Last night, NBC burned off the final two episodes of Prime Suspect. The TV series has been ratings-challenged right from the start and, in November, NBC acknowledged that they wouldn’t be ordering any installments beyond the initial 13 episode order. The official word was that they would re-evaluate once all of the episodes had aired but everyone knew that it was really being cancelled.
If there was even a glimmer of hope that Prime Suspect might see a second season, the ratings for the final episodes didn’t help. Prime Suspect’s numbers continued to dwindle in the latter part of 2011. Last night, following a month hiatus, the finale registered a new series low.
Prime Suspect has been all but officially cancelled by NBC and its replacement, The Firm, is doing even worse. Last Thursday’s episode registered a 0.9 rating for its fourth episode. It took Prime Suspect 10 weeks to drop that low. Fortunately for fans of The Firm, NBC purchased 22 episodes up front. It remains to be seen if they’ll all air.
At the recent TCA press tour, NBC execs noted that, had Prime Suspect been on a premium cable channel like Showtime, it would have been declared a hit and would have been quickly renewed. Maybe but we’ll never know.
What do you think? Are you sorry that this was the end of Prime Suspect? Why do you think it didn’t catch on? Would it have been a hit on HBO or Showtime or even on a basic cable station like TNT?
Image courtesy NBC.
Liked the show a lot. Thought it was cleverly written, had great dialogue and just the right balance of humor & tragedy.
I’m shocked! Prime Suspect was a breath of fresh air. The characters were real, interesting, funny, moraled, flawed, and human. The entire cast was excellent; the relationships between the characters really mirrored today’s workplace, and so did their private relationships with family and lovers. Where as Law & Order plays to the Headlines–Prime Suspect played to the everyday crimes, hideous or minor. Take Maria Bello’s character driving en route to home and happening upon a knucklehead breaking a car window to steal the stereo system. Or the breaking of the Captain’s gumball machine twice no less. Hysterical. I laughed so… Read more »
Noooooooooo….Maria Bello was fantastic and the whole cast was great, hilarious at times! Can’t believe it has been cancelled.
I really enjoyed this show. It may have had a better chance if it had stayed in a regular time spot. It was moved around so much it was hard to find when it would be on.
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Prime Suspect is/ was a good show, as always it got bumped around and it was hard to find it. I even had to watch the latest episode on Primetime OD. It has actors that portray believeable characters, good stories, and was enjoyable to watch. NBC’s scheduling department is pitiful, IMHO this show should have been on the same night as Law & Order. I’ll miss Timony and her dealings with professional and private issues. I guess with the Superbowl and upcoming Olympics NBC doesn’t need to worry about primetime shows.
Wow!! NBC its time to cancel Law and Order, its really not necessary that cable shows this show all the time, and it really is too graffic for tv. That being said, Prime Suspect was more refreshing, showing the personal lifes of the characters. The characters actually or more gritty and real. Ice T always looks confused.
Wow NBC…..you need to bring back this show. Why does Law and Order need to be the only Police drama on your network? I mean in New York City, Channel nine is showing repeats of Law and Order at the same time, that you are showing the new episodes of Law and Order. In addition USA, TNT and keeps showing marathons. Oh my god. Give other actors and quality shows a chance. I really think Prime Suspect was refreshing, showing the personal lifes of the characters. You gave CHUCK five million chances, more then you know the show deserved.
I enjoyed the show as well. Sorry to see it cancelled.
Luckily, the original series it was copied from is available on DVD
Maybe if NBC came up with an original idea they would have more luck.
When they copy stuff…it usually fails.
Except The Office……although not as good as the original, it’s still very good.
Prime Suspect was so great. It got better and better. The characters were so funny, great chemistry with the whole cast. I loved the banter with the guys, the cases were interesting. The whole show was a joy to watch with tender moments, and laugh out loud moments too. NBC made a big mistake (that they will never fix) and I just keep wishing that some other cable network would pick this gem up – like what happened with Southland (a show I have never seen but was saved from the ashes). If this show had a different title it… Read more »
I really enjoyed the show but had trouble finding it on the schedule, it was all over the place.
Would like to see it continue in a regular time slot! The characters were great.
Never saw any promotions for the 2 final shows and ended up missing the first one as I just happened on the second hour when flipping through channels.
NBC needs to support their shows better.
NBC deserves to fail. This was the best show on network TV, with an ensemble that worked together beautifully. So they killed it.
great show – cannot believe they cancelled – better on a cable – less ediiting.
I loved that show and cant believe those idiots at NBC cancelled it!
I wish they would reconsider. Maybe pick a better time-slot. This is a fantastic show. The writing is superb and the acting is even better. The show got better with every episode. It always left me wanting more.