Bones has been a quiet hit for FOX but the same can’t be said for its spin-off, The Finder. FOX has now cancelled the low-rated series after one season.
The Finder is a procedural series that revolves around a man (Geoff Stults) with the extraordinary ability to help people find the unfindable. Other castmembers include Maddie Hasson, Mercedes Masohn, and Michael Clarke Duncan.
The spin-off debuted on January 12th to a disappointing 1.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 5.50 million total viewers. It was fourth in its Thursday night timeslot right out of the gate and lost nearly 30% of the all-important demo from its compatible lead-in, Bones. This was not a good start.
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Things picked up a bit in the following weeks, thanks in large part to the show having FOX’s blockbuster American Idol as a lead-in. Still, the numbers weren’t as high as they should have been.
After seven weeks on the air, FOX put Finder on hiatus and then moved it to Friday nights, giving its Thursday timeslot to Touch. If The Finder could maintain a healthy percentage of its viewers after the switch, it would likely garner a renewal.
But that didn’t happen and Finder’s numbers dropped like a rock. In its first Friday airing, the freshman series attracted a 1.1 demo rating — an episode-to-episode loss of 53% — with just 4.03 million viewers. The numbers for future episodes fluctuated a bit but didn’t really get any more encouraging. The network could do just as well or better by running cheaper reality programming.
The season finale of The Finder is set to air this Friday night and there won’t be any episodes after that. Hopefully the producers saw the writing on the wall early enough and won’t leave viewers hanging with any major unresolved storylines.
What do you think? What went wrong with this show? Why do you think The Finder failed to attract a bigger audience? Was cancelling the series the right decision? How would you have fixed it?
I loved The Finder. I watched every episode, and am not only pissed they cancelled the show, but the way they left it was crap!! Way to go FOX, you really screwed the pooch this time!!!!!
I think along (apparently not with everyone else) that Reality TV has turned the 17-49 group’s brains into mush. The last show was great and I cried when Walter’s father died and his life was totally turned around. Michael Clarke Duncan is a great foil to Walter and it’s a shame that the great shows get cancelled because of Reality TV.
Another smart, funny show cancelled. Let’s get another ‘reality’ show instead – yay.
Please sign these petitions, it can’t hurt, and might help.
https://www.change.org/petitions#search/the finder
i really enjoyed the show , i live in Canada and if I miss one i can watch it on Roger on demand. It’s a great show, love the characters . Why do they keep cancelling the good shows and give us more reality. This is a show that is funny, interesting .
Give it a bit more publicity.
Just found The Finder in recent weeks. You think FOX being the “great company” it is would advertise more. This show was amazing. But, I will no longer watch FOX. Sorry, Fringe but your network just is not worth the effort anymore. Goodbye, FOX! RIP
I loved the finder maybe if it wasn’t moved to friday night (the days when most people go out) move it to tuesday nights when almost no shows come on. Also maybe if the finder had more murders then it would raise suspense.
I also think they didn’t give it enough time for people to hear about it too
Wow I am so surprised! This was great show… we loved this show! The intrigue, mystery was so well written. Fun, clean show.. everyone could watch.. So disappointed in FOX.
IF someone who knows how to start a change petition, would, that might do it. I’ve signed them but don’t know much about starting them. Enough signatures, might make the imbeciles who cancelled this awesome show reconsider.
The Finder was one of the best shows on TV this year, judging from the “oh, oh, let’s watch THAT one!” factor when it came time to pick a show to watch off the DVR… only Scandal rated higher on that scale. Awake is pretty good, but not AS good. Missing is tolerable, Touched is execrable.
Love the finder and so sad it has been cancelled. I too am tired of reality (aka, mostly stupid) tv. I don’t think anything went wrong with the show, though I did like the lady character in the bones episode. I think there was bad marketing with this show and moving it was stupid. Of course I think that canceling was a bad move. I wish they would have marketed better and not been so quick to move it!
I really enjoyed the show, I DVR’ed every episode, the only thing I think it needed was more action. All of the story lines had the option to have more action. The final episode when Walt took on the Moonies is what was need in all the previous ones. It was way to nice in comparison to all the other options out there to watch.
Sigh… I really enjoyed this show. I’m very sorry to see it go. It was a quirky show and with another season or two I think it would’ve found a nice audience. Maybe it can find a life on cable and their weird, short seasons. While I really like the full network seasons of shows, I think production companies are finding the short cable seasons more favorable. I’m kinda surprised that the show didn’t start on the USA Channel, where it seems a natural fit among shows like Burn Notice, Suits and the recently ended In Plain Sight. Well, it’s… Read more »
I could not agree more, well said Len C………..I am all but afraid to invest my self in anything fox has control of! Their was a time when patients was a virtue but not any more, its all about a quick return!
I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sad that The Finder is cancelled. Like everyone who commented, I too believe that the finale left so many questions unanswered!!!! I really hope that another network will pick up the show, because the ending left it open for a way to start off a second season. Stupid Fox network…