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. It was funny, educational, and really a “clean” show compared to the rest of what you get in alot of tv today.. the cliffhanger ending was great – but not when you are not going to let us know “what happens now..”. It’s like ready all but the last chapter of a great book. Who does that? Get your heads out Fox – and I know you look at the ratings – but do they take into account all of the times this show is dvr’d to watch later? or viewed “on demand”? I have lost… Read more »
Fox isn’t really interested in quality programming, they’re interested in cheap programming. It’s the only way to bump up the bottom line. Alcatraz, Terra Nova, The Finder… it costs money to actually have creative people write quality shows. Reality TV is cheaper and plays to a much lower denominator.
How can a show develop an audience when it’s moved to a different time slot multiple times? I can’t say The Finder was the best show on TV but it deserved better from Fox.
I loved The Finder. The chemistry was great between the characters and each episode was different but complete. The advertising for the show wasn’t good, because I just discovered it by chance. I read ET Wkly. and keep an eye out for new shows. Maybe another network could pick it up. This was such an original show. Any chance it could be on another season. You made a mistake with this series!!!
This is a very good show. Great charecter chemistry and storylines. Fox did not do the show justice. No advertisement, moving time slots etc. Hopefully USA will pick it up, they have a great history of making shows with charector chemistry work. That is why USA is one of my favorites.
If you like The Finder or are just sick of the same realicrap on TV and think we deserve something refreshing, PLEASE go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/406/663/146/save-the-finder-on-fox and sign the petition. Then go to facebook or tweet 10, 20, 30 of your friends and ask them to sign the petition and ask them to ask their friends to sign. This show is wonderful for families and really deserves a chance. If we all work together maybe we can get Fox to take a chance on a real show with real characters, instead of another reality TV boreathon.
How sad. I loved the characters in the finder. It was light and interesting. Everyone was not 18. I think this was a bad choice. Very dissapointed.
OMGoodness… I am going to combust… They FINALLY show what a sleek, dangerous badass Walt is during the season finale, and I find out it is canceled?!?!?! What is this world coming to when a show with intelligence, wit, sarcasm, heart, lovable characters, and an amazing storyline is trashed?! I am distraught… I just finished my finals last week, and have reveled in getting re-aquainted with my DVR and its myriad of content and someone blasts my facebook status with the news of cancellation… (Insert expletive here)
OMGoodness… I am going to combust… They FINALLY show what a sleek, dangerous badass Walt is during the season finale, and I find out it is canceled?!?!?! What is this world coming to when a show with intelligence, wit, sarcasm, heart, lovable characters, and an amazing storyline is trashed?! I am distraught… I just finished my finals last week, and have reveled in getting re-aquainted with my DVR and it’s myriad of content and someone blasts my facebook status with the news of cancellation…
Typical fox take a good show skrew with its time slot finally land it on the deadest night of tv Friday, And cancel it. Great move fox at lest we have that stupid Keifer Sutherland show. This is the same network that cancelled Family Guy twice, Who in there right mind would ever by stock in fox? With a bunch of brain dead monkeys running the programming schedule.
I absolutely LOVE the finder…so disappointed by the news it’s cancelled!!! Best show in a LONG time!
This was a great show and I looked forward to watching it every week. The story lines were great however, I would like to see more like the Finder on Bones episode. Please reconsider you left it hanging this past week. Bones is getting tiring I thought this would replace Bones it has great potential.
Kit
This is a great show. Funny, interesting characters, good writing and plot lines. Perhpas if FOX had left it in a good timeslot, people would have been able to follow it. Not sure FOX is looking at the big picture.
How can they cancel such a great show? It’s funny, smart and different in the best way!
They always do the right thing and we love all the characters.
Also, the last episode of May 13th left with no answers as if it was just a cliffhanger not the end of the show!!! PLEASE RECONSIDER!!!
U asses y would u cancel the show? Fox suck a lot of balls