After seven years on the beat, the show’s over for Detective Lily Rush (Kathryn Morris). CBS has officially cancelled Cold Case.
Each episode of Cold Case begins by showing an unsolved crime from the past. The scene then flashes forward to the present day and a group of homicide detectives try to piece together what really happened, using old evidence and new interviews. The series stars Morris, Danny Pino, John Finn, Jeremy Ratchford, Thom Barry, and Tracie Thoms.
Cold Case began in September of 2003 and quickly became a staple of the CBS Sunday night schedule. The crime drama had a successful first season and, by season two, was averaging a 3.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 15.1 million viewers. For the next couple seasons, total viewership fell a bit but the all-important demo numbers rose, reaching a 3.8 in season four.
Unfortunately the ratings have come down quite a bit since then. In season five, the show averaged a 2.9 rating and about 12 million viewers. Last season, Cold Case sank lower, to an average of a 2.7 rating and CBS made a choice between renewing ailing Without a Trace or Cold Case. They chose to keep Cold Case but may have regretted it pretty quickly. This season, the show’s ratings dropped even further to a 2.15 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 9.6 million viewers.
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So, while the overall viewership isn’t terrible, the demo numbers are and that’s what brings the ad dollars. CBS often has the most total viewers, but they are often lacking in the 18-49 demo department.
To no surprise, CBS has cancelled Cold Case after seven years on the air. The show won’t be back for season eight next fall. Sadly, the show is not available on DVD. It’s believed that securing the rights for the show’s extensive use of period music is problematic.
What do you think? Are you sorry to see the series go? What could have been done to help the TV show’s ratings?
Image courtesy CBS.
I have an idea!! Put Cold Case in the time slot now occupied by one of those dippy reality shows and put the reality show where Cold Case is: airing “late and lost” in the Sunday night sportsland? That way, we can always find and DVR COLD CASE ON TIME and the dippy show can be forgotten… The air time will be filled with air-head shows, the network can still make their money, and we can see what we want, on a good day.
Problem solved!
Aside from David’s inane comment it seems like the show has support. How can that be channelled into keeping it on the air? It seems such a shame to lose a really great show while other sludge is left on. Do we really need more seasons of Survivor and The Bachelor?
so glad to hear that phillygirl I am right there with you thanks for replying
Damn the sports crap…Why don’t the ballgames be on a sports channel specifically, instead of our tv series being “late” “not showing” etc..****!
The concept of the show was interesting but I suspect that a big part of their ratings problems were a result of the blatant left wing slant of almost every story line.
Oh, please, give it a rest, tea partier. Not everthing’s about you.
why don’t you give it a rest??????????Some people enjoy something besides sports and suppose to be reality shows.
I was telling David to give his political shot at Cold Case a rest. I loved Cold Case, I hate sports and reality. You misunderstood what I was saying.
How and WHY would a murder mystery have a “left wing slant” – or any political slant at all??? You people are so paranoid you see “commies” (or whatever) everywhere! What is wrong with you??? Are your political beliefs so shaky that you have to even disagree with a FICTIONAL detective show that solves old murders and brings justice for the victims?
Nutcases, all of you!!
I’m sorry to see this one go although I agree with a lot of other people; that it was hard to know exactly what time it was going to be on due to football games or a reality show ahead of it. I don’t know how many shows the DVR only caught a few minutes of unless I set the timer for up to 2 hours later than scheduled.
Hopefully they will be able to put this out on DVD at some point.
Please…if CBS wants to be stupid and cancel “Cold Case” I hope another network will be smart enough to pick it up!! I agree with other comments that this great show was ruined because of sports creating havoc with the viewing. We looked forward to seeing this show every week! It was one that was creative with great actors and plots! What a great difference between these “reality shows” that a lot of people are getting tired of but networks keep plugging. Bring back “Cold Case”…please!!!
