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.
Just finished watching the series on Netflix! Great show. I’m very disappointed there is no more.
How can they cancel a show like Raising the bar, just to replace it with Franklin& Bash? Cmon Zack Morris, you went from stealing my heart again to making me embarassed of my childhood crush.
I am very disappointed they cancelled the series. I thought it was great. The reason it ended might’ve had something to do with the time slot, or poor marketing on the show’s behalf, but it didn’t have anything to do with the cast- which was excellent, or the acting- which was good, or even the story line- which to me was very engrossing. I was pretty shocked when it didn’t come back for a third season. Maybe if they tried it on Bravo or AMC? Or even Fox. I think it would do great. I hope they bring it back!
Like others, I found the show on Netflix. Thought it a wonderful program, humane, touching and well-done. Steps above other fare. I hesitated to watch the last shows knowing there was no more to follow.
Love this show! So sad that there is not a season 3!
Thank God for Netflex or I would have missed this show completely. What a great series. I am so sorry that it will not be continued. Somebody should bring it back!
wow, this was a great show. i loved the characters and am so sorry it was cancelled. the show was well written, the acting was superb and it has me at the edge of my seat. who were the bimbos who cancelled this show.
Like others, I found this series on Netflix. I am heatbroken that it ended after only 2 seasons. I would have watched it when it aired, I just never knew about it. I think the show needed more publicity. Either way, I would love to see them bring it back. Since Gosselaar is in a new TNT courtroom show, I doubt there are any plans to resurrect Raising the Bar.
I watched on Netflix. I sure wish there was more.
This show was a winner! The problem was not with the show….Probably noone knew about it!!!!
Definitely bring it back. I’m watching the 2 seasons again for about the 3rd time. This series really grabs me. Take a lesson from JAG, which was canceled after the first year on one network (can’t remember now which one) but was then picked up by another and lasted for 9 more seasons. Give this series a chance to blossom. It’s got tremendous potential.
It’s difficult to think that a viewer that didn’t like the series would make it so far as to be writing a comment on this page. Times are changing, and like me, a lot of viewers got a taste of “Raising the Bar” on Netflix. A season in a weekend? It’s hard to see how the profit is being made, and that’s because it was staged to air on TNT. The research that went in to when and how the show would air was possibly flawed. I’m male, 39 yrs old, married 10 years with 3 children, in management, and… Read more »
Excellent show. Bring it Back!!!
yes i am extremely upset that the series ended…when there is such a great crew and possible underlining relationships that can change at any point which keep viewers dying to see the show…
i watched the first season over the weekend via netflix and look forward to watching the second season this week…this show is/was as enjoyable as law & order:svu
looks like zack has really grown up…all of the characters draw there own interest and the cases keeps the show interesting…to bad its cancelled