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 love this show!!! action packed from star to finish. Can’t believe they cancelled it. Hope another network picks it up!!!!!
A shame that they’re dropping a good show. They give it no chance and dump it on the worst night of the week and wonder why nobody watches it. That’s great, it probably will be replaced by another stupid reality show.
I love this show! I am tired of great shows being cancelled
I never understand why GOOD/GREAT shows get cancelled!!! This is an excellent show! I’m tired of losing good shows to reality tv. Put reality tv on cable!
I looked forward to this show…the stories are interesting, very John Grishom, the acting excellent. I hope a cable network picks up this series…it’s smart and well done!
I would absolutely watch this if picked up by another network or cable! It would be NBC’s loss!
I would totally buy the second DVD online of the firm if it was the only way to get a hold of it, and i think a lot of other people feel the same way. I know netflix was considering picking up ALcatraz, which even the fans didn’t like very much- why not pick up the Firm instead? Much more racy.
I like “The Firm”. It’s well written and engaging. It made me a Grisham reader too! The actors are top notch. NC is , as usual< off the mark for good TV. Look at LENO for God sake! NBC will undoubtedly remain in 3rd place of the big three AND- USA, TNT & TBS are already putting in better shows than NBC and even ABC often!
My wife and I like watching the firm and are sad to see it go. We will never watch NBC again. We are changing the channel to ABC.
How can NBC cancel this show? This is one of the best shows that has been on in years. Idiots!!!!
It is unanimous, NBC officially sucks!
Awake, The Firm, Ann Curry? Why is NBC failing? Because they do not give their shows and people a chance, Why should fans invest in your programs when you don’t invest in them. Give your programming a chance. It’s as if you’re on steroids. If it’s not an instant hit it’s gone. Well your fans will be gone too and yours is a corporation that deserves the loss.
I would also love to know how they measure who is watching their shows. If they are still using the Nielson system, they need to figure out how to move on from that! Seriously outdated and irrelevant!
NBC YOU SUCK
Please give The Firm a chance! It’s one of the best shows on TV! It is well written with complex scenarios. I think the “turn off” was it started so often with previews of coming events..and then the story line was all together different This show has the potential if given the chance. Thanks! Jean
NBC are you crazy? I don’t know who you ask for viewer opinions but it isn’t what all the people watch. I LOVE the show and will be disappointed enough to stop watching NBC at all if this show is truly cancelled. It was one of the most spell binding shows on TV and I couldn’t wait for each episode. I have never written a comment before on a show cancellation but just had to this time. BRING IT BACK FOR SEASON 2, or else someone needs to pick it up instead. NBC has some duds but The Firm wasn’t… Read more »