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.
 Loading ... |
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 started watching this show a few days ago and could not stop. I loved the characters. Why does it seem like fox does this quite often. If given the proper promotion and word of mouth, this show would have been a hit. I love psych, but I really think I liked this better….Maybe they could bring it back with Ving Rhames as MCD replacement..??
Poor promotion would be my guess why a show this good was not discovered by many until it hit netflix. Come on guys this is the type of programs we need stop canceling the good ones.
The Finder should have been a keeper. It was a good program. With qualities such as redemption and transformation (a la the young girl’s development from a thief to a responsible citizen and the attorney’s transformation from unscrupulous lawyer to the Finder’s helper) uppermost the program had a strong social redeeming quality. We can’t have that in the entertainment industry. There wasn’t enough sex and violence in it. Maybe that’s why it didn’t make it.
I remember seeing this show advertised back in 2012 but the name of the show seemed unimaginative and corny which made me think the show would be the same (kind of like calling the movie the Titanic, The Big Ship that Sank). Anyway. I just recently noticed The Finder on Netflix and decided to give it a try out of morbid curiosity. WOW was I surprised! I would blame, whomever came up with the name of the show and created the previews, for the show’s downfall! I was teary after the season finale and then outraged when I realized there… Read more »
How interesting. It seems most if not all reviewers responding here only ever watched this show when it came to Netflix. I just finished watching the entire Season 1 on Netflix, and I agree, this was a wonderful show and wish it had continued for the same reasons already listed. Like most here, I also never heard of it until now (2014). I most definitely would have supported it in 2012, had I heard about it then, and I would have been in their 18-45 age target audience. I understand Michael Clarke Duncan passed away, so maybe that had something… Read more »
I agree with you wholeheartedly.
Same here!! My exact thoughts!
I just finished watching on Netflix also. Same thing never saw it advertised. Loved it, the characters and how they interacting made this series one of the best I’ve seen in quite a while. Want it brought back.
i saw it through Bones as it aired, followed it on hulu. wonder if Nielsen or whatever ratings system they use takes Hulu into account, even netflix for syndication value. I mean it still advertises and it airs the next day on hulu plus, a week on free hulu. FLix gets the shaft but surely that counts to the value of the show? Maybe the MBAs in fox are just narrow-minded enough to copy copy copy(i.e. reality shows) what worked in the past. terrible. USA and AMC, even HBO and SHowtime have great shows, these are the bastion of creative… Read more »
this was my new favorite show .. loved it! please bring it back!!!!!!
This sgow is great fox is a joke only reasonbi woukd watch rox programming is becayse of shows like this they continually cancel thank god for netflix hopefully with their price raising besides morw titlew they will get more netflix originals I sincerely hope thwy get the rights toblie to me and continue allthobdoubtfull im an optimest
Been watching The Finder on Netflix. Mainly because of Michael Clarke Duncan. It’s a good show. Reminds me a lot of Psych without the annoying trying so hard to be charming and clever. I never even heard of the show when it was on-air. Part of that is because I’m not a Bones fan. Also I never once saw any kind of promotion for the show in 2012. That has always been a beef I’ve had with Fox. They decide to green light a show, but never do any kind of support of the show to get the word out,… Read more »
It is a shame that this show was cancelled after only one season. We first saw the characters on an episode of Bones and thought Walter was a great character. We didn’t realize there was actually a series until this past week. (2 years after it was cancelled) I loved this show because it was relatively family friendly and we could all enjoy it. I would love to see this show come back. We need more good television and less reality shows that are not family friendly.
fox the finder is a good show Fridays duma spot Sunday or Wednesday at it 7 pm can work fox only has one show I watch the finder would be tow
This show was enjoyable light entertainment. It did not however receive sufficient time to develop and the publicity for the show was limited which is probably why the ratings started poorly. My feeling is that given time and word of mouth this show would have picked up significantly more viewers. We only started watching in the uk around half way through the series and were fairly stunned that it was cancelled so soon.
Amazing show. Great cast, great plot and great adventures. The issue with this show is the people who didn’t watch it. Reality shows are terrible and most people don’t like the good messages a show has to offer anymore. I’d say a great deal of the demo 18-45 are more into watching drugged up movie stars and jersey shore. They should have kept this show going. I only had the chance to see it on netflix. Had no idea it was on fox.
True this was I great show if I knew about before I would of have loved it the way it end keep people motivated
I’ve finished watching the finder season 1 on DVD in mid 2013 then I’ve finished watching it again tonight, and it is disappointing to find out that they cancelled the second season. i am gonna make it short, this is a good show, i enjoyed it much, the character, the plot, there is no nudity in it, no foul language, and its kinda give a positive message in it. i hope they could just go for the second season you know,,, but without Duncan’s the finder are not gonna be the same again. nobody can replace Duncan’s
Whoosh. That ending was perfection. I need to know what happens next. I wish they wouldn’t have cancelled it. But it was a show ahead of its time. And it fell flat, like most amazing shows do, because it wasn’t publicized enough. They didn’t have enough faith in it. Which is sad because it would have gone places.
I just found “THE FINDER” this past week on Netfllix. I would say that the promotions were were not seen. I also think some programs start out slow and build with time. My wife and I really do like the series. Seems only the shows with violence or nudity or foul language make it. Guess that is one of the reasons we do not watch most networks. Long live the CABLE and NEFLIX. ( Besides we don’t have to watch all the advertising).