A couple months ago, NBC premiered a new legal TV series from David E. Kelley called Harry’s Law. The series started out decently in the ratings but has fallen quite a bit since then. Tonight is the season finale. Will it be back for season two or end up cancelled?
Harry’s Law revolves around Harriet “Harry” Korn (Kathy Bates), a cranky former patent lawyer. She’s abruptly fired from a big firm, forcing Harry to search for a fresh start. She finds it when she meets Malcolm Davies (Aml Ameen), a college student who desperately needs her help and ends up working for her. A young legal hotshot named Adam Branch (Nate Corddry) accidentally hits Harry and gives up his corporate job to join the team. With the help of Harry’s footwear-obsessed assistant, Jenna (Brittany Snow), they open for business as Harriet’s Law and Fine Shoes.
The NBC series debuted in January with a 2.2 rating in the prized 18-49 demographic and 11.07 million viewers. That was an improvement of nearly 50% in the demo when compared to the last original episode of Chase, the previous timeslot occupant and NBC has had a hard time filling that spot for quite some time. The second episode only came down 5% to a 2.1 rating and 10.43 million. Week three held steady. It was looking like NBC had a hit — or as close as the network seems to get these days.
Then, the fourth installment took a big tumble, dropping 19% to a 1.7 demo rating and 9.22 million. It stayed at that level for a couple weeks, popped up to a 1.8 rating, and has most recently been holding steady at a 1.6 rating. That’s pretty close to what Chase had been doing and that’s all but cancelled.
Tonight marks the twelfth and final episode of the season and Harry’s Law is averaging a 1.8 rating and 9.54 million viewers. It’s the 10th highest rated scripted series on the network, tied with Chuck. On the other big networks, the series would certainly doomed but NBC has lots of ratings problems.
In truth, based on the demo numbers alone, NBC shouldn’t bring back this series for a second season. However, though it ranks towards the bottom of the demo rankings, it’s the most-watched TV show on the network. Though that doesn’t count for much, considering the state of NBC, it may be enough to get Harry’s Law a renewal.
On the other hand, with David E. Kelley likely having another series on NBC next season — the new Wonder Woman — network execs might prefer that he focus on that one and let Harry’s Law go. If they don’t like the Wonder Woman pilot, that may be enough to save Kathy Bates and company.
NBC probably won’t reveal the fate of Harry’s Law until the advertiser upfronts on May 16th. We’ll keep you posted.
What do you think? Should Harry’s Law be renewed or cancelled? If it does comes back, how would you suggest they change it to attract more viewers?
Image courtesy NBC.
Please renew Harry’s Law best show iv’e seen in a long time. Very entertaining.
I LOVE Harry’s Law! I don’t watch TV dramas much at all but I’m hooked on this one. Maybe it’s the characters and how they interact with each other, but I think it has just enough humor to keep me interested. Perhaps as someone else mentioned, a little more action, maybe some suspense would be great…..but I hope they come back next season.
One of the few shows I actually like! A year or two ago I fell in love with the drama ‘Life” and it didn’t last. I hope this one does!
Love the show even though it seems to have a liberal agenda. Need more Kathy Bates wit and sharp tongue. Use all key characters in every episode. Keep a balance between the serious and the humor. Keep the dialogue snappy! Be fair and balanced with your issue shows. Please give the show some more time.
Harry’s Law raised important issues and provides insights into the legal process. Love the contrast between Harry’s wisdom and the others’ good intentions. Its literate. We need more of that.
Just make the scripts meatier…Less gumsucking and more DRAAAMA. I LOVE Ms. Bates, the young barrister and OMG the poor stuttering DA! Oh and Tommy and his ex-wife. I also care a lot for the gangsta guy but he needs better writing. I Love KATHY BATES!!!!
The development of the various characters on the show was very well done. Kathy Bates as “Harry”….is like the best combination of writing and acting in any new series. No template writing/acting here. “Harry” interacts with everybody and keeps the show flowing. My family looks foward to watching the show EVERY week. The show deserves to be RENEWED!!!!
RENEW HARRYS LAW!!!!!!
Yes, bring it back – I love all the characters, esp. Harry!! Kathy Bates is wonderful!!
My husband and I watch or PVR this show every week without fail. One of the best new shows introduced this year….love the characters and down to earth stories that are well written and acted. In our humble opinion another David Kelley success! Please bring it back, we are tired of new shows we enjoy watching being replaced with reality tv, some of which was OK for one season, but now enough is enough!
RENEW!!!………I’m tired of good shows being cancelled!
I feel the say way….. Every time something decent is out on TV you can be sure that it won’t last. What a shame!
My family watches Harry’s Law together and it fun & entertaining. Age group from 1- 70, 1- 44, 1-36 & even a15 yr old. Please renew, so we can watch TV. Too many reality shows and most are not entertaining.
i look forward to watching and listening to what is being said on harry’s law. to me, it is the way things in real life could and should be. i hope this show will be back on tv and given a chance to be a success. thank you for the opportunity to give my point of view.
I’d like to see Harry have a season two, BUT, I really think the writing could be better. This show doesn’t even touch Boston Legal or even Ally McBeal…It really feels like it’s been dumbed down to catch a wider audience. Too bad too, cause Kathy is Great!!!
I love Harry’s Law! Please, please keep it on! Great characters and story lines. It really makes you FEEL something.
LOVE THE SHOW AND ACTORS. MAYBE SOME ACTION WOULD HELP. AND MORE CHRIS MCDONALD