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 really enjoy The Firm. I wish it wasn’t getting cancelled. The cast is fantastic and the storyline just keeps getting better every episode.
I once again latch onto a show that is canceled. I found it riveting with interesting characters, exciting plot, great acting, and generally well done. I can only hope it remains accessible to its smaller American audience.
One of the best shows on tv and Josh Lucas is on it, please do not cancel but instead keep it on a cable network.
This is a great show and because you bounced it around all over the place, it was hard to find. You did not give it a fair shake. I would ask people if they had been watching and they would say they never knew about it. People who had seen it loved it!
Real excitement and suspense and the hour passed so quickly and the cliff hanger left me wanting more. I could hardly wait until the next chapter!!!!
Do not cancel!!!!
finally something worth watching on TV and you cancell it…
This is one of my favorite all time shows. Great writing and acting!! I can’t believe more people didn’t get “hooked” on it like I did. It was on my DVR to record and I couldn’t wait to see it. I am really sorry that the network canceled it, hopefully it will get picked up by cable.
This is one of two shows on TV that I go out of way, not to miss. Some of the best written, engaging programming that’s been on for several years. It is a sad commentary, if this can’t make it. It’s been bumped around, from the start, time slot-wise. The premiere was on Sunday, the regular schedule had it on Thursday, then they moved it to Saturday. At this point they preempted several episodes for reruns of The Voice, or some such drivel. Those manipulations probably wore out some potential viewers. I would subscribe to whatever cable channel picks it… Read more »
Please don’t cancel this show i love it and josh lucas does an AWESOME job on this show. I looked forward too it every week.
PLEASE DO NOT CANCEL!!!!!!!!!!!
Michelle~
I love the show! I would watch it on any network!
Absolutely we would watch The Firm on another network! It is a GREAT show and it is getting better and better every episode. The stories are getting better and the cast is really seeming to gel.
Please keep it going somehow!!
this show started poorly, but the acting and writing have improved. I loved the story told by Stack. What a great way to end that case! I’d continue watching on another channel.
Please do not cancel this show. This is the best show on televison, the writing is great and so is the actors. The show that should have been canceled was Whitney really and why…Please reconsider your decision.
Linda
Ohio
its already canceled
would gladly watch on cable at least they don’t bounce shows around week by week!! Great show hope it gets picked up by cable.
This is a terrific, quality show. Well acted, solid story line, and intrigue. Like “24” in alot of ways but without the full on action hero. Instead, the hero is a puzzle solver. It is really too bad if it is gone. It should really be picked up.