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?
There is a petition with over 15,000 signatures to save The Finder. Details at http://www.savethefinder.org
Petition link: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/406/663/146/save-the-finder-on-fox/
This is one of the only shows I watch. Can’t believe that it is being cancelled. This was such an entertaining show. Wish they would reconsider..
Stupid mistake FOX, it was a great show, fresh and interesting too bad
I love Bones and watch it all the time, have all seasons on dvd, when I saw the episode with Walter Sherman I said to myself that would make a good spin off, not knowing that it was going to be. Months later when they started advertising it, I said to myself, a ha I knew it. I was happy and excited to have another good show to watch and I was very impressed with the show, I taped all the episodes for my parents and they started watching them and raved about how much they loved it. two days… Read more »
Quit moving shows,!
R u nuts,this was a good show!!!!!
Finally a show on fox with ralnvalues, great actors and powerful story line and it gets cancelled. I am no longer a fan of fox for this. If anyone for fox reads this they should know that they have let down many fans and viewers. American Idol sucks people are tired of stupid reality show. Hopefully another studio picks this up it wold be a great loss to see such a well made show go away. The finder deserved a Monday, Tuesday spot in prime time fox never gave it a real chance.
This is a loss to my family. Good clean entertainment with morals and learning taking place. I agree with other above – I did watch reality shows for a while but then I figured out I had enough reality in my life every day.
I will truly miss this show. Fox really messed this one up.
How can we get someone else to pick up this series?
Oh yeah i forgot you gave Human Target 2 seasons and then canceled it, but have only released the first season on dvd. which makes no sense because the first season ended in a cliff hanger. the second season ended with everything wrapped up. so where is the second season on dvd. My point being you could release The Finder on Dvd with one extra episode that properly wraps up the story line if you aren’t going to revisit the characters to adress the state of the characters on season 8 of Bones.
When i first found out that The Finder was coming to Fox i was very hesistant to tune in because I have nevr liked how fox treats new shows, but i decided to tune in any way. Whe i did i imeediately fell in love with the show mostly because I am OCD and ADHD . I could so totally Identify with Walter Sherman when it came to finding things. I watched the first 7 episodes and then all of a sudden the show disappeared. so i waited and waited and when it finally came back on fridaynights i knew… Read more »
I think finder was probably one of the best shows on T. V since Magnum P.I and Simon and Simon good clean tv and fun and interesting. Once again a good show is cancelled and this is why reality tv is everywhere shows are never stuck with for more then one season.
You know something…I don’t watch many TV shows. There really just wasn’t anything that i wanted to waste 30 min to an hour watching. One day my wife was watching Bones. I sat with her like a good husband and watched it too. It just so happens to be the episode with the guys from the Finder. When The Finder first aired, I was hooked. I watched every episode that came on. I even rewatched them on HULU! I can’t believe FOX screwed this up. Renewed Touch? Really? All Fox is anymore is reality shows and Keifer Sutherland. I really… Read more »
Recasting Saffron Burrows was such a mistake
The reason why The Finder was cancelled was for just one reason, that its Fox. They are known for canceling shows left and right during the end of a first or beginning of the second season. Plain and simple. If I was gonna do a show, I’d never air it on Fox, simply for that reason. I’d rather get a fair chance on another network than have them. Viewer Ratings don’t make the show. Family Guy is a testament to that after Fox canned it TWICE since it didn’t get many viewers, who ended up watching so-called reality shows at… Read more »
I, too, think The Finder is a great show. Good characters, interesting plots. Maybe the time slot is off. I bet it would do great on CBS. So There!