-coms that could die.
The problem here is people are just dumb. I’m not being mean. It’s just true. People don’t like television that challenges them or makes them think. That’s why reality television still exists. There was a brief period of time when television started to look up with more intelectual dramas like Cane and Studio 60. But leave it to the networks to cancel them because America doesn’t want to watch anything that makes them talk, debate, or, God forbid, think.
If people refuse to watch the reality garbage that appears every 30 minutes every night on one of the four major channels and across all of the hundreds and hundreds of cable networks, studios will get the idea and start record GOOD shows again.
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:33 am
CBS has messed with way too many shows that we enjoyed–starting with Cane and now cancelling Shark and Moonlight. Give me a break! My family and I loved these shows. I cannot believe that the reality shows are still on. They are garbage and the really good shows are cancelled. I’ll be watching other shows like American Idol, etc.