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?
I don’t believe the finder had a chance to succeed because of the shows it was up against. It is very well done and should be given another chance.
I guess no one at Fox was willing to say “I’ma risk it” Stupid character and some very sophomoric if not juvenile writing!
Bring back the Finder, please. Being taken into custody like that can’t be the end of the story. It simply can’t.
“The Finder” was a good show. I am not sure what it would be like without Duncan 🙁 very sad He will be greatly missed, but I would like to see a come back. The story lines were always enjoyable sometimes sad sometimes funny. I don’t know any one that didn’t like the show. A great mix of charactors. They worked well together. I enjoyed when they would bring a charator from the Bones staff to work with them on a case.
Secondo me avete fatto un errore a cancellare la produzione dello show TV “the Finder”. In Italia ha avuto successo. Piace a tutte le famiglie, in alternativa alle solite serie TV. Dovreste proseguire la produzione….
I have really enjoyed “The Finder”. I have been watching it on hulu as I do not have regular channels. It saddens that such an inventive show as “The Finder” has been removed from Fox’s schedule and replaced with yet another reality show. Even though the loss of Michael Clarke Duncan is a serious blow to the show, I believe “The Finder” can still be successful. It is rare that a show’s characters jells so well together in such a short time. Maybe MCD’s character could be replaced with Eric Roberts, as the gypsy who is trying to take “The… Read more »
CAN’T BELIEVE FOX CANCELLED THE FINDER!! ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS TO COME AROUND IN AWHILE. THE CHARACTERS ARE GREAT WITH INTERESTING BACKGROUNDS. WILL MISS MCD, SUCH A SAD LOSS, BUT THE SHOW HAS GREAT CHARACTER AND SHOULD GO ON. PLEASE, NO MORE REALITY SHOWS! BRING IT BACK!
I think that it was a great show and perhapes better advertising………….it was cool watching him figure out who how and why. wasnt too impressed wih the US Mashall and where that was going but it was taken off way too early.
There’s something wrong in the tv market. The finder was cancelled and we’re expecting another series on “falling skies”? Bah!!!
yea not interested in falling skies
‘The Finder’ was a well conceived show that should not have been cancelled. You asked for ideas that would have helped the show: you could have advertised in the middle of the ‘Bones’ and at different times during the week to cover a larger audience that might not watch ‘Bones’. Another idea would have been to increase Walter’s back story and Willa’s role with her family dynamics, that was an interesting part of the story line.
“The Finder” was an excellent show and Fox should have kept it going instead of giving us more reality shows.
Too bad. It was a good show with fun characters. Loved it,\.
A lot of shows take 2-3 seasons to really catch on. I think that some shows don’t get adequate time to reach their audience. This was a one of a kind, truly entertaining show. Come on Fox, give the Finder some time. It’s fun and refreshing.
I finally decided to get around to seeing how the Finder was going to deal with the death of Michael Clarke Duncan only to discover that they had canceled the whole thing! BAH!!! I loved the show. It was witty, well-written, had plausible and flawed characters that made you care about what happened to them. I wanted to know what became of Willa and how they got Walter out of jail. I still do! This has joined the ranks of Brimstone, Firefly, and Freaks and Geeks as a show that was cut off waaaaaaaay before it even had a chance.… Read more »
I wish they hadn’t cancelled the Finder. It was a lot of fun and I loved the characters.
I loved The Finder. It has great characters and a good balance of humor and heaviness.
I wish there was a second season.