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.
I just binge watched the entire series on DVD and would like to see the story continued. I don’t have cable but do get those series I like from the library.
One of the best series I have watched in a few years. Someone dropped the presentation of the first season. There is no way this wouldn’t be outstanding. I would watch all seasons. I’ve recommended this season. And all who watched were disappointed at the ending.
Someone dropped the prize with this series by ending at episode 23.
The Firm series was one of the BEST shows I have ever watched. Even my husband loved it and likes very few. Why in the world it does get a continuous I’ll never know.
I just binged watch, this should def have a season 2
One of the best shows for real, all these corpos care about are ratings. I don’t understand why we can’t bring back Josh Lucas for a Netflix reboot. The plot is a page turner, him battling between his inner self conscience and his job. The family stuck between the mob and the feds. So mad at nbc, bunch of dweebs. Rewatched the season again in 2022 and it’s still A1 Top Tier, even better then most of the garbage on tv. Please Netflix, Apple TV or HULU Pick This Show Back Up!
We need a season Two! We were left hanging
I just binge watched 22 episode in 2 days and loved it! Please, please do season2!!!!
What a cliff hanger with the end of season one. There needs to be a season 2 please
Took awhile to get going, but whow – what a show! NBC made another great corporate error. A lesser God needs to pick this up – like Prime (bezos) or Netflix ASAP!
Great show and my wife loves it. Please renew it. Tired of all the garbage on network tv.
Yes we wld love a 2nd season with 22 episodes!
We have watched season one and would like to see more seasons. It left us hanging with no conclusion
We both enjoyed watching season 1, it was great, lots of action and suspenseful. We were looking forward to season 2, only to learn it was canceled, bring it back.
The Firm is a GREAT series. I think the ratings were low due to poor promoting of the series. We came upon the series by accident and binghed watched the entire series. Please create more seasons!!!
One of the best series ever…big mistake to cancel…talked to at least 20 + friends who feel the same way. SOMEONE is missing the value of this program.