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 am really sad to see The Finder cancelled.. Fox keeps the stupid comics and
will not encourage a new show. At least think about it.. a friday night time slot
wont get good ratings because most people are doing other things than watching TV
on friday nights.
It was refreshing for something new rather than the “reality shows”, comics and
some of thier other programs where the normal person hits the remote and moves on
I wish they would re-consider we enjoyed the show.
I loved this show. I was not asked if I tuned in or not. I hope another station will pick this program up.
I think The Finder Finale was the best Finale so far this season! I wasn’t even upset I was more interested to find out everything. We got to see a different side to all of the characters and it left me wanting to watch it next year. I WILL NOT WATCH FOX AGAIN…I only started watching it for The Finder, soooo sad to see it being cancelled but hey FOX when you move a show to late Friday the ratings are going to drop because its the weekiend and this show drew in middle age and younger people. That was… Read more »
This is bull! This show is awesome there are to many questions that need to be answered.
Everything changes too fast these days. If your tv show is not cutting edge and constantly changing then forget about it. America has lost something. Everyone is looking for that resonant quality in reality shows and other more-graphic tv shows. The Finder had heart. It was packed with humor, emotion, and smart writing. If The Finder aired in the 80’s it would have been a smash hit. America has lost its heart of adventure. Shows like The Finder are rare, and Fox did not know what they had, and America does not know what they are missing.
First Human Target and now The Finder! Fox is really not putting me in a happy place.
Fox..by all means lets put on another show about people standing around talking about what they want to do during the day. Like watching a web cam at Starbucks! Why show something that is original!
Oh and why is Maggie on the Simpsons still sucking on a pacifier after twenty plus years? She should be out of college by now!
Bring back the show please. Especially with an ending that was incomplete. Nobody’s happy especially the viewers. Loved all the characters.
There has to be a way to bring back such a good show. If people can ban together and get Community back on the air, why not a show of musch higher caliber. Suggestions???
Oh NO! This was one of the few shows I was excited to watch! I’m sorely disappointed.
It’s simple. With the rare exceptions of Bones, Fringe, House and now the Finder, Fox panders to the lowest common denominator of viewers with reality trash because it costs so much less.
The Finder is a great show. One off the reasons the ratings probably dropped was because they changed the night. If you are going to change the night. Put it on Tuesday night when nothing else comes on except the same reruns of other shows. I know my family and a few others that are always looking for something to watch on Tuesday night, because nothing else good comes on. Or even put it on Monday night after Bones now that House is gone!
I disagree with this cancellation. Our whole family of 6 loved this well written show. Please reverse this decision.
We LOVED this show! It is a wonderful show to watch with my teenage daughter. I am so disappointed.
It was the best quirky, funny show since MONK. I can’t believe that this is cancelled.
I hope that the Powers That Be reconsider this decision. It is an excellent show for families…it is original, funny and not so sexy that I can’t watch it with my 13 year old. It also promotes family values in a quirky way. What a shame to lose this show.
Might need to brush up on the writing and direction, but the characters and plots are well worth keeping, especially given what else is out there. With the cancellation of Law & Order: Los Angeles, this is another example of shortsightedness by folks who don’t watch (low brow?) or the big cheeses at NBC and Fox.
Very disappointed to learn that Fox is not bringing back The Finder for a second season. This was the only new drama that my kids and I actually watched this year. Truly smart, witty and just plain fun to watch! This was the show we waited for to debut after seeing the characters originally by chance when flipping by an episode of Bones and pausing to watch after becoming intrigued with Walter and Leo. I’m very surprised that this show wasn’t given a second chance, especially since the first season was so split by playing half of it then such… Read more »
I don’t know about anybody else but I have sure noticed a trend when it comes to fox and its television series. When it comes to Fox they don’t know what they had till its gone. Just a few examples let’s see, Firefly-Polls show its the #1 show people want brought back to air. They had it, cancelled mid season and its gone. Then there is Tera Nova, while it was on the air it stayed within top ten shows watched on on cable. They made it through season 1 this time but said show was to expensive to keep… Read more »