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.
The best TV drama out there period. Best show on TNT no question about it. I am very disappointed that the show was cancelled. TNT should do something about bringing this show back. If not enough people tuned in, then market the show in better ways. This show is a 9 or 10 season show.
I also never heard of this show until i found it on netflix – that must be saying something, right? Just served on jury duty a month ago and wanted to watch a show that explored some of the issues I saw – Raising the Bar did exactly that and I’m not through season 2 yet but will be sorely disappointed when i reach the end!
TNT MADE A BIG MISTAKE CANCELING RAISEING THE BAR. THIS NEW SHOW WILL BOMB, I WILL NOT WATCH IT!!
I am a criminal defense attorney and have to admit that “Raising the Bar” was the most realistic “legal” drama I have ever seen on television/cable. I, like many others, never saw the promotion for this series and only started watching it on Netflix last week. I watched all 25 episodes in a week and am now looking for another substantive series that measures up.
The very first time that I was introduced to this show was on Comcast. I never watch TNT, but was browsing the on demand and saw Mark and was like –hey a “saved by the bell guy”– I watched it AND LOVED IT IMMEDIATELY. I was left wanting more EVERY WEEK!!! I was very confused when the show disappeared from the queue. I continually looked for the show even after it initially disappeared. As soon as I signed up for Netflix I WAS ECSTATIC to find it on there and even happy to relive all the shows because they were… Read more »
I thought it was a great show that needed to be seen. I thought it was showing a lot that needed to be seen in the the court room. Please brig it back!
I loved Raising the Bar…it was the best show on TV. Very well written. Believable and exciting! I wish they would reconsider their decision.
Raising the bar is aired in Greece right now (am watching it in Greece), I like it very much, some of the actors in it I have seen for the first time, and they are very good, the whole show is very good…bring it back!!!!
I kept hoping Raising the Bar would return. With the advent of the silly ads for Franklin and
Bash, obviously that hope will not be realized. Whatever are Mr. Gosselaar et al thinking???
Raising the Bar was just a top notch show, made one think and deeply involving. PLEASE
someone re-think the issue of putting on a show with some “meat” to it
I totally agree with you on this one. I loved Raising the Bar…had it set to record on my dvr. So not looking forward to the new show that Gosselaar will be staring in.
As a Deputy District Attorney I really enjoyed this show. It did a great job of showing some of the real “corruption” in the system – the things that the typical public does not know or understand and which I fight against daily. It was inspiring to see.
I did not approve of some of the intimate scenes in various episodes and really think they could have done without that nonsense.
It looks like TNT “lowered the bar” and went with a silly law comedy (Franklin & Bash) with Mark-Paul Gosselar instead of a well-written, realistic legal show. Don’t we have enough of that garbage on the networks? I come to TNT for quality shows like The Closer, not mindless sitcoms.
I am so disappointed to see this show cancelled. As the other commentators, I thought this was an excellent show. It kept you at the edge of your seat the entire hour. I thought all the actors were great. What in the world is the rest of America watching?? This is a great show and hope the network thinks about bring it back even my 18 yr old son liked show and would watch it with me.
I love this show. Just watched the two seasons on netflix and it easily ranks up there under NCIS but above Law and Order: SVU which are two of my absolutely favorite shows. I wanted to see Charlie become a judge and Jerry’s relationship with Bobbi grow. I wanted Michelle to get put in her place once and for all because I can’t STAND Michelle, and for McGrath to stand up to Balco, and for Balco to get an STD or something. I was just aching for Roz to realize how perfect Richard is and to see baby James again…… Read more »
I recently found this on netflix and I think it’s one of the best series ever. Can’t believe it was cancelled. I think it just wasn’t exploited enough – DVDs, hulu, itunes, etc. Not everyone tunes into TNT. I never do. I’m guessing it failed because, perhaps it wasn’t a common denominator show. It probably didn’t appeal to as many people, but appealed to those fewer people a great deal. For example, I would happily pay $2-$3, per episode to watch this on iTunes, which is surely less than a show’s advertising revenue per viewer. Perhaps had it been exploited… Read more »
Totally agree, I went through two seasons in three days, it was so addicting! Loved every minute of it, definitely shouldn’t have been cancelled.
I watched both seasons on Netflix in two days as well. This show is amazing. I am so sad that I didn’t know about it before. It is disappointing that quality tv doesn’t stay on the air.
This was one of the best series I’ve ever watched. I’m so disappointed that it ended. I thought the cast, story lines and personal lives were very well balanced, and thought out. Truly more realistic than many other “law and order” type shows. I do not remember seeing it advertised, if I did, I would have become a loyal fan and watched it each week. In the meantime, there are so many other disappointing series that seem to get taken up each season, which leaves an intelligent audience with not much to choose from. I am so glad I found… Read more »