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.
This is one of the best shows on TV–I can’t believe it’s being canceled! I SURE hope another network or cable channel picks it up. Then–advertise, advertise, advertise !!
KISS MY A** NBC!!! You cancel an EXCELLENT show like this and you expect us to be nice…KISS MY A**!!! again!
This has been one of the first shows that my family and I have been able to sit down and enjoy without any of us making fun of the show. We have truly enjoyed it and are going to be very disappointed if The Firm is not brought back for a second season.
What is wrong with NBC? You always cancel the good shows and leave on the crap. The Firm is one of the best dramas on television. The Event, Friday Night Lights, Harry’s Law, Awake, and Prime Suspect just to name a few, were also excellent shows that NBC has cancelled. Pretty soon there will be no need for me to even watch this network. The only good shows NBC has left are SVU and Parenthood. I will be looking for The Firm to show up on another channel, I can’t wait for the second season.
I am sooooooooo terribly disappointed that the show has been cancelled. I’ve actually left parties on Saturday nights to watch it. It would be great to have another network pick it up. Although I have read the book years ago, I find the show much more captivating and the actors are all amazing. I could hardly wait from one week to the next to watch the next episode and not I can hardly wait for someone to pick up the pieces and continue the series.
Our family love this show. Dont cancel it. The story, acting, suspense is excellent.
Its one of the few shows we watch on TV.
Cant something be done to continue it here.
Again, NBC has totally blown it by cancelling The Firm! I can’t understand when a program as incredible as The Firm has been watched by most viewers from the 1st episode, that NBC would cancel it without at least bringing it back to end it in an appropriate way. Such a shame that a network doesn’t care about it’s viewers that are loyal to a great program, but the bottom line is the almighty dollar! The one who dies with the most money wins…isn’t that the way it goes, but those who only care about money could care less about… Read more »
I don’t understand how NBC can pull off this show. It’s got impecabble acting with classy actors. In the meantime, trashy shows get to have another season under their belts. Where is the world coming to????
I hope another network picks up season 2 if they have one. I am hoping they will have season 2. We need more quality shows instead of trashy reality shows. There’s too much of them and it’s disgusting!!!
Maria
My family and I are so dissappointed that The Firm will not be returning to NBC. What a great series! We love the tension, the suspense and the story lines. I can’t believe they are pulling this show! Hopefully another network picks it up. We love, love, love this show!!!! Why on earth is it being canceled!?
Just goes to show you how really out of touch NBC is with its viewers. Great cast the writ rig got stronger every week. Really tired of NBC just folding . You can’t always just quit. You have move and tweak something to get more from it.
This show was getting stronger. Just as we really start to be intrigued with the solid story line and as well as the dynamic acting ( YOU GIVE UP) Well NBC, we will be giving up on you, should you not reconsider!
OH MY GOD THIS IS AWFUL!!!! UGH, maybe if it had a chance with better ads, consistent times and set nights! There are so many fans of Grisham who have never heard of the show because if poor advertising. When they were told from word of mouth and were soooo excited about it, you all changed the dates! You have some of the best actors acting, great scripts and amazing suspense..maybe the wrong network perhaps? I pray this gets picked up by another network. There is a reason that many good shows ( that get a FAIR chance) do *really*… Read more »
THIS IS TRULY AN INSULT FROM NBC!! MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!!! AND YET THEY HAVE SO MUCH CRAP GOING AROUND THAT I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE IT GETS ITS RATINGS FROM…… I`M SO UPSET, THE FIRM WAS DEFINITELY A GREAT SERIES… AND WE`RE SUPPOSE TO JUST STAY LIKE THIS, WONDERING HOW IT ALL ENDED, AFTER INVESTING A WHOLE SEASON WAITING SUNDAY AFTER SUNDAY TO SEE WHAT`S NEXT, THIS A PURE MOCK OF VIEWERS…. I REAAAAAAALLY HOPE ANOTHER NETWORK PICKS UP, AND THEY GET ALL THE RATING THEY DESERVE!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THEY END UP REGRETING PULLING IT OFF JUST LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!
Great cast. Fantastic acting. Awesome story lines. Story arcs of the best order. I expected veteran actor, Juliette Lewis, to be awesome. The entire cast was.
Best episodes of a bunch of good episodes, episodes 118 & 119. Best scene, about 27 min into epis 119. Intensity, drama, tension family table scene that would give Goodfellas, the Godfather a run for the money. I rewound the OnDemand viewing at least five times for that scene. Awesome. WOW
And you cancel this show? GIMME A BREAK
High drama. Great acting. Fabulous ensemble . Best episodes, 118 & 119. Best scene, about 27 min into episode 119. Goodfellas and Godfather had nothing on the table scene. I rewoud it OnDemand at least five times. WOW.
Don’t cancel
Please don’t cancel this show – it’s my boyfriend and mine favorite show