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 will be very sad to lose this show. The premise is a bit flawed, but the action and the personal relationships amongst the players make up for that. I particularly enjoy the interplay between the brothers, and Rob Morrow makes Don a perfectly believable character. Tonight had the feel of a series finale though. I hope it isn’t.
There is NOTHING else on Friday nights! The show NEEDS to stay on. It’s the only thing worth watching. Period. It would be absurd and absolute stupidity to cancel such a wonderful and thought-invoking series. Tonight’s show was incredible so if this was the end, then it ended very happily.
Our family is constantly amazed that this show has stayed consistently well-written and entertaining for six seasons. Unlike most shows, it has never decreased in quality. Such a rare thing should be treasured. It’s the best thing CBS has on Friday night, or for that matter, anywhere in their lineup. Losing it would be a shame.
I just watched the finale, and the way it wrapped makes is very nearly impossible to bring it back. Besides, we need a show about doctors, nurses, and so on. We don’t have nearly enough of them. We should have at least five medical shows a week. Wait! This just in: with the addition of Miami Medical, there will now be at least two medical shows every evening. Oh goody.
Please don’t take Numbers off the air. It is one of the only intelligent shows on television now. The episodes are interesting, the cast is likable and fun. It allows us to watch something on television in this poor economy that keeps our brain working.
I love it and would hate to see it go but if it does they have wrapped it up well with tonights episode.
Numbers is without a doubt the best CBS show. I like some of the other dramas on CBS, but Numbers has more heart and soul then any other show on. Sorry to see it go. More sorry it hasn’t showed up in reruns.
Keep it on! I’m a late comer to the series. Been catching up on TNT in the am’s (Thank God for the DVR!)
Unfortunately, this season ender felt more like a series finale. CBS keep smart programming on!
I think the show needs to stay on. I think the time it is on may be the reason for a decline. Friday night at 9:00 is hard for many. KEEP IT ON. IT IS BETTER THAN A LOT ON OTHER SHOWS.
CBS – Numb3rs = Failure
CBS + Numb3rs Season 7 = Success
Leave Numbers on. It’s one of the best shows on TV. Sounds to me that Jerry Bruckheimer runs CBS. Whatever time slot he wants for his new show “Miami Medical”, he gets.
I love Numbers and was shocked to find out that it is doomed. Please keep it going. My family will sorely miss it if plans to cancel it are realized.
I think it’s been done most of this season. I’m tired of them not knowing what to do with Larry, so they have to give him continuous, unresolved existential angst. Charlie and Amita became as boring as one might expect as soon as they got engaged. Flat-affect Don has made baby steps toward some kind of self-reflection, but they are so microscopically small that it would take him years to gain the smallest glimmer of personal growth. Alan’s character hasn’t been developed in a long time. Time to go, folks. You had a great concept and a fun show, but… Read more »
One of my favorites, and the only thing I watch on Friday- faithfully. Its rarely disappointed.
Why do the bigshots have to get rid of something that is truly a good show? I to have not missed an episode. I say leave it on.