It’s been a rough road for Mitch MicDeere. Now, it’s come to an end — at least on NBC. The Firm has been cancelled after one season of 22 episodes.
The Firm picks up years after the young attorney (Josh Lucas) made his deal with the mob to take his old crooked law firm down. He and his family have come out of hiding but their problems haven’t gone away. The show also stars Molly Parker, Callum Keith Rennie, Juliette Lewis, Natasha Calis, Tricia Helfer, Martin Donovan, Shaun Majumder, and Paulino Nunes.
The series represented one of NBC’s biggest launches of the season but it misfired right from the start. The two-hour premiere brought in a dismal 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic with just 6.32 million viewers.
When The Firm moved to its regular timeslot on Thursdays a few days later, the numbers got even worse. Week two dropped 29% in the demo and the ratings kept falling in subsequent weeks. After hitting an embarrassing low for a primetime show — a 0.8 demo rating with 2.97 million viewers — NBC sent it packing to Saturday nights.
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The numbers have been awful since that move — even for a Saturday night show. It’s frequently outperformed by movies and crime drama reruns on the other networks.
To date, The Firm has an average of a 0.7 rating in the demo and 2.10 million viewers. On our NBC Ratings Report Card, which measures the relative demo success of shows on the network, the show has a “D-” grade — even after low viewership is taken into account.
On the positive side, 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 eOne 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.
Not surprisingly, The Firm won’t be back on NBC (according to TVWise) because the network has opted not to renew its deal with Sony and eOne. The series could continue to be produced for other markets however and even possibly be picked up by a cable channel here in the US. There’s been no word on the show’s fate beyond NBC so, for now, we’ll have to wait and see.
There are 22 episodes in the first season of The Firm and tonight’s marks the 17th. Right now, the finale is slated for June 23rd. If a second season isn’t going to be produced, hopefully the last episode will supply enough closure for the few million faithful viewers who’ve kept watching.
What do you think? Are you sorry that NBC isn’t continuing the show? Would you watch on another channel or purchase season two on DVD?
Image courtesy NBC.
Am still missing the Firm and would love to have it return. Would suggest better promotion for intelligent, riveting story line.
Loved the show, bring it back
The Firm’s first season was great. It should continue. Perhaps it was not promoted well.
So disappointed. My husband and I enjoyed The Firm. To have it end without closure makes us feel like we wasted our time on any of it. We enjoyed the characters, the story. Why cancel it. It’s like cutting off a great movie 2/3 of the way thru.
Great show, get the second season made!
My husband and I just loved every season . We aren’t generally binge watchers but we watched between 3 and 4 episodes every night until it was done. I don’t understand why it wasn’t a hit for everyone. possibly because they wasn’t enough sex for people. Plus not much swearing like a lot of shows. A little too clean for the average viewers.
Just finished binge watching season one “The Firm”. We searched the web to see what happened to season 2. Cancelled????? Can’t be, every episode was a cliff hanger. So many issues left that had to have closure. Please…. season 2 and beyond!!
I highly enjoyed the TV series “The Firm” and was very disappointed about the series being cancelled after season one on NBC. I never missed an episode.
I was looking forward to season two.
What a bummer.
Well what a disappointment, we have been left hanging after 22 episodes. Can’t believe that they are not making a season 2. It may not have been the best series on the television but it was a long long way off the worst.
I liked the original movie and was thrilled to see a series- wish it would continue! Binge watched it and was eagerly awaiting the next series. Sad it is no longer on.
This is dreadful news, there is no closure whatsoever. How can they lead us down 22 episodes and drop a cliff hanger like that.
Terrible, very disappointed.
Prime really should not have run it at all.
Thanks,
Dougal
Just watched on Tubi, upset that it just ended and left it all hanging. One of the best series I’ve ever watched. Fast paced, great episodes that were gripping, great writing and actors perfectly cast. I watched this practically non-stop it was so gripping. Better than anything that is called entertainment on now. Do something even if it is years later! I thought with so many episodes in one season there would be a big season finale that wrapped it all up. This will teach me not to watch one season shows any more.
We really enjoyed this series. Please don’t leave us hanging
I have really enjoyed it – watching on Amazon Prime video. One of the best series I have seen for many years
Has to be another season, can’t leave us here
Would love a series 2 of the firm. Its brilliantly produced, directed, acted, and the story lines are gripping. Much much better than lots of crap that’s shown on tv as “entertainment”
I want to see more.
I couldn’t agree more with everything you said! I just finished watching episode 22 and was shocked to discover that it didn’t continue into the 2nd season! I finally discovered something worthwhile to watch and then it’s gone!!
My husband and I just finished watching season 1 of the Firm and SO DISSAPOINTED that the show was cancelled. Excellent writing, great plot, loved the characters, bring it back on cable! Would love to see a season 2, 3 etc..