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 agree with the rest of these folks here. This is a really good show. The Belushi and OConnell characters work great together. I also hated seeing it moved to Fridays. I would love to see it move back to mid-week. I can’t believe the ratings on this show are so bad. It’s a great show. Bring it back!
Every episode of a new show can’t be a cliffhanger. However overall “The Defenders” has been very entertaining and good acting. The plots have been refreshing and interesting. I am not sure how accurate the viewing polls numbers are, but for my wife and I, we don’t miss an episode. There are few good shows on TV, most of it is repetative of most of the other garbage on TV these days. The sitcoms are stupid, hollow and un-entertaining. I truly hope they do not cancel “The Defenders”. But considering some of the stupid shows that are going to get… Read more »
one of my favorite new shows. i hated according to jim and thought this was gonig to be some corny ass show. i work nights so cant catch it and have to either watch online or download it. i really hope it stays
The Defenders is not the greatest show on earth. But, it’s not the worst, either. It is above average, and definitely entertaining. While most law dramas can be enjoyable, being very intense, The Defenders takes on a huge serious note, yet, deviates from traditional “Lawmas” by carrying some comedic interactions; a huge lift, in a highly mimiced genre. CBS was foolish to toss The Defenders over to Friday nights. I hope they have the sense to realize the value this show has, and keeps it going. And btw, CBS, don’t forget the value of DVRs and DVDs. I DVR this… Read more »
As stated by another this is not the end all of tv shows. It is very enjoyable. Each year my list of tv shows to watch is smaller. I dvr most shows that I like. I enjoy watching at my convenience and this is a show that is “series recorded” I can’t believe that the ratings gods would not consider the people that record shows. Also moving a show to Friday nights is not conducive to helping a show.
I hope this show stays. Give it a chance.
We think CBS is one of the worst to alter the favorite characters (or the strongest), shuffle the series times and kill off the favorites. No surprise they don’t give a fun serious like the Defenders a chance. The way our favorites are going, we will soon be watching cable only. If there is a ghost of a chance for the Defenders to return, we hope they come back.
I too love this show. I remember the old original defenders and it was so serious. This new show has the stars and it’s so fun to watch. I agree with the above posters that there aren’t too many good shows to watch and I also look forward to it being there. PLEASE, PLEASE, DON’T CANCEL IT. IT’S ON FRIDAY AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT COULD MAKE IT BETTER IN IT’S TIMESLOT.
Please do not remove them.Bring them back.Did not give them a chance.I love this show,better then Who loves Raymond,Meet my mom.Two and a half man.
One of the best shows on tv. Maybe if they changed the night again and found a good time slot it would work. It’s funny and upbeat thats what we need,all the drama shows are getting tiresome. Please don’t cancel it.
This is a funny, intelligent program that would do much better in a later time slot. Maybe put it back on Wednesday night.
It’s a fun show. Everyone but CBS knew the ratings would drop once they moved it to Friday. Networks expect every show to get 100% of the audience. Finishing first in the ratings is not good enough.
The Networks should be happy with what they are getting cause pretty soon everyone will tun to the cable channels to watch their series knowing that they won’t be cancelled so soon.
CBS Please don’t cancel The Defenders!! Once more people learn about it the ratings are sure to rise. I really enjoy it however the move to fridays doesn’t seem like a good idea. I’m forced to record it but since I enjoy it as much as I do always make sure it records. Look forward to next season!
DON’T CANCEL THIS SERIES!!! Not enough people know about it, and you didn’t give it enough time! IT’S FANTASTIC and so upbeat. Every time I watch it it makes me happy.. The whole staff just clicks and the personalities of all four main characters are perfect together. PLEASE let it go for at least another season. My husband and I love this show.. LET THIS CONTINUE.
I love the Defenders. I really wouldlike it to contineue. There are not many tv shows that are worth watching. The Defenders is absolutely worth watching!
Really enjoyed this show and once again hear that CBS may not renew it??? Don’t know why the ratings dropped, but I don’t think moving it to Fri nights helped… Just hope that CBS will reconsider and give it another chance. Jim Belushi,Jerry O’Connell as well as the rest of the cast are great together, and it was one of the few shows we looked forward to watching. Hopefully you will get inundated with “positive” emails and renew it.. Thank you
Give it another year – love the show!!