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.
best action drama on tv, nbc is proving how dumb they are by canceling !
We love The Firm. We look forward to watching it each week. We are very disappointed that NBC will not be picking up for Season 2. Hopefully, we can watch it on another cable channel or NBC will reconsider their decision. If they pick it up, they need to leave it on one time slot and stop jumping it around…that’s when you lose viewers. The Firm is a great show, well acted and scripted. It is also family friendly.
I absolutely love this show and now with a somewhat cliffhanger whether it will be back or not.
Come on second season here we go PLEASE. 🙁
My favorite show. It seems the NBC decision makers have a knack for cutting any programming with merit. They instead renew numerous pathetic sitcom (so-called) comedies. NBC is going downhill fast in my book.
I hope to watch this show’s second season elsewhere on a network with some wisdom and marketing skills.
Is this a quality show? Yes. Despite the poor ratings, it is nonetheless a well paced, thoughtful, well acted/written show. It should be picked up by another network.
Such a great show – I can’t believe NBC cancelled it! I will definitely watch it if it’s picked up by another channel, and I would buy Season 2 on DVD if they produce it. The story for Season 2 looks like it’ll be even better than the first season!
Great show. I think it started out slow but turned out to be a fantastic show. I am so disappointed it was canceled. NBC should reconsider!
I hope the show is picked up for Season 2 . It is well scripted and very well acted. One of the best shows on TV . Plenty of action with high level complexity and dangerous plots. I look forward to watching this show every week.
Just watched episode 22 and it left so many loose ends, it is such a shame that it is being cancelled. It really is a great show, my favorite this year. NBC you blew it!!
Cable
Finally a family drama that my kids would watch with me and now it’s cancelled?! C’mon, pleeeeease air it somewhere or else we will buy it. Every show has a cliffhanger and we love it! It’s my favorite show in years. I wonder if there just wasn’t enough advertising regarding the show.
Loved THE FIRM, hopes someone picks it up….
My family and I watch this every week. Hate to hear that it’s being cancelled. Hope that some channel picks it up.
Cancelled…..it is a great show! Storylines were great. Kept you on the edge of your seat every episode. Hopefully another network will pick up season 2.
Very frustrated with the “big” networks. We find ourselves finding a new non-reality show on one of the cable networks and watching less and less of abc, NBC, CBS……the fans need great writing, acting and producing.
I agree. With all the ridiculous “reality” shows on t.v. it has been great to see a show that is so well written and performed by an outstanding ensemble of actors. I doubt that it will be picked up by a cable network but I would love to see it happen.