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.
I just learned today — as many of you have — that Raising the Bar has been cancelled. I guess 2.2 million viewers is not enough. I guess TNT doesn’t care about upsetting 2.2 million viewers–what does that say to YOU? From pressure–writing letters and bloggings like this–brought back BETTER OFF TED, oh, excuse me that is a network show, not TNT. Shame on TNT, lets see what they got for us next year….I’m quite certain it will not be Raising the Bar Quality. Hey, Steven Bochco, you could always tweak RTB and put it on Fox or ABC. It’s… Read more »
I just realized that this show is NO MORE!!!! I am so upset. This is one of the very few shows that is delivering episodes with thought and compelling messages, great acting and memorable characters. I am so disappointed. I understand that money talks but more and more stupid, meaningless and thoughtless shows are created because they attract audiences. And, this saddens me because it does not say much about people and their minds. The rest of us who want to think or who want to process have less and less to watch. This was definitely one of the better… Read more »
i love this show and i watch the whole season and i had recorded it on my dvr and watched them again. I checked out the website and read all i could on the show and its characters. I would really hate to see this show end. I enjoyed the actors, the storylines and everything.
NO …NO….NO….why when there is a good show…they cancel it ….cancel one of the other silly show….damn….it just cant be cancelled…BOYCOTT…..
I cannot believe what I am reading, I loved this show with such a passion. The cases were compelling and left the watcher to think about the issues encompassed in every episode. I’m really shocked that this show has been canceled; I was waiting in anticipation for season three.
I cannot believe that an intriguing show like Raising the Bar got cancelled. I really enjoy the show and I definately want toto see it continue. I would like to see a stronger storyline for J August Richards’ character. This is a true loss just as the cancellation of Crossing Jordan was.
I think I just watched the last three episodes of “Raising the Bar.” I had my DVR programmed to record all new episodes, and three were aired on December 24, 2009. The last one, loosely based upon a massage parlor case, was entitled “Happy Endings.” I was not aware of the series’ cancellation, but the episode seemed to tie up some loose ends, so I checked online and was disappointed to learn of the series cancellation. TNT aired a marathon after the first season, which I watched over a week-end, and I was hooked! So sorry to see this show… Read more »
the show is really great and like always networks are jumping the gun the with taking shows off the air not giving people time to watch shows I am part of the 3 million plus that started from day 1. But as always it wont do any good so why bother.
Both my husband and I thoroughly enjoy this show. We are very sorry it has been cancelled. With all the crappy reality shows on TV there isn’t much to watch that really grabs you. This show did just that.
I can’t believe this show was cancelled. I so looked forward to all the episodes. I hope another network will pick it up. This was one of the best, true to life shows on TV
I really enjoyed “Raising the Bar”… Some of the situations were tough to watch but it definately represented life as it really is… It made you think and decide how you felt about some of the injustice of the different cases… Please, not all the programs can mindless dribble…. This is a great show and I would love to see it come back…
This show was great! I hate to hear it didn’t make it. I believe the show was cancelled because there was too much time between the seasons.
The person @ TNT who made the decision to cancel the show should be fired or have his career @ TNT be just as short lived as the show
We are so disappointed to hear that Raising the Bar is cancelled. It was one of our favorite shows – as all of Steven Bochco’s shows are our favorites. They should certainly reconsider this unfortunate cancellation.
I am in shock. Raising the Bar is one of the best programs on television, I was so looking forward to enjoying it for many years. I’m begining to get really frustrated with good programs being so short lived!!!!