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.
Hope to see it somewhere
Biggest mistake….we all love the Firm. The acting is terrific and plot great….if there is a way…KEEP IT!
The Firm is one of my wife’s and my favorite shows. We are so upset that it has been cancelled. I have spoke to many of our friends that also love the show. Acting is great, the script is fantastic! We always look forward to watching it.
Probably going down for another crappy reality show!!!
What’s wrong with you people !
Very upset it is cancelled. This show was great, different, suspensful and smart. There was no closure which is disappointing and I was looking forward to Season 2. I hope another network or cablr channel picks it up.
OMG i love this show , this is one of the few shows I cant wait til the weekend to watch it. I never considered the idea that the show could be cancelled cause I cant imagine people not enjoying it. I am beyond annoyed at all these tv stations cancelling shows before it gets a second or third season. Heck some shows they cancel mid season even though the full season has already been shot.. and its for all those stupid reality shows. Im 32 years old , reality shows were soo cool the first year or 2 they… Read more »
Oh.. I love this show.Just found out about it. I can’t believe it.really! I’ve seen so many shows without any story gets high rating…
The Firm is a great show – I hope to see it on another network
love this show – hope it comes back to canada next season !
Yes, I hope another channel picks up the series. I search it out on Sat. evening and really enjoy the acting
Again NBC rates on age groups that like TV reality junk. They should ask people in all age groups. I do hope that it will be pick up by another station. I do not watch alot of NBC shows for this reason.
Hopefully another station picks up season 2…..
WHY??? It’s a brilliant show! why do great scripted shows get cancelled? THE FIRM deserves a second season .. I really hope another network picks up this show!
The Firm is really such a good series. I do not understand how NBC execs don’t see this. I’m guessing they just didn’t push this series enough at the start. I guarantee if enough people knew the show existed and gave it a try they’d be hooked just as I’am. I just hope someone else picks it up.
We agree that this is a very good program. To cancel this show and replace it with some lesser quality program is stupid! What NBC needs to do is fire some CEO’s and bean counters (accountants)!
Very disappointed keep the Firm running!