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.
NOOOOO! Please DON’T cancel “The Defenders”!!! We looked forward to watching it every week and encouraged others to tune-in. Now, we are baffled that it’s up for debate as to whether or not it will have earned a second season. We are committed to watching, so please bring it back!
Love this show – please don’t cancel
Everyone in our country is too busy watching the crap that is Jersey Shore and Teen Mom! That’s why good shows like this fail… While it got decent viewer ratings, all that matters in the US is the 18-49 demographic, unfortunately. And we all know most of kids 18-24 or 25 are watching the crap mentioned above. What does that say about our country…that garbage reality shows that belong in a landfill or a sewer somewhere, rake in the viewers, yet something refined and excellent can’t make it?
Please don’t cancel the Defenders. I really enjoyed the show. I think ratings were due to the holidays and time slot change. There were serveral weeks that I had to figure out when it was coming on. I think for about two weeks it was cancelled because of special programming this made it difficult to program in my DVR. Please give it a fair chance with consistancy before cancelling it.
NO, It is one of the best shows we have had on TV for a long time, It is totally entertaining and I never saw a show where I wasn’t smiling at the end. Keep it going.
This is a great show!!! It should not be cancelled.
It was a great show and no wonder the ratings fell, the stupid network changed the time slot and people lost track of the show. CBS is always getting rid of great shows, its how they roll.
Don’t cancel Defenders. It is a very entertaining show and it involves good stories and human interest. I liked all the characters. There is so much junk and violence on TV and this show has good stories that hit home. This is good TV series – don’t cancel it!!!
The Defenders is a great show. To cancel it would be a shame. There are not very many good shows on TV anymore and to even think of cancelling this show is crazy. All of this reality junk. Plese keep this show going…
Please don’t cancel ‘The Defenders”. There are too few quality programs on TV anymore. I’m so tired of all the junk available on regular & cable TV. This has comedy and does not have language and nudity in every scene.
Great entertainment for crime show/legal thriller junkies. NEEDS MORE ADVERTISING TO SUCCEED!
This show has character. The Vegas background makes it even better. The nice blend of the cast is perfect. The writing has been super. Quit messing with the time slot. Friday is not a good nite to expect good ratings.
It’s smart, entertaining but in the wrong time slot. How about thursday at 9pm. Anything!! Just don’t make me watch more history or discovery cause the big network has lost it’s programming way. If lucky, USA, TNT, or A & E can pick it up.
I liked the defenders very much I hope they don’t cancel it. Its nice to see something interesting on tv besides reality shows
noooooo.dont cancel it .great show .oh wait lets do another dancing with the nuns or maybe supernanny for the dugars ,or maybeeee ,little people the bathroom knightmares !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!