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 love the show me and my family all five of us watch it every week never miss it. i guess if we all watched it on different tvs that would be better for the views. hope it doesnt get cancled SECOND SEASON PLS
I hope CBS doesn’t cancel the Defenders. I love this show. I have to DVR it every week because I have to get ip do early for work, but I watch it the very next day. I can’t wait to get home to watch it. I think the whole cast is fabulous . Please don’t cancel it CBS!!!!
Love the show don’t cancel. Like the new time on Friday.
In a world so messed up right now it is nice to watch a show that the good wins over bad and evil. I LOVE The Defenders!!!!!! I’m even ok with the time change.PLEASE DO MOT CANCEL IT! I think it is a great show everyone in my house watches it and we LOVE it.
Me and my Fiance LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this show. I really hope it is not canceled because even when we arn’t home we always record it. I think that if they switched to Mon or Wed that they amount of viewers will increase. Friday is not a good day for the show because most people are out doing things. PLEASE don’t cancel the best show ever! I might have to boycot CBS! lol
When this show premiered I thought it was going to be cheesy and Las Vegas tacky and I suspect lots of people felt the same way and never gave it a chance, but I did and it’s a much better show than I expected.
I hope the show will be renewed. I love these two actors and the way they play off each other!!!!!!!!!!!! A great pairing. The supporting cast is also adds a great addition to the show.PLEASE RENEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a great show! Please don’t cancel it.
Do not cancel The Defenders! It is such a great show. It needs to be given a better night because almost no one watches TV on Friday. I love the show and still have to watch it online later. KEEP the show.
We love the program and look forward to it every Friday. It adds some humor to a serious format. Please sign it up for a second season. It is one of the few programs that is worth watching.
Whenever there is a good tong and cheek show ,well written with humor and a terrific cast ,well the Networks have to eliminate !! I am so sick of reality shows and other poor programs. It would be a shame to cancel “The Defenders.”
M. Nicholas
I hop to see at least Season 2!!!
It’s a great show and even educational!!
Hey! This is one of the best shows on tv. Great show, better acting. Improve the writing and remove it from the kiddy time slot. Deserves to stay. The show will succeed if it remains on the air.
Please don’t cancel the “Defenders”….Love it, Love it, Love it….Jim, Jerry and the rest of the cast are so much fun to watch…The storylines are always interesting, and I look forward to watching it every week! So of course, CBS would want to cancel it..I mean don’t they always cancel the good shows? Maybe they’re lining up another reality show….Yuck…I hate them…So predictable..like soap opera’s…Let the funny show with the great actors have another season…What have you got to lose? Just a few million viewers who are moving more and more over the cable TV…..
The show “The Defenders” is Terriffic!!! Myself along with a lot of other people I know would be sadly dismayed if this show were canceled. It is one of the more uplifting and lighthearted programs on the air. Belushi & O’Connell really mesh well together. I can’t say enough good things about it. I am looking foward to it’s return next season. Thank You – Sincerely, Lou Marchini.