On Sunday, NBC unveiled their first big show of 2012 — The Firm. It’s based on the novel by John Grisham which had previously been adapted into a 1993 movie. The network has had mixed results basing shows on previous material. Prime Suspect and Bionic Woman were cancelled. Friday Night Lights and Parenthood have been moderate successes. Where will this one land?
The Firm revolves around attorney Mitch McDeere (Josh Lucas) who, along with his wife Abby (Molly Parker) and their daughter Claire (Natasha Calis), had been in the witness protection program for 10 years. They relocate to Washington, DC to restart their lives but problems from the past start to surface once more. The show’s cast also includes Callum Keith Rennie, Juliette Lewis, Tricia Helfer, and Shaun Majumder.
The series got off to a poor start on Sunday night. The two-hour premiere attracted a meager 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic with just 6.32 million viewers. The Firm was fourth (last) in its timeslot at 9pm and in second place at 10pm, just barely topping ABC’s troubled Pan Am. Looking at the half-hour ratings, it’s easy to see that some viewers tuned out before the two episodes had finished airing. A sign that they probably won’t be back to watch the next episode.
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Compared with last year’s two-hour premiere of The Cape, NBC was down by a staggering 46% in the demo and 25% in total viewers. You may recall that The Cape was cancelled after just 10 episodes and NBC burned off the last episode online.
NBC is airing the third hour of The Firm this evening — on the most competitive night of the week. That may have seemed like a good idea initially but, in light of the show’s debut numbers, it’s expected to be a disaster.
The Firm debuted with a C- grade on our ratings report card and in ninth place. That’s essentially the same ranking as The Playboy Club, the first cancelled series of the fall season.
Unless there’s some sort of unexpected ratings miracle, it looks like The Firm is sure to be cancelled. The big question is “when?” On the positive side, NBC has already committed to 22 episodes. If the ratings fall as expected though, I suspect that they may slash that order to cut their losses.
But, what do you think? Are the ratings an accurate reflection of this show’s quality. Do you think The Firm should be quickly cancelled or kept on the air long enough to perhaps grow and secure a second season?
Image courtesy NBC.
The show is really good, but its on NBC so there is a good chance it will be cancelled. If the show was on CBS it would be an instant hit! It’s a legal drama with a hint of action. And the legal part is good.
The show is half-and-half compared to others – part of each episode is serial (you have to know what happened in the previous ones to know what’s going on – this is the “novel” part), but the rest of the episodes seems to be a whole legal case that can stand by itself.
I really enjoyed both the premier and Thursday’s episodes. I’m sick of terrible comedies, and done with reality tv. This one seems to be a nice change of pace. I am going to keep watching. People can’t understand it because they have become used to watching dumb nonsense which requires little or no thought process. C’mon people ? I also loved Friday Night Lights, and I watch Parenthood
I very much enjoyed the premiere and also last night’s episode. Your right Bruce, you do have to pay close attention to the show in order to follow the plot but I have found NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles to be the same way: very fast paced with lots of action and a plot with many twists and turns. I hope NBC gives it the full 22 episodes and then evaluates.
bye bye. I saw, I’m gone. Cookie cutter.
Give it a shot. A little slow at first but it started to grab my interest. I’d say finish out the initial episodes and let’s see how it goes!
I absolutely agree with Jan. I’ve started watching several new shows and totally enjoyed them. The next thing I know they’re being cancelled. I’ve learned my lesson and I refuse to be disappointed anymore. Therefore, I won’t be tuning in to ‘The Firm’ or any other new show.
@Marleena: Usually i would agree with you, but not in the case of this show. It is simply awful. All I could take of the first episode was about 12 minutes. Jumbled, confusing. Three flashbacks within the first 10 minutes. They gave the viewer NO CLUE as to what was going on. The few minutes I saw only made a little bit of sense when I read the beginning of the story for this post. OH, OK they were in witness protection….now, if the show would have condescended to let us know that…maybe a title card in the beginning…but no,… Read more »
I’m sick of watching shows on nbc then they get cancelled
so why bother start
Since we are digital… how about collecting data from cable companies about viewership…that way they can get real numbers on number of folks TiVOing/DVRing and watching live…I say scrap Nielsen’s ratings…
2 nights is not enough to judge whether this is a good show or not…I am with Ernie I don’t know any one who has ever done Nelsen’s ratings….I think NBC needs to loosen up with the axe…we know shows that have been cancelled by networks that have flourished on cable…”Southland” anyone or “The Game”.
Cancel it. I was fairly excited to watch this show, but it got off to such a poor start I just couldn’t keep watching.
I dont know anyone who has ever done a nielson ratings, so how credible is it?
if this show continues to b like law and order. im done
I really would loathe to see this show cancelled. As a huge Grisham fan i was very skeptical about TheFirm being a series. THE FIRST HOUR I WAS SOLD! and i have bn tweeting n peraonally calling n texting ppl to tell them to watchn THE FIRM.
gr8 show IMO
Give it a chance. One episode on Sunday and one Thursday not enough time to judge yet.