Lifetime has decided to cancel their Sunday night drama, The Protector, after one season on the air. The decision doesn’t come as a surprise since the writing has been on the wall for awhile. While the Ally Walker series has some devoted fans, the ratings just weren’t high enough for a second season.
The Protector follows Gloria Sheppard (Walker), a single mother and detective in the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division. A recent divorcee and single mother, Gloria has to perform her duties as a homicide detective while taking care of her young sons, Nick (Sage Ryan) and Leo (Thomas Robinson). They all move in with her brother, Davey Sheppard (Chris Payne Gilbert), and he helps her raise the boys. At work, Gloria works on some of Los Angeles’ most high profile crimes with her partner, Detective Michelle Dulcett (Tisha Campbell-Martin). They work alongside officer Ramon “Romeo” Rush (Terrell Tilford), Detective Buerge (Larry Joe Campbell) and Detective Van Stone (James Hanlon), while being overseen by commanding officer Lieutenant Felix Valdez (Miguel Ferrer).
The drama debuted on Sunday June 12th to 1.89 million viewers and a 0.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Viewership for the following episodes declined and the first six episodes averaged 1.37 million viewers and a 0.4 rating.
In August, Lifetime shifted The Protector to Monday nights at 10pm to make way for another new drama called Against the Wall. The first episode in that new Monday timeslot dropped to just 849,000 viewers with a 0.3 rating. The following week, Lifetime shifted Protector out of primetime to 11pm where the numbers (not surprisingly) dropped again to 600,000 viewers and a 0.2 rating in the demo.
Though there won’t be a second season for The Protector, Lifetime has indicated that they will air the two remaining installments, on September 12th and September 19th.
While The Protector has been cancelled, no decision has been made about the fate of Against the Wall. That freshman series has significantly improved on Protector’s ratings, despite a decline in Drop Dead Diva’s numbers.
What do you think? Will you miss The Protector? Was it worth watching? Should it have been cancelled or renewed for season two?
Image courtesy Lifetime.
I’m not happy that they cancelled The Protector. I thought it was a great detective show that was more realistic than some of the other detective shows.
I loved it! Good acting – characters that were engaging but realistic . At least they ended the show with a good wrap up episode. Still – I think it could have gone somewhere….
Loved it, just bought the entire season 1 on itunes. I think its so good I paid to watch it without ads ( I buy a lot of series on itunes) – again and again, should have had more seasons. Given that my buying power as a 57 yr old is pretty substantial compared to an average 18 year old I reckon somebody at lifetime needs to re-think their target groups….
Just bought the series on i tunes – loved it – should have had a season 2, 3 and so on. So good I paid to watch it again and again without ads
They always get rid of the series and keep the rubbish ones. And never take the British viewers opions when they shows are shown over here.
WHY DO THEY ONLY LOOK AT THE AGE OF 18-49? I AM 52, BUT LAST TIME I CHECKED I WASN’T DEAD. I HAVE A SON HERE WHO IS 23. BUT I ENJOYED THE SHOW AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE. I BET IF THEY COUNTED THE 50+ ON THE SHOW THE RATINGS WOULD ACTUALLY BE ALOT BETTER. I AGREE ON HATING THE REALITY SHOWS EXCEPT F0R THE SINGING C0MPITIONS BUT WE HAVE ENOUGH OF THOSE. BRING BACK PROCTECTOR AND AGAINST THE WALL.
A realistic well acted detective series – thoroughly enjoyed – why no second series?
I watched every episode. I really liked this show. Why is it that all the shows I really, really like get taken off the air? Darn!
I think the t.v. Show the protector should have never been canceled. I enjoyed watching the show very much. I do hope that the show against the wall will continue. I can’t wait for season 2 to start. I still hope that the protector will come back.
Also in the age of TVO/PVR/DVR, the internet (where a lot of networks upload episodes of their shows after the initial airing), and networks repeating episodes audiences can now watch the shows at their convience. The old-style Nielson-Box rating system is just no longer a viable way to truly calculate how many people are tuning into each shows. As I noted in the aforementioned ways we can now watch tv it truly isn’t like what it use to be where if you didn’t watch it live you just plain didn’t watch it.
I predicted from the on-set that this series wouldn’t get a second season. At first I was okay with it and just watched the episodes anyway because I think Tisha Campbell-Martin is a good actress. Then I ended up really enjoying it by the end.
Networks have to get use to the fact (especially the specialty channels) that when you are creating a scripted series it takes at least three seasons to develop and find the show’s audience. That’s how you get big hits like Seinfeld, Friends, CSI, and Family Guy. They weren’t always the big successes they are/became.
i think there should be a season two. i just found out about this show a day ago, and had to watch all the episodes for it. and now im pretty upset that theres not gonna be another season. its better than most shows i watch. it needs more, just have to give it time.
I am so sick of all these nausiating reality shows ! THE Protector was a show about a strong single mom with a good relationship with her kids and brother. It was nice to see a show that didn’t portray a dysfuntional family. She was an intelligent woman with hutspah ! Not that our comments will make a difference because the networks will always leave junk on ! Take a risk,with all the millions of dollars you make on dance moms (another show about selfish mothers slowly killing their childrens chances of having a normal childhood) Get a grip!
Why is it that when a show finally is worth watching they get cancelled? First Against the Wall which I must say my boyfriend actually wanted to watch it. And now the Protector? But you keep stupid shows like Dance moms and now adding Dance mom Miami? Bring back shows that actually are worth it especially when you have a man watching a “woman’s” network. Very,very disappointing.