This show is one of the best that was on TV. The writing, music, how they found actors that looked the same younger and older. It was amazing. This is my favorite show of all times. I am very disappointed. There really isn’t very much on TV thats enjoyable these days.
I ended up recording from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. to get the Show in with all the sports delays! That messed up a lot of the earlier episodes and I was lost in some of them this year. Lily seemed to be lost so much this season… Sorry but it had gotten to the point it was difficult to follow but it was due to all the craziness earlier when no one could figure out when it was going to come on!
I HATE 2 things here!
1 – I HATE it when the finale is commercialized as a “Season Finale” when , in fact, a decision was already made that it was a “Series Finale”. What a shame we can’t sue for false advertising.
2 – I HATE it when apparently they can’t bring out a series to DVD just because of the music used in the show. It’s really stupid! Why did you even put the music in the show in the first place if you were not going to be able to place it out on DVD.
I so positively AGREE! Was so sick of football messing up the lineup and having Cold Case on so late. I WANT a Season 8 and I want the DVDs!!!! Kathryn Morris is top notch in this role and the cast is the best.
it is sad that this program has been canex.(Navy Terminolgy). it shows how the cops can also be good people. I am going to order all the espisodes on dvd. but it seems lately that CBS and NBC are getting rid of the good shows on TV. Just shows what those people in hollywood think of the regular people. each night I watch the cold case, and at 1 pm and 2 pm central on TNT.
It is so sad that CBS cancelled this show!!!! But kept Undercover Boss…Now really another reality show? WHY??? I don’t understand how you can compromise good tv. Think back to when tv shows dominated and there was no reality TV. This is the problem. Amazing Race and Undercover Boss can move over to MTV, E! or Bravo. Leave good tv shows for people who may not be able to afford cable and want quality programming with original storytelling. Shame on you CBS for putting more writers out of work! BRING BACK COLD CASE!!!!
My guess is that the companies featured on Undercover Boss pay very well to have themselves highlighted and shown is such a good light for the audience. Great advertising, without being an obvious “infomercial” – and, the network doesn’t have to pay for great scriptwriters, actors, or crews!
In that case they should bring back the show Unsolved Mysteries (with new cases this time) if shows like this are so much cheaper to produce. At least THAT show actually HELPED people. These stupid shows like Survivor and Amazing Race are just a waste of time and an insult to our intelligence. TV could accomplish a lot if the people in charge would put on (and keep on) decent tv shows. Cold Case, Without A Trace, the familiar female cast of Criminal Minds and even Medium were procedural dramas that were really good. Of course it makes perfect sense… Read more »
Cold Case was and is a great show and should not be cancelled! It has great story lines, does play dumb and relies on the acting and writing to keep viewers interested instead of tricks and fads. Do we really need one more show with a vampire theme. What about those of us who like good TV. Cold Case was forever being postponed due to football here on the east coast and it was never even tried on a new night or time. Come on CBS give it a chance.
You can always tell when a network has given up on a show: they mess with the schedule so that no one can find it, then say “The Ratings Dropped” and try to justify cancelling it based on their own ineptitude or indifference.
Another good one gone. Maybe they should bring back Without a Trace.
I think that the show should have been moved to a different night. I think people got sick and tired of trying to figure what time it would start as it was always postponed due to football games.
Also I think that the cast may have endeared themselves to fans through something like Twitter and that, in the end, the story lines could have been better.
The biggest crime was advertising the Series Finale as a Season Finale. They did the same thing to Ghost Whisperer.
Ditto, Pat!! I would set my DVR to record the show and then discover that it had been delayed by some dumb sports show…I’d get 15 – 30 minutes of sports tlk that I didn’t like, or the tail end of some other show, and NOT be able to see the end of Cold Case. It became obvious to me that CBS really didn’t care about any of the shows scheduled for Sunday night, that they were on the way out anyway, so why try to let people see them. The last successful Sunday night program was “Murder, She Wrote”… Read more »