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?
Best show ever! Great cast and amazing script. Please don’t cancel it.
If there had been more advertisement for the show, more people like me would have known it was on the air. I didn’t find the show until May, and as the minute I saw it, I fell in love with it. It had wit, charm and an uncurrent of mystery that had me hooked within minutes.
The failure of the show was not with the production, but with the executives at Fox that didn’t promote it enough.
In an era of an overabundance of inane shows, this one had all the hallmarks of great TV. Bring it back!
how disappointing this is…..I can’t believe what I’m reading. No I didn’t have time to watch the show when it came on T.V. but I went to the website and watched it when I had the time. I even looked for it on my OnDemand and I would have recorded it but my husband had another show recording in that time slot. I was looking forward to seeing more from this series. I’m not a fan of reality crap tv. I love watching a light-heart funny show with my husband or even by myself. I am a huge fan of… Read more »
I loved the THE FINDER. I watched every episode and was anticipating the return in the fall. It was an excellent TV show. I believe better advertising and maybe a different time slot could have helped this show out. It should have been given at least two season to run and a cliffhanger should not have been the finale if they were taking it off the air. I think they should reconsider and put it back on for another season. I too am fed up with reality shows. I don’t watch them and I have dropped my cable in favor… Read more »
It figures fox would cancel this show, it was fun, entertaining, and whitty!I am sooo sick of reality T.V. wont watch any of them including Idol!
I would rather watch 6 yr old reruns of law and order than reality shows or cartoons like american dad. It makes me glad for net flicks and hulu.
The problem with new series is that they NEVER let them run long enough to find a pace and an audience. Horses that run the mile don’t get shot after 20 paces if they are not in first place! Some of the greatest TV shows of all time did not have great first years, but TV programmers used to give shows a chance. Now, they would rather do crappy “reality” shows. I stopped subscribing to cable because so much of it was that dreck, and now the major networks are losing me to Netflix, where at least I can turn… Read more »
The Network should have advertized it more!!!! I LOVE it, please breing it back!!!!! Geroge is fantastic in it….. Get rid of the stupid reality shows and bring this one back!!!!
How disappointing. I couldn’t wait for this to come out from the moment I saw the back-door pilot in bones. It was funny and light, it had a creative streak to it, but I guess its all about what the majority wants, and apparently that’s crap reality telly…
I loved this show I am so mad that it was canceled! In the last episode so much happens and I was really looking forward to it coming back on, and seeing what happens next. I think maybe to get more viewers they should have put a few more clifhangers in. I was in love with the show though and I am so upset that it has been canceled.
If we had know about this show sooner there would have been 2 more viewers.
Only have seen re-runs and it is one of the better new shows I have seen.
Maybe FOX should cancel their marketing dept instead as they did a poor job promoting the show. Probably many other out there like us that would like it if they even knew to watch it.
No way this should have been cancelled. It was one of the few entertaining and quirky shows on TV. It was fun to watch. Bring it back.
I would alter my schedule to watch the Finder. Please bring the Finder back!
come on Fox…I hate “touch” cancel it and bring back The Finder…love this show.
OMG!!!! If you woulkd just put it on at a good time people would watch it was great> Soooooo Sorrry to see it cancelled with other stupid show still on
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! people started recording this show because they liked it and recordings don’t count as views so so many people record this show! and it drops because they don’t have enough time to watch it right when it comes out! are you kidding my the finder was one of my FAVORITE SHOWS!! I watched it every week now take the people vote and put that show back on the air!! over 96% of viewers think that that show should not of been canceled and i agree only 1% said i’m not sure and 3%… Read more »