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.
Please don’t cancel. My family really enjoys the show and looks forward to it each week.
PLEASE! don’t cancel this show! My husband and I, including the kids love watching THE Firm! So much suspense and action and we love the actors and actresses! Please reconsider and give another season!
My family LOVE the show. Its crazy that NBC might cancel it when they are the ones
that are ******** it up. They don’t support it, there is no on-air advertising and they pre-empt episodes with no explanation! Its a GREAT Show… a thinking person’s show.
This show is amazing! Acting is great, writing is great!
It has a great balance of action with drama, and it also
has a lot of heart. I’d totally continue watching this program!
I hope it continues!
Please do not cancel The Firm. Great acting, much better than some other shows.
REALLY GREAT SHOWWWW – PLEASE, DON’T CANCEL!!!
My husband and I watch The Firm every week. We like the show very much. They should cancel half of the shows currently on before this one. Please don’t cancel it.
love the Firm-it is our favorite program and I am hoping they aren’t leaving us up in the air after just 12 episodes. Please continue this great show.
Alice Faulkes
[…] Given the state of NBC’s current schedule, it seems likely that the network will let the remaining seven episodes air on Thursday nights. If the ratings continue to drop, they may pull it or ship it off to the Saturday night graveyard with The Firm. […]
PLEASE don’t cancel, my husband and I LOVE the firm. It is better than any other trashy show out there right now. The story line is great and the acting is soo much better than some stupid reality show.
Please, please don’t cancel The Firm…it is our favorite program…missed it tonight April 7th.
My family and I love the firm! We usually have to watch it on Hulu because we’re never home on Saturday nights though. Please do no cancel it!
I absolutely LOVE The Firm. I was aching for more after the first episode was over! I don’t know why NBC gets some shows…scraps the good ones like The Firm…Awake…and Law and Order LA (ok that was NOT that great) but then renew stupid shows like The Office. That was not funny WITH steve carrell let alone without him! NBC: PLEASE PLEASE DON’T CANCEL THE FIRM …AWAKE…OR GRIMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😉 many people feel the same. Laura ps. Grimm has been renewed for season..2 its a miracle they renewed a good show.
Please don’t cancel it…..
It just needed time to get rolling.
It’s great, the characters are really likable!!
I LOVEIT