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?
It was a great show.
I think this show, just as the failure of many Netflix favorites like Arrested Development, suffered from poor advertising/promoting. I hope that the still strong cult following will bring back attention to it, although it seems that at this point, with the death of Michael Clark Duncan, a Serenity-like finale/feature film would be the only way to pick up the series again, with a disappearance of Leo and Walter setting out to find him. I would still watch that – the series finale was just sad with loose ends and potential cliff hangers.
I just found this show on Netflix and it is one of my favorite shows ever! This hasn’t been publicized well enough and changing the day and time, makes it impossible to keep up with! Everyone I’ve suggested this show has fallen in love with it and the characters. The writers are wonderful at telling a story, creating humor and sympathy while continuing to gradually creating that characters that you get know over time which keeps us watching and creates more and more loyalty to the characters and the show after each episode. I have recently found and love several… Read more »
I just realized how poorly written my comment is! I was in the ER with a friend for 23 hours and am really tired. Regardless of all of that, I think you can understand my position. What can we do after a show is cancelled? I’m learning to count on Netflix rather than the television channels. If I look for what has been canceled, it appears that it will be better than what they have elected to keep!
I just found the series on Netflix. The entire family loves it and watched all 13 episodes over the weekend. After reading the above article, it seems that the early cancelation is typical of Fox. I remember other wonderful shows that were cut off too early. I wonder how well The Finders would do on other networks that have a reputation for high quality and unique shows (like AMC). The only problem I found was that I didn’t know what kind of show it was based on the opening. After watching several minutes, I realized what a gem it was.
Never even heard of the finder until I stumbled upon it by accident and it became one of only 2 shows that my daughter (9) son (13) me (30) and husband (37) loved to watch together. You made a huge mistake canceling, if you made more effort advertising, the Finder would’ve been a massive hit. It fascinated children as well as grownups of all ages as soon as they watched the first 2 episodes. I’m a HUGE Bones fan but if its a choice… The Finder will win.
Oh and I’m all the way from South-Africa….
I did not know about the show until it played on netflix ( aside from the small but well played appearance on bones). but once I did see it, I was hooked from the first episode. I think that instead of being so money hungry, FOX should have at least made one more season. I also think that as far as advertising goes for the show, millions of people should not be deprived of such a wonderful show simply because some person or person’s in marketing can not adequately do there job. please bring the show back. it is worth… Read more »
i am watching this on netflix… love it!! was hoping when i went online to look at info that i would be told there are more episodes i get to look forward to. well not so. i have enjoyed each of the wonderful actors in their respective roles they each played very well. i am so very sorry it was not continued. love the banter, humor, quick responses and imaginative story lines.
Hello. I was an avid watcher of this series and I looked forward to new episodes every week until it mysteriously disappeared. I wondered and had a peculiar feeling that it might have been cancelled. I really liked this show, especially the actors– they were great!– and I thought that this show had such a small amount of viewers because of the small amount of advertising for it. I think I only saw one commercial for it, and it only lasted ten seconds. It was more of a reminder than a commercial. But anyway, this show had great potential. I… Read more »
This cancelling of the “Finder” is so typical of Fox. Jerry Seinfeld has said many times that his show would not have had a chance in today’s climate. As far as the ratings for the finder go I am so tired of hearing what the 18 to 48 or whatever ages decide what I watch I could cry. I am 67 years of age and I know “The Finder” was a gem and I would have thought so when I was 25 or 85; > Of course the death of a beloved cast member was a major loss and problem… Read more »
They should advertise better didn’t know about it tell saw the show on Netflix and loved it but they need to do more than one season
A lot of people quit watching new series because of this reason, they are canceled to soon. They should at least have two seasons promised to them that way people who see they have made it through the first season might start watching it and catch up on what they missed. I am so angry I love this show.
My husband and I found this GREAT show on Netflix! ” THE FINDER”. We just don’t understand why this series was canceled. For one thing, it had a great cast! We never even saw advertising for this series. The stories were very good. With humor, mystery, and people who cared about each other. Kids now days are watching crap! Reality shows where they bring out all the dirt on some one. And people disrespecting one another, using horrible language and having no morals. Its really refreshing to see a good show. And we found ourselves anticipating each episode. So sorry… Read more »
Awesome show, I enjoyed watching it a lot. Just finished the last episode on Netflix, and I really would love to see more. Sadly that will never happen.
I don’t remember ever seeing a show like The Finder, and how many shows can you say that about? Brilliant cast of characters, genuinely something new and different, and it gets cancelled…. typical!! I’ve only just watched the episode in Bones that launched it, but watched the actual show last year. I guess it speaks volumes about the current generation, where thought provoking, entertaining TV, gets left by the wayside, in place of pregnant teens and dysfunctional family shows… so very sad, yet so very common.
I agree with the other comments. I love the show! And the thing they did wrong , was not promoted it enough , I also found it in Netflix Not long ago.
It would be a very good idea if they incorporated it in Bones show.
Is a shame they cancel it.:(