Tonight marks the final episode of The Defenders for the season. How likely is the CBS freshman series to be back next fall with season two?
The Defenders follows a pair of lawyers operating out of Las Vegas. They’ll do just about anything for their Sin City clients, often taking on cases no one else will touch, and try to keep their sanity while doing it. The TV show stars veterans Jerry O’Connell and Jim Belushi as well as Jurnee Smollett, Tanya Fischer, and Gillian Vigman.
For its premiere, the series dominated its timeslot with a 2.9 in the coveted 18-49 demographic and 12.2 million total viewers. That put the new show in first place in both categories and essentially doubled the performance of ABC’s now-cancelled, The Whole Truth.
Unfortunately, The Defenders’ audience slowly eroded over the course of the season and by January had hit a new low of a 1.5 rating in the demo and 6.81 million viewers. CBS switched the series to Fridays in February and, not surprisingly, the ratings got worse. On Fridays, Defenders has averaged a 1.3 demo rating and that’s worse than what now-cancelled Medium was getting in the same timeslot.
If you look at the season averages, The Defenders is one of CBS’ worst performers. Though the network has not officially cancelled it yet, it is hard to imagine that CBS execs would consider renewing it for a second season.
What do you think? Should The Defenders be cancelled? Why do you think the series hasn’t attracted a bigger audience?
Image courtesy CBS.
I really enjoy this show, I hope CBS leaves it on but put it on a day that people will watch it, not Friday.
My sister told me she heard they were going to cancel “The Defenders” I cannot tell you how much my family & I enjoy watching the program. Our family is very disappointed too hear CBS is thinking about cancelling the show. You know the program “Mash” wasn’t a hit until they moved it around & found the right time, & look what happened. All we can do is ask CBS too find the right time for this show.
Thank You
I hope that CBS doesn’t cancel this show. My boyfriend and I agree that it is a great show. The storyline and writing is fabulous. The characters give it awesome character and grab your mind and heart during that hour each week. If anyone from CBS is reading this, I hope that CBS keeps it going… at least for the pleasure of my boyfriend, my family, myself, and the many others out there 🙂
I love the Defenders, fun, entertaining, not raunchy, vulgar and crude as Law and Order SVU has become….disappointed in the that show TO SAY THE LEAST…has become: too much information, too much vulgarity, too much foul language….WHAT HAPPENED!!!
I ALSO LOVE HARRY’S LAW…both of these shows are fun, quick moving, just nice…but then I would imagine, nice doesn’t qualify these days…WHAT A SHAME….
KEEP THEM..SHOW PEOPLE AGAIN YOU CAN SHOW DECENT ENTERTAINMENT!!!
Please do not take “The Defenders” off the air. It is very entertaining and has a different flair to it as opposed to the usual law shows. Jim Belushi is great and both he and Jerry O’Connell make a great team. I do not mind the Friday night spot, some of us do stay home. But no matter what time slot it is moved to, if it is not cancelled, I will be there. There are so few good shows to watch these days. This would be a big mistake. I watched Chaos the other night and if that stays… Read more »
The reason THE DEFENDERS got low ratings was that it wasn’t sleazy and perverse enough for the mass of TV watchers who are reaching for the gutter. It was an uplifting, fun and intriguing romp by a couple of good-hearted lawyers in Las Vegas. It had good writing, good casting, Belushi was “in his element” doing a great job week after week. Just not enough low-brow, lab science perversity, apparently.
I WANT IT BACK! ENOUGH WITH THE TACKY SLEAZE AND GORE! GIVE THE DEFENDERS A FRESH CHANCE IN A STRONG TIME SLOT!
A great show, super actors, good stories, Las Vegas backdrop. Networks are doomed to self destruction. You need patience and commitment. The network news is crap. Most series are pathetic. The network slugs should disolve in their slime. I’m gonna read a Ted Bell book.
I LOVE THE SHOW.It is so real and belushi is vert believable as a serious lawyer.
The networks are slitting their own throats the way I see it. We are being forced to watch our favorite shows off the internet because they won’t leave the damn programming schedules alone. Form week to week you never know if they’ve switched to another night or what the the f… is going on! No wonder they can’t get any consistently decent ratings; we can’t ever find our shows to watch them! What ever happened to ordering 24 stinking episodes and starting them in Oct. or Nov. and running them out to their finale in the spring, then re-airing them… Read more »
I loved this show. The acting is superb and the story lines are always interesting. I particularly liked that there was no need for inappropriate suggestive content or language. Please consider giving it another try next season.
Love this show and all the characters have a great chemistry.
My wife and I think that the Defenders is a very good show compared to many that seem to survive ……We think it is better than Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, CSI Miami, and Hawaii Five-O to name a few…….CBS does have the best overall quality of shows and if we had a say, The Defenders would get a big thumbs up and be given a chance by awarding it a second season!!
absolutely right paul !! I stopped watching Blue Bloods after the 2nd o 3rd show. BORING !!! The defenders is such a great show….if they cancell, i will be totally bummed 🙁
I think its a shame and the show has not found its nich yet. The cast and story lines are great. There is just so much crap on now and you can keep the reality bs. The two main guys Jim and Jerry have such chemistry and the way they work off each other. I just think the show has not be given a fair shot with the time slot and night changes. Well for what it’s worth. I didnt miss one episode of this show and on a Friday night? that’s unheard of? but had to readjust my scheule… Read more »
I love the show and hope it continues. But, then I love lawyer shows. I was disappointed when they cancelled Shark with James Woods as well. Let’s hope this show continues. Alot of shows start very slow. To remind CBS, although it was 30 years ago and completely a different time, MASH (one of the greatest shows of all time) did not do well in it’s first season. But after the reruns ran, it earned a second year. As I understand it, the Waltons was put up against Flip Wilson and was slated to fail. I think we know what… Read more »
My husband and I both LOVE this show. The writing is excellent, the stories are great. The acting is super. The mix of drama and lightness is terrific. This is a show that should stay around for a long time. For heavens sake, leave us some good shows. You keep taking off the good ones and leaving the cruddy ones. This one is a WINNER!!!!!
I LOVE this show. Belushi and O’Connell are perfect together. It touches on serious subjects, but with a lot of light, funny moments. Everyone I know loves it. Maybe if they stopped messing around with the time slot, people could find it and continue watching. It is one of the best new shows to come along in years, and it would be a crime to cancel it. Thoroughly entertaining.
The Defenders is wonderful; I look forward to watching it. Fridays are really not good tv nights, so when it switched to Fridays, I had to watch them on “On Demand.” The cast mesh so well, their acting natural and believable, and the plots fun. Jim Belushi, Jerry O’Connell, Tanya Fiscer and Jurnee Smollet seem to have found a niche in this show! What a shame if it is cancelled. Mr. Belushi’s other show, According to Jim, was not nearly as good as The Defenders, and that seemed to have gone on for YEARS. He is so much better in… Read more »
The best thing on tv for a long time. please please do not cancel this brilliant show . give it a chance . mtg