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?
The Finder was by far my favorite show on tv. It had it all and it was original. Once again I’m surprised that FOX cancels these shows. Let’s hope another network picks it up.
I agree with previous comments. Just watched the season finale and then found out it was the series finale…now I’m depressed! I think the way tv networks track the success of its tv shows is archaic. I have no idea what day tv shows air because I watch them online. I, like most people I know, live in the future and networks live in the past. The Finder was ALWAYS in the top section of “most popular” on Hulu plus, so I thought it was safe… I guess I’m not surprised that FOX does not care about intellegent viewers. It’s… Read more »
“Hopefully the producers saw the writing on the wall early enough and won’t leave viewers hanging with any major unresolved storylines.”
Nope. I’m pretty sure the most intriguing episode was the finale and its SO DISTRESSING that it won’t return. i hope FOX changes its mind, or someone else picks it up.
I can’t believe they’ve done this to me again! It seems like every time they come out with a show worth watching, one that isn’t yet another reality show or all about magic and witch craft, they cancel it. If I can watch it with my family it’s not going to make it on Fox.
I never watched Fox before “Bones” and “The Finder”, now I’m down to one show and they are constantly threatening it… way to go Fox… lose another viewer!
Great show! Once again FOX gets it wrong (Firefly). Either they just didn’t give the show a chance, or the masses are asses. Eventually, once Bones finally retires, there won’t be any reason for me to watch FOX.
Fox gets it wrong again. I don’t think that I can trust fox with my tv viewing time any longer. Each time an interesting series comes out, they cancel it without a plan for resolving the story lines. I’m tired of crappy reality shows that stifle all ability to think and feel.
Fox once again has cancelled a diamond in the rough. They never give their creative shows a chance. If they don’t get immediate gratification they throw great pieces of entertainment in the trash, i.e…. The Finder & Terra Nova. Hey Fox! Sometimes you need to give shows more than one season to kick in.
It seems like any intelligent show I watch gets canned, Southland got canned and moved to TNT, Life my all time fav show gone, and The finder gone, I hate reality tv, I only watch the finder on demand due to my job, but I guess my viewership doesn’t count, 5 years from now I’m not sure there will be any witty shows left.
Once again Fox blows it. Of course they had a drop in viewers when they moved from Thursday to Friday, if I wouldn’t have had it DVR’d I would not have even known it moved time slots after being off for several weeks! They also moved Bones and when it came back from it’s break I would have missed it for the same reason. They are getting as bad as the CW for cancelling good shows and keeping crappy ones. Some genius at Fox doesn’t like a show and they kill it on purpose, move it around, put out blurbs… Read more »
The finder was an amazing series and FOX does another horrible job at judgement. Just cause your viewers are down on television sets. That does not mean that the “internet” viewers are not in the multi-millions. FOX wake up, this is the 21st century. Get a new polling company cause you will continue to fail if you keep this up!!!
Wow. Fox does it again. Strings you along on another great show and then pulls it out from under us. Thanks Jerks
Fox made a horrible decision in canceling the finder. The show is very witty and humorous. Fox needs to rethink this choice. I’m going to miss this show so much.
I think it stinks! My family loved this show. Why in the world did they leave so many loose threads if they were going to cancel it?! Moral of the story is: Don’t get hooked on any new series at Fox. They’ll yank the rug right out from under you.
This was an absolutely fantastic program. We never missed one episode. We are left wondering how we can be so different because we were convinced that you had a winner and that it would be more successful than NCIS or Bones. We can’t believe that this show ever got a chance. Bring it back in the summer season and watch what happens. This is a winner!!
The Finder is a great show! I hope they change their mind… One of the only shows I even follow anymore