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 would hate to see this series end after one season. Loved the book; love the show. Great acting.
Not anymore… I just checked and they took the show off the schedule which sux for NBC because had they promoted the show a little better more people may have tuned in to watch.
The Firm is one of the better legal series I have seen in a while! My household is disappointed in this decision. At least they are letting us view the rest of season 1.
The FIRM is one of the best shows to come to TV. I am hopeful that it will not be cancelled. I am also hopeful that season one will come out on DVD.
I am tired of NBC cancelling shows that I invest my time on and watch faithfully every week. I watched Prime Suspect…they cancel it. I watched The Event…they cancel it…now The Firm. My only hope is that America’s Got Talent tanks and it gets cancelled after all the money spent on Howard Stern.
This is the best show of the season. Why would NBC cancel it? Most people tape shows that come on at 10:00 and view them later, so ratings do not come into that equation. The networks seem to leave the inane shows on the air and cancel the good ones. Hard to understand!!
Love the Firm!!! Not the typical law & order (no offense ) so many of lawyer/detective series seem the same. The Format of the The Firm gives it that unique twist…please don’t cancel.
I think the Firm is a great show. I couldn’t wait till Thurs. night to watch it. I wish you could give it another chance before you cancel it. Maybe try Sunday night again.
The firm is a great shows, they stick these shows on at bad times and not too mention I am at work so i always catch it on demand. They should check all the ratings. this is one of the better shows on there network top 3 no doubt
My husband and I really like this show on Thursday nights. We were looking forward to watching it and couldn’t find it listed. Why not give it more of a chance before you give it such low ratings.
I don’t like these rating things, I don’t have time to watch it on TV when it airs so I just watch it on hulu. They should count all the views its getting from every source when determining cancellation of shows.
It became our quick favorite. Looks like it is already gone in Nashville.
OMG! I love The Firm. It is my new favorite show. I really wish you guys would give it a chance. I really dont think its the show, I think Its the network.
Certainly keep the series. One of the few TV series worth watching!
Certainly keep the show. It’s one of the few shows in current TV programming that’s worth viewing.