Court will soon be adjourned for the Mark-Paul Gosselaar drama, Raising the Bar. TNT has decided to cancel the series after two seasons but, there may still be more to come.
From executive producer Steven Bochco, Raising the Bar revolves around a group of law school classmates who work on opposite sides of the courtroom. The drama’s cast includes Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben, Currie Graham, Melissa Sagemiller, J. August Richards, Jonathan Scarfe, Teddy Sears, Jane Kaczmarek, Stacy Hall, Natalia Cigliuti, Paul Joyner, Wayne Lopez, Jon Polito, and Angel Oguendo.
Back on September 1, 2008, the series premiere attracted 7.7 million viewers. That set a record for TNT as the biggest audience for a new series launch on regular cable. Unfortunately, much of the audience didn’t return for later episodes which averaged 5.5 million. Despite an early decline, TNT renewed the series for a second season.
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On June 8th, season two of Raising the Bar attracted just 3.6 million and shed half of the audience of its lead-in, The Closer.
As a result of the low ratings, the cable channel has cancelled the legal drama. Via a statement, a TNT representative said, “Everyone at TNT had a great experience working on Raising the Bar with Steven Bochco and the rest of the show’s terrific cast and crew. We’re proud of the series and appreciate the efforts of all of the creative people who were involved. Unfortunately, ratings for Raising the Bar’s second season did not reach the levels required for TNT to renew the series.”
TNT had opted to split the second season into two parts. The first dozen episodes finished airing on August 24th. That leaves three episodes on the shelf. It was expected that they would air in early 2010 but they haven’t been given airdates yet.
What do you think? Are you upset that the series has been cancelled? Why do you think that Raising the Bar failed — acting, storylines, or something else?
Image courtesy TNT.
Another good show is canceled because of declining viewers. That statement by itself would seem fair; however, when you examine the major factors for the diminishing fan base you will find once again that a network takes a winning show and decides to switch nights, take month long (or longer) hiatus and when the show finally returns midswing in its season it’s slotted on a new night. The tv executives wonder what happened to the early signs of success after they sabotage momentum, congruency, and consistency. I am truly amazed how many promising series have been canceled with the exact… Read more »
I think the stoty line and characters are stronger that other shows, never occured to me that this show would get canceled. Too bad really, I hope the producers can reconsider this decision.
this is the first i’m learning about the show being cancelled. it never occured to me that a show with this kind of quality would be cancelled.
I thought Raising the bar was great! Really sad to hear they aren’t doing a season 3. I too anticipated each new episode.
I just found out that Raising the Bar has been cancelled. what a bummer. Great actors, terrific script, and real-life drama. I think it was a scheduling. It was up against too many reality shows. too bad. It has great potential.
please find a way to give it another try.
Pat
Please bring it back. Great show and it deserves another chance.
I hate to see this show canceled. It was terrific and I looked forward to watching it.
I was shocked to hear they had canceled this show.
This show had more reality in it than “reality shows” do! I would hope that Raising the Bar would be given another shot. The cast is great. The storyline believable and Bochco has not had a failure in years. What really gets me is how TNT w/ their contract negotiations and NBC may also cancell Law and Order(current shows/NBC). What’s next, CSI-Miami/N.Y. ????? PLEASE give this decision some more thought. If YOU KNOW DRAMA, then you know what the right action should be… Thanx.
My favorite show. Oh well. Why it was canceled is obvious. It failed to appeal to a mass of watchers who prefer reality tv to amazing and thoughtful drama.
I can’t believe they cancelled the show. It would appear that every show that has good content and that are thought provoking no longer warrant to be seen. I hope this trend changes and that you start with Raising the Bar.
It would seem (to me at least) that every show on TV that I enjoy is taken off too soon. Raising the Bar is one of them. This show had the potential to be one of the best shows on TV. All the indgredients were there; talented cast, great scripts, realistic courtroom drama, personal subplots that enhanced the story.
It’s unfortunate that Steven Bochco couldn’t see beyond his balance sheet.
I think this sucks Raising the Bar was one of my favorite shows now i wont be able to watch it. Please bring it back on another channel if u have to but just bring it back.
I love “Raising the bar”! Can’t wait to see more! I think it suffered from its scheduling. I remember many a night trying to juggle between that show and “Weeds” or whatever was on Showtime. It was scheduled late on a very popular tv night. I miss it, though. Bring it back, please!
Please give Raising The Bar another try this year. Many of us think this is the greatest, refreshing, thing to hit TNT or any channel for a long time. The cast and producer are fabulous. It is always on my record button to tape every show. I think of the series from week to week and eagerly anticipate each new episode.
Thank You, Cheryl K
Always love the shows that draw me into the personal lives of the characters. It adds depth to the office politics and courtroom drama. I watched it faithfully and I sure hope another network sees it’s entertainment value and picks it up.
TNT your are becoming just another one of those third-rate networks which re-runs the re-runs of better networks. What’s up with marathon showings of someone else’s brainshildren.
Now on a praise note, thanks for returning Law and Order CI to the screen. Just love it!