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?
We were extremely DISAPPOINTED at the cancellation of The Finder!! This was a wonderful series, and one of only three programs we looked forward to and faithfully watched each week. Fox should have tried moving it to a different night before bailing on what was a uniquely entertaining series! I’m SICK of the “reality” programs that have inundated the weekly viewing schedule on too many channels. They gave up on The Finder far too soon! Something could have and should have been done to increase it’s viewing before the final plug was pulled.
The Finder was an amazing show. I agree with the other reviewers. This show simply ain’t get enough marketing. Bringing in characters from The Finder’s birthplace, Bones, was a good idea. It has worked very well for other shows like, NCIS, Hawaii Five-O and CSI. But the difference between those shows and The Finder, is the amount of promotional air time they received. It also would have helped if they would have brought The Finder back into an episode or two of Bones, just to keep the viewers interested, it also would have served as advertisement for The Finder. Fox… Read more »
I loved the show. The weekly stories were always entertaining and the developing plot line with the main characters was interesting and exciting to watch. I hate that it was cancelled.
FOX is too busy putting cheap, crap shows on it’s network, like “The Choice,” I stopped watching the Bravo channel because all they show is crap now. Idol is starting to loose it’s ratings and there are only a few good shows left on FOX. I wonder how long it will take for the Fox channel to become another Bravo. The Finder was a GOOD show. The acting was good, the characters were well definded, I enjoyed the story lines and it always made me laugh. I looked forward to watching it, especially after a hard week at work. It’s… Read more »
Better cancel The Finder so you can have another slot for an American Idol bonus show! Stick one where House was too! As long as girls ages 13-18 are watching FOX, that’s all that matters.
That was truly great show. Probably wrongly marketed.
ATTENTION “THE FINDER” FANS!
Sign the petition to bring back “The Finder”!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/406/663/146/save-the-finder-on-fox/
This was a fantastic show my favorite new show of the season, have to stop getting too into these new tv shows, they always get cancelled!
should have given it more time. fridays never do good for shows thats why the hit tv shows are monday thru thursday. even NCIS didnt start out with high ratings its first and second season and look at now. give it another chance in a different time slot (a monday thru thursday to be more fair) and see what happens.
I actually watch very little TV. BUT I always found a way to watch The Finder.
Such a great show with incredible actors!!!
For whatever reason, people were not sampling the show. I’ve gotten friends to watch ONE show I recorded, & they’re hooked! Sorry folks, this was a marketing problem, not a talent issue… great cast, intriguing concept… this is one cancellation that breaks my heart! Is there any chance another network will pick it up? Especially after that ending…
Once again, the idiots at Fox cancel another great show. As with Firefly, and many other awesome programs, the Fox executives can’t get rid of these great shows fast enough to keep the revolving door of stupidity alive and well at Fox.
The Finder would be best viewed and get better rating if the show is put in a better slot, like monday,or tuesday.
We love this show…..
Please find the way to put it back on the air…… Is a Great Tv Show!!!
Wow! They sure do not give a show a chance! We loved the Finder..all the other shows are just like the other…but this one..it was fresh and fun! The whole family loved it….what a waste of good talent 🙁
That is really to bad and unexpected. I found the show to be fantastic with very like able characters and good humor. Its sad to see a show like this perish when such terrible reality tv shows flourish.