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.
This is one of the few good shows on TV. With so many programs on TV these days, NBC does not give it’s new shows enough time to get off the ground, then shuffling it around really pisses off viewers and just is not fair to the show. How can NBC keep viewers if you keep pulling good shows. I am afraid to get involved in any new show for fear it will be cancelled, then I’ve just wasted my time investing in it. We watch a lot of TV in our house and record a lot of programs to… Read more »
Great show. I can’t believe it’s being cancelled. Maybe if it had not been moved around/not shown some weeks without explanation, it would have had more viewers. I hope to see it continued.
Best new show! NBC caused its failure by putting it up against the Mentalist for starters. Then the treatment got even worse.
PLEASE come back for another season… on any channel! My hubby and I LOOOVE this show, and are heartbroken that it was cancelled. Why must they cancel shows that make the viewer think?
Love this show , excellent !!!
Love this show but again NBC drops the ball. I hope another SMART network will pick it up.
NBC is worthless and I will not tune into watch anymore new shows that NBC puts out if the Firm is not brought back. Great show and great story line. I hope another company picks up the show and runs with it, because it will do well outside of NBC.
My husband and I have watched every episode from the start, and we are riveted every single week!! We are so disappointed to see that it won’t be airing for another season! We would absolutely watch it on another channel or buy the next season on DVD! The season finale nowhere near came close to giving us closure regarding the show.
I love “The Firm”!! Every episode had a cliffhanger and kept me enthralled and interested throughout the show. I looked forward to the next one to see what was going to happen. I think most of the newspaper critics who initially reviewed this show don’t know their asses from their elbows and should consider a new line of work. The networks keep bringing back annoying shows instead of giving decent shows a chance (unfortunately, some that have the drama (e.g. The Bachelor/Bachelorette) are the ones people seem to flock to even if they have a poor track record). Putting “The… Read more »
I LOVE this show!! So true, they do cancel the good ones! I would buy every single thing they sold. I love Josh Lucas. He’s amazing in this role and it’s a million times better than the movie. It needs to come back! I would love to see it on a cable channel.
I love this show. I will watch you on any channel if another picks it up. No way should it be cancelled.
I also love the show!! It makes you think- which most programs do not do anymore!!
They always cancel the good ones!! I do hope another channel or cable will pick the
show up in the US. I could list at least 20 shows right now that SHOULD BE CANCELLED, but not this one!!
This was one of my favorite new shoes in a long time! Actually MY FAVORITE! PLEASE! We need more GOOD suspenseful TV like this.
I truly would like to watch it on cable , i can not wait until the season 2 came out !
BRING BACK THIS SHOW! IT IS REALLY GOOD, AND ALOT BETTER THAN THE STUPID REALITY SHOWS. BRING IT BACK PLEASE.
I am very disappointed, but not surprised that ‘The Firm’ has been cancelled. In fact, I am surprised any professional chooses to contract with NBC at all anymore. The network has developed quite a reputation for being disloyal to any program they air. They air them and drop them faster than any other network. Like a good book, character development and intelligent back story proves over and over again to produce satisfying and successful results. It just takes consistency and time! Leave the show in a regular time slot and give it time to marinate. I can’t help but wonder… Read more »