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?
My family loved this show. I hate that it’s been cancelled.
me and my family in Italy really enjoy the show; it is the only one we try not to miss every week. I am really sorry to hear that it has been cancelled. Too bad about that, even if I could not think of Michael Clarke Dunkan’charachter being replaced after his prematue death: he was such a great actor and played a very nice charachter
I loved The Finder. Waited for each new show. I found it clever, funny and loved the characters. So sad it is gone and so sad about Duncan. I really have enjoyed his character and all he brought to it. Loved his acting period. Loved the show!
The Finder was my favorite new show last season. The Finder was funny, smart and a great cast. I don’t think it was given a chance and wish Fox would reconsider over some of the other mindless shows it airs.
The loss of “The Finder” TV show is very sad and a boon to bad realty programing. I enjoyed the chactgers and the story lines.
I am so disappointed that The Finder will not return. I don’t think the show was ever given a real chance – especially since it was put on hiatus after only a few epsidoes and then moved to a different night – especiallyFriday. That was a horrible timeslot for a new show that had not had a chance for a folloiwng. I love Geoff Stults and was so happy to see him back on tv. PLEASE give The Finder another shot. I know it will hard to fill Michael Clarke Duncan’s shoes but give the show a chance!!!!!
This was honestly my favorite show! I just though I’d check to see when and if it were going to air again and found out it got the boot? This is horrible they need to find a way to have dvr users count because this is complete c***!! I honestly feel like i lost someone close to me. This shows absence will leave a scar 🙁 I will just show my support by purchasing the season!
of course they won’t count viewers like us who record it… why? because they get their money from advertisers, and they know that if you record it you’re not watching commercials
We really didn’t know about the show then by accident watched it and looked forward to it weekly , then the final show was on and we could hardly wait to see the follow
Up . We do not think this show was advertised or given the credit due , there is a lot of deep values that were written into this show as well , we will miss it for sure.
My family & me are so sorry The Finder was cancelled. It was original, fresh and new, completely different from most of the tv series with iper- technological detectives!!!! We’ll miss Walter and his fabulous team!
I loved “The Finder”. I am very sad that it was cancelled. I admit that I did not watch every week, instead I recorded the series and watched it later. I absolutely loved it. I don’t know what went wrong. I suppose the love interest wasn’t apparent enough in the first few episodes. The unresolved issues that have people coming back the next week were not really apparent or important at first. It developed well, but maybe it was too late.
The Finder was one of our favorite shows. My husband and I watched every episode. I don’t think the ratings includes folks who record and watch the shows. We record all the shows we watch so we can watch them when we wish. The ratings need to reflect viewers like us.
We really miss this show!
My family loved The Finder! It was our time that we say down together and watched Bones and The Finder. It was funny an the Season Finale left us wanting more and looking forward to a new season. R.I.P Michael! You were an outstanding actor and will be missed by so many. Please bring it back. I think the reality tv is b.s! I’m thankful they cancelled the Jersey Show crap and hopefully quit putting all the partying in the spotlight and making people famous for being rediculous! No talent at all! Total insult to real actors like Michael!
what the hell is wrong with the american television industry?
this was an amazing show that i fell in love with instantly..
that being said i also think it wouldt been the same without duncan, but still the same they could have’d showed some more episodes befor they canselled the whole thing……
and by the way i freaking live in norway and i still watch the finder on norwegian televison 🙂
so to cancelle this show was a BIG mistake …….
I can’t believe you are canceling “The Finder”!!!! My husband and I LOVE this show! Fox’s biggest MISTAKE was putting it up against “Person of Interest”! Put this show up against one of these STUPID reality shows! We love BOTH Person of Interest and The Finder the SAME! Don’t screw up, like YOU DID… with FireFly! YOU have an excellent show, and I know a very important character has died(may he rest in peace), but dropping this show is just like you did with Firefly….. NO CLOSURE! You need at least one more season to write Michael’s death into the… Read more »