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?
WHAT THE HELL MAN!!? IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR TIME AND PATIENCE FOR A SHOW TO CATCH ON TO VIEWERS!? You’ve took away EVERY SHOW I’VE LOVED ON THAT SUCKY NETWORK (FOX) THAT’S IT …AFTER BONES …I’M DONE WITH FOX! THEY HAVE NO CLUE WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO SEE!!! #pissedoffandfedup
This show has USA written all over it! Give it a better time slot, maybe a summer series like Burn Notice etc etc and I think it could be great!!
I loved this show.
R.I.P. Finder – you were good, light entertainment. At least not all hope is lost… They could always have Walter Sherman guest star on Bones again.
Sigh, I loved this show…I can’t believe it’s done tomorrow, pretty much pisses me off.
I think Colin is correct, the only problem being budget.
Know how to find a good show on Fox? Look and see what they move around on the schedule then cancel.
I think this show would be a great fit on USA, Walter definitely fits their theme of “Characters Welcome”
i like it but after hodgins and sweets left he should have fought and messed around with bones and booth for awhile and i would have loved to see on his face booth and bones hooking up and have their daughter
This was a bad move by fox. They should have given it at least one more season. The first season is just the vefinning, some shows take at least one season to catch on.
Well FOX you have done it once again damn you! You are always cancelling my favorite shows. You have canceled Human Target, you have canceled The Finder, you canceled Firefly, House is gone, the Fringe has only one more season, what’s next??? This is so routine, I am at the point I no longer want to watch Fox. It is no wonder no one is watching Fox anymore. Why bother?? You get interested in a new show just to have it canceled later in the season??? No wonder everyone is going to other networks to watch TV.
Seriously?!?!? “The network could do just as well or better by running cheaper reality programming.” We don’t need another reality show! Another bunch of class-act morons acting like the only thing important in the world is their life. And I really don’t get how Family Guy, the Simpsons and these other flat-out stupid cartoons keep getting renewed. A good show like The Finder, where the characters and the story line is good, clean, entertaining fun and FOX wants to replace it with another crap show. Unreal. FOX – I hate you.
Great show and we are sad to hear this news. This show would be a success on another network like usa network or tnt. Really bummed, the cast was so entertaining, just a good fun show. 🙁
Too bad, this was good show. Quirky and interesting. I liked the characters and wanted to see where their stories went. Bones is the only Fox show I watch now and I am not sure I like it as much now that Bones and Booth have become a couple. It is a shame that it’s being cancelled. I wonder what it will be replaced with – probably another reality show and I do not watch reality TV.
I don’t know about anyone else but I almost exclusively watch tv shows on Hulu plus. Don’t know if they count that as ratings. I will miss the finder
The Finder was great. They lost alot of viewers when they tied up the lead character and the US Marshal character, but still it was worth tuning in. The “gypsy” character was way underutilized and would have helped hold those all important younger viewers.
I don’t know, I think it could have worked with minor tweaking. It needed one more season to catch on.