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 was such an exciting show and I couldn’t wait for the next episode each week. What a shame that NBC has cancelled it along with another favorite of mine “Harry’s Law”. All the good shows seem to get cancelled and these new reality shows are so overrated in my book; who cares what goes on in someone’s private life.
Quel dommage! Ça me plaisait beaucoup comme série. J’espère qu’elle sera récupérée par la concurrence… J’avais ressentie la même désolation lorsque Lie To Me avait été retiré des ondes. Je crois qu’on ne donne pas la chance à des émissions de percer. De plus, toujours changer de plage horaire, ça finit par perdre l’auditoire.
We were hoping for a season 2. This was one of our weekly shows to watch. Hope it comes back someday to wrap up the loose ends from season 1.
Very sad The Firm has been cancelled. It is so unfortunate that reality TV is taking away good TV.
Loved this show!!! Hate reality tv. Hope it gets picked up by another network.
The one show that my husband and I enjoyed and made sure we didn’t miss. I refuse to watch ANY reality shows so I guess I will have to give up TV.
So Sad to hear “The Firm” will not be returning. I would purchase the DVD as I know I missed a few episodes when it moved to Sat night as I wasnt aware of the move for a few weeks. It just seems like every show I start watching gets cancelled. I think I will quit watching NBC.
Very said the show won’t be returning for a season 2. My husband and I loved watching it together. I hope it is picked up by another network.
I am very sorry to see that there will not be a season 2 for the Firm, my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the suspenseful action packed show 🙁
Sorry to hear that The Firm won’t be back for season 2. I’ve recorded and watched all of the episodes and each was quality, entertaining television. Shame on NBC for taking the same approach they took with Awake and cancelled a show that had great acting that was really coming into its own. Makes viewers not want to invest time in an NBC show…here today, gone tomorrow (ala Heidi Klum). Guess I’ll stick with premium cable (e.g. Showtime ‘Homeland’) and PBS’ ‘Downton Abbey’ for real entertainment!
The Firm was one of my favorite new shows. That and
Grimm. I would get it on DVD. I’d like to know what
Happens next.
Am sad it is cancelled. I loved the characters and the storyline. I couldn’t always find when it was on so Ive missed a few episodes. Hope it will continue with another network.
I am so sad the The Firm has been cancelled…. looked forward to every episode
I really enjoyed this show and looked forward to every episode… always DVR’d to make sure I didn’t miss it. So sad that it is cancelled 🙁
bring this show back please my family an I loved it thanks