Tonight, Numb3rs finishes off its sixth season with episode 118, “Cause and Effect.” Will the show be back next season? A decision hasn’t been made yet but lots of people are betting that it will be cancelled.
Numb3rs follows FBI Agent Don Eppes (Rob Morrow) and his genius brother, Charlie (David Krumholtz), who helps the authorities solve cases with mathematics. The cast also features Judd Hirsch (as their father), Alimi Ballard, Dylan Bruno, Navi Rawat, Aya Sumika, and Peter MacNicol.
The series debuted in January 2005 and has long been a successful player for CBS on Friday nights. In season one, Numb3rs averaged a 3.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic and about 11.1 million viewers. They went up in season two, with an average of a 3.3 rating and 11.7 million viewers. Viewership has fallen since then however and last season, Numb3rs scored a 2.2 and 10.2 million.
This season, Numb3rs’ ratings have dropped further still — averaging a 1.8 rating and 8.26 million viewers each week. As a result of the decline in ratings, CBS (which is having a very good season) decided to cut back on the number of episodes and reduced their season order from 22 to 16 installments.
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The official reason for the decrease is that CBS had too much programming and needed space to try out new series. Next week, Numb3rs’ timeslot will be occupied by a new show, Miami Medical.
CBS has maintained that the fate of Numb3rs hasn’t been decided yet but, considering the series’ production costs and ratings, it seems fairly certain that the show is done.
In fact, ABC and FOX are betting on it. The networks have already cast Morrow and Krumholtz in new pilots.
Morrow will star in a dramatic pilot called The Whole Truth for ABC, opposite Joely Richardson. He’ll play a fiercely competitive and successful defense attorney who is close friends with his equally talented courtroom adversary (Richardson). Whole Truth is being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.
Meanwhile, Krumholtz has been cast in a comedy pilot for FOX called Tax Man. The project’s being produced by Ron Howard and stars Krumholtz as an IRS Agent who’s trying to find nobility in his work. Judy Greer recently joined the cast.
If CBS does decide to bring Numb3rs back for another season, both Morrow and Krumholtz will be obligated to return. However, the other networks wouldn’t cast them in new pilots unless they felt it was a very strong possibility that Numb3rs would indeed be cancelled.
What do you think? Would you like to see Numb3rs return for a seventh season or is it time to say goodbye to the Eppes?
Image courtesy CBS.
I think that Numbers is one of the best shows on TV at the moment. There is always something going on with (minor) sub plots with Larry, Alan etc. It would be a real shame to get rid of it!
Numb3ers is great so of course it will be dropped. When did TV exec. decide that the only thing America watches are idoit reality and even worse game shows? The only reason anyone watches reality is because there is nothing else on network. Network TV is dooming itself!
The show may be a little past its prime, but it still has a great cast, sound writing, and one of the most unique premises on broadcast TV. It’s a lot better than much of the insipid stuff you see night-in and night-out. I don’t even want to watch its’ replacement (which, IMHO, looks like it’s going to be a same-old, same-old medical drama – CSI: Miami meets ER). Give ’em one more year!
I hope they don’t cancel it. My wife and I are avid fans, as are math teachers all over this country of ours.
I found Numb3rs interesting for the first season or two, but then it began to wear on me. Charlie’s character was an accurate portrayal of an academic, but he got too annoying after awhile – he comes across as just too much of a know-it-all. I actually found Peter MacNicol’s character more tolerable despite his “navel-gazing” because he took a more measured, thoughtful approach and came across as more modest. Don’s personal angst, while realistic, didn’t add anything to the show for me, it just made things messier. I liked the rest of the characters, especially Judd Hirsch as the… Read more »
Numb3ers is an excellent show. It illustrates a wonderful relationship between father and sons. And yes, academics really are the way they are depicted here! Furthermore, the actors can actually act, which cannot be said for the cast members of CSI Miami. My only quibble is with Don Eppes dreary love life.
bring back Numb3ers, best show on tv
It is possible to have an entertaining program that still does not scrimp on science details. “Bones” certainly does it and so does “CSI” and “Criminal Minds” though the latter to have become pretty gory.
“Numb3rs” writers have tried to minimize the science [math] which was the justification for the program. I hope they wake up !
I, too, love Numb3rs!! I am so delighted to have a program that uses various kinds of mathematics to solve real world problems. Never mind that you really couldn’t do the programming that fast or run some of those jobs so fast. But it shows how upper level mathematics can be used and how you can think about problems. I hope that some consequential number of young people will be inspired to become math majors after seeing this show. Of course, the vast bulk of the American public can barely spell “math”, so they probably don’t appreciate it. I, too,… Read more »
I think numb3rs was a cool show and to replace it for miami medical is not a good idea. Are u trying to copy abc or nbc by bringing another hospital show? Boring. Brimg bavk numb3rs that show had sparks miami medical should be buried.
Love Judd Hirsch in anything. Would be glad to see Peter MacNicol’s character go–way too much navel-gazing for my taste. Overall I thought show had far too much “drama” BUT I’ll be disappointed if it’s pulled because it was one of the most intellectually-challenging works on prime time TV and because there weren’t 2 or 3 different plot lines running at once, as often happens in the CSI’s. So yes, I hope they’ll stay for a seventh. (I wasn’t impressed with Miami Medical. Why not New Orleans Medical or Atlanta Medical? Now THERE would be some material.)
My wife and I don’t watch a lot of TV but we have enjoyed Numb3rs very much and it has become a tradition for Friday night viewing. CBS, please don’t cancel this show it has become one of our all time favorites.
I’ve not seen an episode of Numb3rs that I didn’t find enjoyable. Its refreshing to see something on TV that lets us see academia in a positive way. I would hate to see this show cancelled only to be replaced by yet another “reality” fiasco.
I loved NUMB3RS for years however the last season was not interesting. The whole marriage thing with Charlie and the way out frustrating character of Charlie’s mentor was just too much. I would have loved to see more Judd Hersch’s character relating to his sons and possibly getting caught up in some of the cases. The show used to be interesting and exciting and it got boring.
Numb3rs is one of the best shows on TV lately, so, of course, the execs at CBS will surely cancel it and replace it with some insipid sitcom or more of that “unreality” pablum. After all, they’ve demonstrated for decades that aiming at the lowest common denominator is always their best bet. Pity.