Last May, fans of Harry’s Law were overjoyed when NBC decided to renew the David E. Kelley series for another season. Unfortunately, the ratings have been terrible this season and it will surely be cancelled soon. What happened?
Starring Kathy Bates, Harry’s Law revolves around a sarcastic attorney named Harriet Korn who opens a small law firm in a rundown shoe store in Cincinnati. She’s initially aided by a young attorney named Adam (Nate Corddry), a quirky assistant named Jenna (Brittany Snow), and a paralegal, Malcolm (Aml Ameen).
The show debuted last January to a 2.2 in the 18-49 demographic with 11.07 million viewers. The demo number’s not great but it was certainly a lot better than what the network had previously been getting in the Mondays at 10pm timeslot. The show’s total viewership was impressive however and, when you have poor numbers like NBC, older-skewing viewership is better than nothing. The ratings for Harry’s Law began to dwindle down pretty quickly and the show ended the season with a 1.4 demo rating and 7.75 million.
The show was on the bubble for renewal and, on one of the other big networks, the law drama surely would have been cancelled. But NBC had few truly successful shows to renew so they brought Harry’s Law back for a second season.
A few months later, it was announced that the show’s cast was undergoing some big changes. Snow and Ameen were replaced by Mark Valley and Karen Olivo, Christopher McDonald became a regular, and the shoe store was abandoned in lieu of a more standard office.
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Many fans liked the old characters and quirky setting and expressed their displeasure with the changes before season two even began airing. When the show returned, it was to a new series low; a 1.2 in the demo and 7.5 million viewers. The most recent episode fell to an even more pitiful 1.1 rating with 7.3 million.
So, was NBC trying to sabotage Harry’s Law? No, of course not but they had to do something. Last season’s ratings weren’t good enough to keep the show on the air so producers and the network took a chance on making changes (not uncommon for a Kelley show) to hopefully attract more viewers. The gamble didn’t pay off and they ended up alienating some of the few viewers that they had.
Harry’s Law is currently averaging a 1.2 rating in the coveted demo and 7.85 million viewers. It’s the second-lowest scripted series on the network, performing just a bit better than Chuck on Friday nights. That show is ending it’s run after a 13 episode season and it looks certain that Harry’s Law will be cancelled after this season.
A few weeks back, NBC ordered a half dozen more scripts for Harry’s Law but, with these kinds of ratings, it’s very hard to imagine that they’ll ever be produced. If NBC’s mid-season replacement series tank, NBC could conceivably put some more episodes into production but that seems like a remote possibility at best.
Either way, Harry’s law firm is surely going to be closing its doors for good sometime this season.
What do you think? Did the season two changes ruin the show? Should NBC make more changes or should it just be cancelled already?
Image courtesy NBC.
When Kelly does something like remove Snow from the show, you know that he is in a bad place and just making mistakes. However, I won’t miss the show. It started off well and had heart, but then it lost the heart. Unlike Gabrielle, I didn’t like the romance between Snow and Aml. A sudden relationship between two main characters is a show’s way of saying that they are trying desperate things to revive the show.
I honestly don’t even care to watch the show anymore. It’s ruined.
I think this show turned into The Practice 3.0. I really dislike the changes but do continue to watch.
I am watching this show in the UK and we are part way through Season 1. I love this show as its a breath of fresh air. However I am aware now that the cast and setting has been changed in Season 2. This has perplexed me somewhat as I thought the show worked. However until Season 2 starts airing here I will reserve judgement on whether the show has lost its magic or not. I hope it doesn’t get cancelled but the omens don’t look good, do they?
If they wanted to keep Boston Legal then they should have never canceled Boston Legal. >>>seems like they are trying to make Harry into another show.
I don’t like the changes, either, or Mr Kelley ratcheting up the preaching. (His shows all have it, like the Dick Wolf shows you know it’s there, and tune it out if you’re not a guilty liberal). The preaching is not a BIG deal to me, because I am secure enough in my beliefs that a TV show is not going to change them, BUT if it’s too thick it gets annoying. However, what keeps me watching Kelly’s shows, is, they are well written, engaging stores, brought to lifeby some of the greatest character actors we have (THE PRACTICE, BOSTON… Read more »
I have to admit that I was confused by the show changes. I really liked last season’s story lines and was really loving Britanny Snow and Aml Ameen’s romance as well. Not sure what brought about the changes, but to me “Harry’s Law” has turned into just another legal drama.
Hated the cast change and the scripts went from subtle liberal preachiness to blatant finger wagging. We were sick of it after two new episodes this season and removed it from our DVR list. The creator sabatoged his own show. It stinks now.
Well as I’ve said, NBC and Fox on their way out. Even their best shows aren’t doing great. So it’s hard to say if this will be axed or not honestly. I knew why they renewed this, I said so when they did. Unless Grimm and prime suspect take off all of the sudden, I think it’s still up in the air. But I know this, I stopped watching new fox shows when they canceled Sons of Tuscan, now if they cancel Prime suspect and Whitney, then I’m done watching new shows on NBC too.
When in this day and time you can’t find anyway to view a full episode you have missed, I am not sure a show should stay on TV, especially one that is just hanging on as has been described! None of the full episodes of Harry’s Law for Season 2 are available. I missed last weeks 11/2 episode due to my DVR messing up. When shows don’t care about we the viewer it’s hard to fully care about them!
I MUCH preferred the original show, and have been getting as many people to watch as possible ever since the first episode. That whole bit where first Harry is walking down the street and a guy falls out of the sky on top of her, then she is walking there again later and stops to be sure nobody will fall out of the sky again… and steps into the street seeing the shoestore, and gets hit by a car. LMAO I was hooked from the word go. But this year they have lost some of that comedic magic. The show… Read more »
The second season not as good as the first (wish they would have stayed in the shoe store or in similar setting) anyway … Please don’t cancel…. It is much better than the (reality?) shows ….
I also was not thrilled at the changes, but am willing to give it some more time. Surely the plot lines are good.
Do NOT cancel the show!!
When it came back for the second season, I was definitely alienated. It felt like a different show almost, which immediately turned me off.