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.
Seriously, we get to keep “The Real Housewives of wherever and Jersey Shore” and they cancel The Firm and Harry’s Law…. Has Tv succumbed to the land of the brain furball for only those under 25 who think that the above noted reality crap is all there is ?
I agree that NBC mishandled The Firm series from the get-go, by moving it to Sat after only two episodes. That doesn’t give viewers a chance to tell friends about it and give them a chance to watch it. Then when they did move it, they didn’t advertise the move. My husband & I watched every episode faithfully and the finale definitely left us hanging. Hope season two is picked up on a cable channel.
This show is awesome!! As usual the network is the one to blame for the show not making it…. I really hope someone else picks it up. The finale was great and basically started a whole new plot…but of course now we will be left hanging….which is typical! Someone……PLEASE PICK IT UP!!!!!
I love The Firm. I’ll watch it on whatever channel it’s on.
Loved the show! Would love for another Network to pick it up! Was one of my favorites to watch this season.
They’re idiots for canceling it, it was literally one of the most intriguing shows I have watched always kept me on edge it was great, why they moved it to Saturday was probably the main reason the ratings got worse, plus when it was initially launched the fall shows were still airing so people had those higher on their watch list than this new show. They have to put things like that into account I hope fox picks it up especially since house is over it’ll give them tons of profit. Let’s stay hopeful because this finally only left us… Read more »
Would love to see another season of The Firm.
So bummed it is over, I hope it is picked up on another channel or the DVDs are made avalible…
The Firm was a great TV show. I couldn’t believe it got cancelled. There are much worse on TV right now. If it gets picked up by another network, I will definitely continue to watch it.
It’s ridiculous that this show was cancelled, just like Harry’s law. These were two great shows. Get more of these stupid reality shows in there. The hell with the older generation.
I really enjoyed the show. It is the only show I faithfully watched every single episode for. Just watched the season 1 finale and it left a lot of unanswered questions. I truly hope that if it is not aired on a US cable channel, that Season 2 (and hopefully) subsequent seasons are released on DVD in US markets. Im sorry to see NBC get rid of it. I really enjoyed the action, the great acting and the plots which did refresh from time to time.
One of the best developed series on TV. NBC mishandled the airing from the beginning and lost a chance to have a real winner. Writers, cast all great Hope a cable network will pick it up and/ or Sony will release a DVD soon.
Great show, my favorite drama since “24”. I would definitely watch a second season on any medium.
This is a great show and as usual it has been cancelled. Really hope someone picks it up cause was absolutely no closure.
Myself and several other friends and family members love this show! I hope it gets picked up!
Love the Firm, my husband and I will watch it on another channel when it comes back. Looking forward to season II and III, IV etc….. its great and dramatic and leaves the viewer hanging to watch the next episode…