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.
This show is great!!! Please do not cancel it, I was do disappointed to see that it was moved to Saturday night I knew that was not good for the life of the show. Keep it going give people a chance. But I fear that it airing Saturday night will bring in less viewers. The network could have given it a chance.
There is so many crappy shows that are staying,and a good one like the Firm is leaving.
Lov “the firm”. Really tired of decent shows being cancelled. Especially after investing time in them. Think about this!!!
I loved this show so much. I couldn’t WAIT for the next episode. I can’t even find it on Saturday nights at 9P. Was that cancelled too. This is written on 3/31. Can anyone give me any insight?
Thank you
Like this show. Josh Lucas is great.
Really love this show. Will hate to see it cancelled.
This is one of our favourite shows! It is very well written and the weaving of the story lines are excellent. Keep it going.. its great!!
Please do not cancel this show, we love it!
The Firm is the show on TV. Please do not cancel it!
Love this show!! Hope it doesnt’ get canceled!!
Ican’t believe you are canceling this series. It is thought provoking and engages the viewer in the intrigue with the charachters. There are so many mindless programs on the air, choose one any one and leave this program alone.
I love this show it is fast moving very different to anything else on t.v. and isn’t that what we want.
Yes, please keep this show on. They never give shows enough time to get their bearings. Once into this series, it has been hard to stop watching. Love the cast too!
This is a great show! I look forward to each episode. I can’t believe it has low ratings. I love the legal drama, the suspense, acting, etc. If this show were in a better time slot, it would have more viewers. I hope NBC does not cancel it. If it does I hope it goes to a cable channel.
I think its a great show. This is a totally different and unique series, with good acting and good character development. Please do not cancel it.
i love this show..please keep it on!