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?
Another super series, cancelled before it was discovered by the masses. I loved the characters, and once again am disappointed in the network that didn’t see the potential of this show.
I loved the quirkiness of the characters. It’s was a great show. If there was a weak part, it was the lack of chemistry between the two love interests. All hit shows have compelling back stories that keep viewers coming back for more…a love story, compelling unresolved issues, etc… that the writers give out tidbits of in each show. They can eke out back stories over many seasons. I think they should bring the show back with a new love interest and more developed back stories. The characters, setting, premise, and dialog are all great! It just needs more angst… Read more »
Just wanted to add my “two cents worth” to these comments about The Finder series on Fox. Like several others mentioned, I found it on Netflix and worked my way through rather fast. I was extremely disappointed when I realized it was only one season. This was, hands down, the best series I have seen in quite some time. I looked forward to watching each episode and was quickly absorbed in the characters. Plots were very interesting and well developed. I could go on and on but suffice it to say, although the untimely and heartbreaking death of Michael Clark… Read more »
Would I be able to buy The Finder DVD I live in Australia and every where I look no one has it. I loved the series and I need to know. Thank you Louise
Wow…I just watched the show on Netflix and loved it. If I had known about it I would have watched it earlier. I sure wish they had put some closure on it. Sigh…..
I just watched The Finder on netflix and I loved it. This was a rare gem to find amongst all the garbage they put on television these days. It should not have been cancelled. With better advertising this show could have really taken off.
I enjoyed this show alot, just finished it on Netflix. Not really suprised about the cancelation though to me it feels like shows like this one only tend to last on channels like USA or SYFY. I really would like to see another seasson pcked up but alas with Duncan’s death I feel that it is not likely to happen.
Just watched the entire series on Netflix with my teenage daughter. It was a fresh approach to mystery, it had cultural references beyond the banal, the characters had continuing development and my daughter didn’t feel uncomfortable with the sex and violence level: of course they cancelled it! I loved the bit where they had daily debates with the characters facing off over the chalkboard subject. Great idea for any household. Reality TV is poison to storytelling, thought or talented acting. Boo! Boo!
We have enjoyed The Finder on Netflix. The characters were great, entertaining.
Sorry to see the last episode, it feels like there is more to be said. It left everything up in
the air.
Anything on television right now that requires one to use above a 3rd graders intelligence level gets cancelled. Advertisers want to sell products. Only the mentally challenged or this generation of consumer whores can appreciate and digest such simplified television as “Jackass” or “Parks and Recreation”. Yet they stay on television for some ridiculous ungodly reason.
Bottom line, if the show requires to you be semi-intelligent to understand it, it WILL be cancelled or IS cancelled already.
I can’t believe they canceled it, just finished Season 1 on Netflix. So far the best one season show i ever watched. Netflix needs to pick it up like they did Arrested Development.
I’ve just finished watching it here in Italy. Brilliant and funny. It’s really disappointing to discover there won’t be a second season and I cannot understand the reason of its cancellation.
The series began slowly because of once again the use of non tried and true actors. Vanilla no names. The series grew with the devoted audience because slowly, over the series’ season we began to bond with the characters. This show would have become the box office success that the network was hoping for it just needed more time and better advertising. I think it would have gotten a very large word of mouth advertising and in its second and even 3rd seasons would have grown ten fold. I think the network panicked and lost a great opportunity with this… Read more »
A refreshing and entertains series! So very glad that I found the Finder on Netflix. Everyone that I have turned this show onto can’t believe how good it is. Poor advertising and marketing was the demise of this show not the content. Finally something different – now back to the same old blah
So glad I found this on Netflix, was hoping there was more, but alas no. Reminds me of the short series Firefly, also dumped, but then fans kept it alive. I am starting The Finder again now, to pickup on details I missed, besides I like the music.