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.
 Loading ... |
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.
Cannot believe another great show being cancelled!! Unbelievable, people! Guess I’ll just have to quit watching TV at all—-nothing good on anymore!!!
I love this show! I am so sad to see that NBC is clueless once again! I hope The Firm is picked up by another Network/Cable and that we will be able to continue to see how the McDeere’s manage to deal with the mob. This is such a great show!
This is one of NBC’s best shows. Great cast and great story line. I hope another network picks this show up for a second season.
So disappointed about it being cancelled. Hope another network picks it up! Great show,super cast, full of excitement! What is wrong with you network people????
Loved this show. Was upset that more people didn’t love it as much as I did. Hopefully they will do a second season.
Looked forward to the show each week. Was like reading a good book you don’t want it to end. Hope a cable network will pick it up. Great characters and actors.
Our whole family loved this show! We couldn’t wait for the next episode! Hoping it gets picked up on another network! Great cast!
The Firm has a super cast and a tremendous story line. I hope it is somehow picked up. Those of us with above a 100 IQ truly love and understand the show!
I watched chapter 22 last night, the season finale and it was very good. This show has gotten very interesting the last few chapters and I hope that another network picks it up. I really like it alot. Please find a way to bring it back.
Sorry to see one of the best dramas on TV fall by the wayside. Would definitely view it on cable or sattelite.
One of the best shows there was this year. Why do they always cancel the good ones?
I loved The Firm. So disappointed that it is going to be cancelled. I am hopeful that the second season will be picked up by someone!
So super bummed about it being cancelled. I hope it gets picked up by another network!!! I love this show!!!! 🙁 soooo sadddddddd
Please bring back The Firm….best show on TV. We’ll continue to watch it on any tv network. Can’t believe it was cancelled!
I was one of the those faithful viewers and thought it was pretty good. I mean I set the DVR every week to watch. As for the final episode it did not answer ANY of the show plots and the ending was like watching and endings of one of the Jason Bourne sequel movies…it left you saying there will be another.
If you knew it was going to be cancelled or not picked up by an anther station, you should of ended it with a little bit more closure.