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.
 Loading ... |
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?
Are you kidding me!!?? My husband and I love this show. The reason the ratings never picked up is because you fool people wouldn’t leave it where we could find it. Confusing your viewers is no way to run a network. You cannot end it the way you did or at all. Bring it back. It is one of the few shows on tv that all of the characters are lovable. It is refreshing to watch after all of the crappy reality tv we are bombarded with!!!
Bring it back!! At least try it again on FX or something!
You cancelled family guy how many times?
I love The Finder. Do not cancel the show.
Loved the Finder. It was offbeat, clever, often compassionate, with great story lines. How could something this good and this entertaining be dropped so quickly? My guess it’s one of those times when the people doing the scheduling had no clue what they had on their hands.
Really???? Wtf!!! The finder was great! Give it a fricken chance!!! I looked forward to watching this show!! What are you going to put in its place another fricken reality show???
cancelled berfor anyone knew about it poor move by fox
Please bring it back! There are so few shows that I can watch with my teenagers and this was a hit with all of us. So sad.
I’m so disappointed and shocked. I can’t believe the Finder has been cancelled. My family and I record the show every week and were shocked to see a strange season finale. I thought for sure it was the lead into Walter needing to find Willa next season. Shame on Fox ending one of the few series we watch.
I loved The Finder and am so sad to hear it’s been canceled.
Please bring it back.
Wow…. After watching the season finale I can’t believe this show has been cancelled. The story and plot of each episode and the series as a whole have been tremendous and I’m deeply disappointed that it has been cancelled. That said the season/series finale was spectacular and while had great potential to be elaborated on and could have transitioned into a very compelling second season I think it is one of the few endings I will not lose (too much) sleep over.
Fox, you are getting it wrong again! I think that one of the errors Fox made is giving it a brainless lead-in. Put Finder after a smart & funny show, and if you want to go the extra mile opposite a reality show! You catch more flies with honey, Fox, and Finder will catch them flies. Just gotta put it where the flies can find it.
It takes forever to find a decent show that actually worth watching and what do you do? You cancel it. I love The Finder and I’m very disappointed that it’s being taken off the air. I love all the characters and love watching the way Walter processes his finding skills. Please bring back The Finder.
Please Fox! Bring back the Finder. It is a sleeper series that grows on you over time. Time slot changes did not help with the fans.
KEEP THE FINDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The last thing we need is to lose a great show like the Finder only to be replaced with some dumb American Idol part 2.
Sorry to see this show cancelled…it got shifted too many times, thus could never find it in lineup…hard to follow a show with all those switches! I would love to see it return, loved the characters…