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.
Oh, please…Harry’s Law is the only show I drop everything I’m doing to watch-all week long and NBC is considering dropping it. I’d love to meet with NBC’s marketing department and CEO’s. Must be the same ones they had in the ’70’s. No show’s going to bring you in 75 million viewers-there’s too many channels(options) with the advancements of cable and sattelites. Would someone please explain to me why these people are so persistant about bringing back shows from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s that were successful in their days and trying to remake them to fit into today’s society-basically,… Read more »
I LOVED IT. THEY SHOULD RENEW IT. THEY ALWAYS TAKE OFF THE BEST ONES,
Great show! Kathy Bates is excellent.
Are you kidding! Get a Clue! This is one of the best shows on T.V. The show demonstrates humor with real people, with real daily life situations. It is the only show on T.V. that allows us to laugh and cry at ourselves. I’m not one to pay much attention to ratings, they do not always tell the real story. If your not getting the ratings then maybe they need to consider who they are advertising too. Seems pretty simple to me: . Advertise in more venues . Change the time slot to and earlier slot . Include older (50+)… Read more »
Please don’t cancel this great program, I love it!
BEST series in years!! Beautifully scripted and acted. Role was made for Kathy Bates!
Dialogue pared to the bone–no fillers like other shows. Subjects always topical, thought
provoking and socially conscious–right out of current news. EXCELLENT program!
Would be a CRIME to cancel! Maybe it needs more hype to survive. Undoubtedly the
most intelligent production in ages.
Monday is a great nite for it.
I LOVE this show! I look forward to watching it more than any other program all week, and I even watch it instead of Hawaii Five-0 on Monday nights! PLEASE bring back this show. It is one of the most refreshing and funny new shows to debut on TV in a long time.
Bring back Kathy Bates…..please! She Rocks!
I didn’t know there was a final for this show. I watch it every week and when I looked for it tonite…..it wasn’t on so I thought I look on line.
I love this show….please bring it back! There’s nothing else on on Monday nite!
Love the show! Kathy Bates is the best. Please keep it on!
RENEW IT !!!! It’s a great show, Kathy Bates makes a great smart-ass lawyer, smart, cunning, dry sense of humor. The dynamics of her co-workers is also interesting. I think this show is one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time. I work 3-11 and I have taped and than watched it when I got home….every single Monday, LOVE IT !!!!
I love this show! Harry is real, honest and gutsy. She appeals to old codgers like myself and my husband (mid 60’s). I think the ratings may have dropped a bit due to some extreme violence in one of the episodes. CLOSE YOUR EYES IF YOU CAN’T TAKE IT!. The show is classy.
Harry’s Law is a great show. Best show since Boston Legal. I watched LA Law and Order tonight and Harry’s Law is a much better show. It seems every time a good show comes out it gets canceled without giving it a chance to prove itself. I can’t wait until the reality show craze has gone the way of the Edsel.
Please bring back this show. I looked forward to it every Monday. No one asked my opinion and I am outside the age bracket you surveyed. I will be 63 in May. I would like the show to be on at 8 Central time. As long as I know when it’s on, I can record it and watch it later. Show some actual shoe sales and restocking. The combination of space is a great idea. I love the different areas of society that Harry deals with. I think negative comments about the race issue are overstated. Continue to broaden Harry’s… Read more »