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?
they screwed up!! was one of the best shows, they didn’t promote the show well enough, failing that they have to give it enough time to build a bigger following. 4 months nowhere near enough time to do that.
i hope someone comes to their senses and gives it another shot
I loved this show! I actually didn’t even know it existed until about the third to last week of it. But I had seen the Bones episode with the Finder in in so I immediately knew what it was and loved it. I set my DVR and was happy when I caught the first few episodes I had missed. If you asked me, they just didn’t advertise it enough, considering that I only found it by accident and was immediately in love with it. I told friends at work about it too and as soon as they were able to… Read more »
This is a good show; qwerty and fun. We have enough shows searching for DNA evidence. Bring back the Finder!!!
I can’t believe Fox cancelled The Finder. I didn’t even know it was a spin-off from Bones which I don’t watch by the way. The show had a smart guy, a tough partner, a good looking girl (unlike Bones) & a street smart kid! I guess USA should take over show & put it in with all the other good shows they have like Burn Notice, Suits, White Collar, etc. USA could have Finder help Burn Notice find his elusive criminal. Come on USA pick up another winner!!!!
Bones has jumped the shark. Lose Bones, keep The Finder
When I first saw The Finder episode of Bones, I told myself it would make a great show of its own. When I saw it really had become a show, I was doing backflips! I saw the last episode an hour ago and it was awesome! I was in so much suspense that I thought I would die before season two came out. Now I know that it never will, and I’m angry. It’s a great show! They should at least finish the story with a movie like with Firefly. The only reason I think it didn’t take off in… Read more »
I accidentally discovered this show on hulu a week ago and have watched the last 5 episodes. This show is unique and very entertaining. I can’t believe that it has been cancelled. There are other shows that should be cancelled rather than this one.
I enjoyed the original girl from the plot; too bad she didn’t make it for the series.
If this played on USA amongst reruns of NCIS (another great show) it would have done much better.
I agree that the publicity was lame to almost non-existent from the network.
I kept waiting and waiting to see the series run after the pilot and then found out that I missed some episodes after it had already started.
Somebody high up and human did not want this to work.
Too bad but I hope that it comes to DVD.
The Finder is a great show, I did not discover it until the last couple of episodes. Honestly poor advertising by FOX, I was hooked after I saw my first episode.
A very clever show, Hope someone else picks it up.
Terry
I should know better to get involved with a show on Fox, they always rip the rug from under you! I loved this show and as mentioned before this is the kind of show USA runs and quite successfully I might add. I would love to see this move toUSA but I guess that’s only in fairly tales…oh well I’ll stick to USA, see ya Fox.
The finder is amazing, how could it be cancelled, wwwwaaaaahhhhhhh
the finder was my favorite show you just cant cancel it
i probably wont even watch fox anymore just cause they
took that out
I liked the show. Good won over evil and there was some kind of moral issue in each show.
at least they renewed touch which was much better than alcatraz and finder, finderwas just a cheap rip off to bones
How is it a cheap rip off? Your just looking for something to troll about, it was one of te best shows.
I hope the petition changes FOX’s mind. Rework the time slot, The last show that I remember holding it’s own on Friday nite was MIAMI VICE . Touch is stupid, and Fringe (it’s good, I’ve bought all the DVD’s ) however, it’s ” jump the shark time. It’s running out of steam, I think time travel, 2-Walter’s 2-Peters 2- Olivias It’s hard to keep up, In my opinion , Fringe needs to go before, it gets pulled. Who Do You Think You Are, might as well be an AD for Ancestry . Com The Finder, simply put, is a very… Read more »
Loved the finder. It was the only new show I’d gotten hooked on in several years. The actors were great, the cast had great chemistry. The execs @ fox need to learn how to position a show for success rather than failure. Moving the show was a dumb move. I’ll miss it…just another reason not to watch new shows.