NBC has cancelled the Thursday airings of their low-rated legal series, The Firm, and sent it packing to Saturday nights at 9pm beginning February 11th.
The Firm follows attorney Mitch McDeere (Josh Lucas), his wife Abby (Molly Parker), and their daughter Claire (Natasha Calis), as they emerge from the witness protection program after 10 years. They relocate to Washington, DC to restart their lives but problems from the past quickly resurface. The show’s cast also includes Callum Keith Rennie, Juliette Lewis, Tricia Helfer, and Shaun Majumder.
NBC had high hopes for the legal drama but it stumbled in the ratings right from the start. The two-hour premiere of The Firm registered just a 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 6.32 million viewers. The numbers got even worse once the show moved to Thursday nights and, for the past two weeks, has only mustered a 0.8 rating with fewer than three million total viewers.
It’s no surprise that NBC is banishing The Firm to Saturday nights with ratings like these. Grimm repeats will fill the Thursdays at 10pm timeslot for the immediate future. Starting March 1st, the peacock network’s new drama Awake will take over.
While it looks highly unlikely that NBC will purchase a second season of The Firm, it seems certain that viewers will get to see all 22 episodes of season one.
If The Firm had been a typical network show, the episode order probably would have been cut down to 13 installments because of the low ratings. However, NBC’s deal for The Firm is unique and a bit more like the one the network had for Merlin, the supernatural drama produced by the BBC.
Sony and Entertainment One partnered to produce The Firm, primarily for the overseas market. Thanks to pre-sales and Canadian production tax credits, the cost of producing the series was already paid for and NBC was able to pick up the show for a greatly reduced licensing fee, just like any other secondary buyer.
If The Firm had been a big success, NBC would have made quite a profit on the series. As things worked out, the network may still be making some money on the deal or at least hasn’t lost much.
Will there be a second season? That depends on Sony and Entertainment One, not NBC.
What do you think? Do you like The Firm? Do you think it should continue?
Image courtesy NBC.
I can’t believe that yet another show is facing the axe. It was nice to have something to look forward to watching for the first time in a long time. And now, just disappointment.
I would love to see the series continue into another season, but if not , I hope they at least show the remaining episodes on Saturday nights.
Shawn
I love the show. Had no idea what happened to it. No advertisement on TV that it was switching nights. Now we have to hope people stumble upon it on Saturdays. Of course the ratings were going to be going against a huge show on CBS. Put it at a timeslot where it has a chance to gain viewers!
Love the show. I am so tired of good shows getting axed and crap making it to another season. There is so much garbage out there.
I enjoy watching this show very much. This is the first legal drama I have found that I totally like every character. They all work very well together and whoever the casting company was did an excellent job. The acting is very realistic and get you involved with what is going on. I hope that it won’t be cancelled. Why do you cancel shows that have a good premise and good characters and put on shows that are horribly written and only cater to people under the age of 19.
Gee. I wonder why it has low ratings? Could be that they put it up against some of the most successful shows in years on abc? I love when stations do this. And rather than giving it a timeslotit might be successful in – they bag it. This is the
Robles with NBC and why I may just give up on them. Too many decent series cancelled that leave you hanging.
We like this show and hope that it continues somewhere.
I love The Firm. Please keep it on.
Please leave The Firm on TV. It’s a great show. It’s a down to earth law firm show. It’s not like the cheesy Boston Legal and other cheesy tv shows that have involved legal things. I hope and pray that NBC and Sony monitors this site and realizes that there are people who love this show. I had no idea it was moved to Saturdays until today, March 3 when I did a Google search. Last show I saw was when it was taken off Thursday nights. Now I can’t remember what chapter that was. I BEG YOU TO LEAVE… Read more »
Really good, realistic acting and story – please keep it going!!
I really liked this show. I don’t know what people watch. Anything good on R.V. they take it off the air.. What a shame
I really liked this show. I don’t know what people watch. Anything good on T.V. they take it off the air. What a shame.
I like the show but what is up with the clarity of the screen? It comes across as a 1950’s tv show. I have a hard time getting through that. With all of the HDTV now, this shows clarity is cloudy and I hate that! What is up with that?
GREAT SHOW!! Hopefully someone from NBC is monitoring this site and these comments! Like the cast a lot, their chemistry is really starting to come together. Like the blend of the courts, the office and the home. KEEP THE SHOW! All my friends are watching it!
I love this show and so does my boyfriend. It is well-written and not over-the-top or cheesy like other law dramas. The plot line is suspenseful & I look forward to it every week. Guess I better go pick up the book instead… shame
I LOVE THIS SHOW!!! Is everyone nuts or what. Great stories, very suspenseful and even the music is fabulous. Please don’t cancel this show, it’s too first rate not to keep.
This show is really good and deserves way more time for other people to catch up. There are other shows on nbc that need to be canned before this.