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 love this show. It has continued to get better as the season progressed. Great characters, interesting story. I would definitely continue to watch it wherever it turns up. It was one of my favorite shows.
There is no life without The Firm.
There must be something.
We need the 2nd season imediately.
Valdo From Brazil
love this show and it should be picked up by another cable station!! NBC is nuts and I
love the charaters and the story line is wonderful. It is not loaded with sex and it keeps yu wondering what will happen. The last show on July 15 left you hanging and I can’t believe there will be no more!! Bring it BACK!!!!
great show i would pay 100$ for the DVD i just want to see the 2nd season another network should pick up the show or sell the DVD
I enjoy watching a show where the key characters are in jeopardy from week to week. There are very few show that are as suspenseful. And, even though there are weak spots in the writing, I love the actors in their roles, the cast chemistry and how the way the family pulls together when they need to. The way the story was left up in the air, makes me hope it’s picked up by a cable network.
It was one of my favorite shows. I can’t believe NBC let it end with a teaser for season 2 and no resolution of the main plot. As far as I’m concerned I will never watch another NBC series again. This shows a total disregard for their viewers.
I love this show. Why would they cancell this? It is the best show. I am so mad at NBC, first Ann Curry and now this!!!!!!!I am boycotting NBC!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love this show and it characters and actors who played them. It is time for cable television networks to pick this up since NBC does not know how to market such talent.
NBC sucks they take off all the good shows after a year,its no wonder ratings are low because you never know if you will see another season of the show.
My fav show, can we get it back. I dont care if its dvd, or cable just make it available to us that like the show..
I really hope nbc is monitoring this site…..screw you nbc…i will not watch another show onyour channel…. 🙁
So very upset about nbc’s cancelation choice. The seaon finale left you hanging, no closure. Reminds me of the Sapranos. Someone better pickit up for a second season. Nbc pulled the plug way to early. I will definetly be keeping a watch for it
We are very dissappointed that The Firm has been cancelled. We looked forward to watching it every week. I can’t believe that it had low ratings. Bring it back!!!
I get so tired of good quality shows like The Firm getting canceled after one season, when other garbage shows get to return. Please, some other network pick it up and market it better than NBC, they obviously don’t know what they’re doing these days.
Exactly! I agree 100%. While some of the shows on network TV are very good, too many are dumped for garbage. This was an excellent show. I hope a cable network can pick it up. They don’t have to have such high audience numbers to survive.
Fantastic build for a series, needs to continue
I have enjoyed The Firm very much and I hope there is a season 2. I will watch it if I can find it.