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.
Say this is a great show. Maybe the reason it did so poorly on NBC is because they have so many programs that are carp and no one is watching NBC. CBS should pick it up.
I enjoyed the show from the beginning. Sometimes, the jumps back & forward in time were a little bothersome (i.e. an episode would run about 5 minutes and pause to go backwards 24 hours ago to explain the present predicament), but I was looking forward to a second season. Encore please.
I love The Firm! I sure hope someone picks it up. They needed better publicity. I found it at NBC.com. Watched it there until I was caught up. One has to watch from the beginning or it could be confusing to start after the pilot..
In my area only 19 episodes have been aired. I loved the show and others I have talked to agree. Please don’t take a solid story line, excellant cast that worked together as one and squash it. Hope the powers that be are listening
Great show, hope someone picks it up, great cast, we can’t all want to watch sit-coms!
Very interesting show. Each episode is unique.. Please consider renewing ..
I just love The Firm. I’m very disappointed that NBC would cancel this show. I hate that Harry’s Law has also been cancelled.
Me too! I love The Firm, and Harrys Law!
The Firm is a terrific show. I have watched all shows and always look forward to next week. The book itself was Grisham at his very best. With all of the reality shows there are it’s amazing any show survives but people seem hooked on them. I do sincerely hope The Firm gets picked up somehow. We have lost enough good shows!
This is such an intelligent story with clever casting. Please continue the show.
The firm is a well produced /written program that deserves to have another season. It took a while for the X-files to get its numbers. If NBC wants a show, leave it in a time slot that people will remember. ESP 18 had a really good ender. Keep it going.
Please renew the Firm. We all love it.
I just finished episode 19 and can’t wait for more
We love the show! Please do not cancel!!!!!
I absolutely love the firm!! Great show!! Sad its canceled but hopefully someone else picks up the the show
I can see why the lost of viewers. I time shift watching an now on episode 12 and see that the villains always get the upper hand. This is frustrating to watch as good guys need to win sometimes, not just escape by the skin of their teeth as each episode seems to be doing. Love the main part of the show but the underlying plot is becoming redundant. Viewers are more intelligent than the writers take us for. Get new writers and maybe there will be a future for the series. Not actors fault as they are GREAT ,… Read more »