Much to the dismay of the show’s loyal followers, The Unit was cancelled by CBS in May. The series’ viewership had declined in its later years but, despite being preempted several times, still attracted 9.67 million viewers in season four.
The Unit was supposedly being seriously considered to continue in first-run syndication but the deal didn’t work out, likely because of production costs. Sadly, while the military drama and Dennis Haysbert, Regina Taylor, Robert Patrick, and Scott Foley will be around in syndication for years to come, we won’t be seeing season five of The Unit.
It turns out that the writers had a full plan for year five which Executive Producer Shawn Ryan was expecting to be the show’s last. He pitched the storyline ideas to the CBS execs but ultimately they weren’t interested.
At the recent TCA press tour, Ryan shared with The Futon Critic what would have happened. He said, “It was going to be a whole new show in the sense that we were going to be training some young people, Bob was going to be training some people for a whole new organization. Jonas was finally going to be seeing his run end.”
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Ryan continued, “The final season was going to be, I figured the fifth season was going to be the last… It was going to be a long, sort of final mission for Jonas. He’s not medically cleared, Mac has to go in and sort of change the medical records so that Jonas can keep on [going on missions]. We had a whole thing planned, it was going to be good.”
Of the cancellation, Ryan points to CBS’ last-minute decision to save NBC’s discarded Medium series. If things had been reversed and The Unit “had been owned by Paramount and Medium had been owned by 20th Century Fox, we’d be making the fifth season of The Unit right now. I don’t know how else to say that.”
What do you think? Do the plans for season five sound like a good way for the military drama to finish?
Image courtesy CBS.
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Aristotle taught us the arc of a good story. In the end a lesson must be learned. It may not be the way we want it to end but there is a lesson that we will keep with us and will make us better people.It is the only show that is not clouded with delusions of everything coming together in a fairy tale since and then having the whole story handed to you just the way you want it to. We are not children and do not want this show to be replaced by some other show that is nothing more than our mothers reading us a bedtime story. Where everything is handed to us as if we were three and the good guys always win and live happily ever after. Listen to the wise Aristotle and let us learn lessons from this show. Not senseless lessons that some wanna be actor is doing to win a million dollars. That’s not reality t.v. They are actors, they got on those shows because they have agents. They are puppets; what part is reality? What lessons will we learn from mindless criminal investigation shows? In this show we learned lessons of how to deal with conflict resolution. Churchill taught us, true genius resides in the capacity to evaluate conflicting information. This show always had conflicting information that conflicted with duty, orders, and morals. This show took Aristotle and Churchill’s lessons, rolled them into a show, and taught us something about ourselves and our lives. All I’ve learned (and if you watch the news, what the criminals have learned) from watching criminal investigative shows is how to evade and elude the authorities with forensic details. More “Mayberry” and more “Fort Griffith”!
The outstanding creative minds behind the creation and real-life adaptation of the U. S. Army’s , Delta Force, or “The Unit” are to be commended. They succeeded in bringing the multi-dimensional aspects of their lives, families, and careers of the elite soldiers of The Unit to life. As a former soldier myself, I can and did greatly appreciate the realism and drama each episode shared.
My family enjoyed seeing the men and women of The Unit solve complex, and at times mundane, problems mostly while keeping their cool; The Unit put a spin on life from a military angle. And, since my family also witnessed me going off to war several times they too get to see on the big screen some of the situations I was involved in.
We were and remain dedicated Unit fans and find it difficult to nearly impossible to understand why the TV execs pulled the plug on The Unit. It was easily the best written, most interesting, and not only entertaining, but somewhat educational show to grace the U.S. airwaves in many years.
Our armed forces are actively engaged in locating and destroying our enemies in various hot spots around the world. Our media reports what their masters tell them. I honestly do not think the American public understands nor completely appreciates the sacrifices all of our young men and women make when they join our armed forces. It is truly a noble calling and I believe the armed forces “makes” better people.
In closing, I hope the network executives come to their collective senses and sell The Unit to another network who is ready, willing, and able to produce it now or bring it back themselves as I feel a great unjustice has been perpetrated upon the viewing audience.
Why is it always the same with the studios , that they cancel a show mid stream leaving fans the world over in disappointment and dismay , if they are intent on axing a show at lest let the makers draw it to a more balanced conclusion.
Well I think it is a damn good series. My husband had the DVD’s (all 4 season) and when I started watching them I just couldnt stop. I was hooked. I wish I could see season 5. For Molly to leave Jonas just broke my heart. They were the leaders of this show. They have to be reunited. But….as they say. You cant always get what you want.
Maybe a movie would do???
bring it back god dam it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Shanna thanks for the spoiler… Haven’t seen them all yet. I caught one episode one late night when it was supposed to be something else (thanks for human error). I had to start with the first one after that. Three episodes from the end now and it just pisses me off that they pulled it. CBS really bit the bullet on this one. They take a show that requires a pretty penny to make and give it ZERO promotion. Want to make money CBS? Advertise to the people that have it. “American Idol” has so many damn viewers for one simple fact. The stupid outnumber the smart. Bring back The UNIT for us, the smart ones that value our time and want to watch 45 minutes of enthralling entertainment. Now that CBS has dropped The UNIT I guess CBS stands for something different now
C.ertified B.ullsh*t S.hows Cool Breeze out
Bring the unit back!
BRING IT BACK!!! THE UNIT WAS THE BEST SHOW EVER!!!!!
Please bring back The Unit!!! What a great show!!! We love this show!!!
SEASON 5 NEEDS TO BE MADE. TV IS JUST SO BORING WITHOUT THE UNIT. BEST SHOW EVER MADE.
Bring it back
I think that the people who want the Unit Season 5 should look into petioning other networks like the Military Channel.
The Unit is worth the cost, it’s real TV and worth every penny
It would be nice to just have some closure. I’m sure if CBS or any other network was able to bring back the Unit for a final season it would receive very high ratings. I have been watching all 4 seasons and no matter how many times you watch them, you still feel empty after watching the last episode.
I loved every second of it! I also emailed CBS with a request to please bring the Unit back.
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