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.
The firm is by far the best law series. very captivating. They should produce season 2. It would have more followers if they slotted it in at appropriate times. Good job on season 1!!!
I was so disappointed with the show’s abrupt end. Kept waiting for season 2, and after googling came to know that the NBC has cancelled the show so it can replace “The Firm” with some stupid reality show!! I would definitely love to watch “The Firm” on some other network or on DVD!
Bought the whole season on iTunes and LOVED the show, really disappointed in NBC with their flopping here and there in terrible times. Maybe NBC should have some MicDEere loyalty.
What?? NO!!!!!!!!!!! Our family has been sitting together almost everynight the past few weeks to watch this show. It is so interesting, that we always beg to watch the next one and the next one. Please don’t get rid of it! We are anxious to see more in the second season. There aren’t too many shows out there that actually have a “normal” husband, wife, and child family anymore. And, we appreciate the integrity of character that Mitch, Abby, and their Firm stands for! Please keep it going!
I just finished watching the last chapter of The Firm, and I am absolutely shocked that NBC cancelled this show. It is amazing that the network would renew totally dumb shows which discarding one of the best shows on TV ever!!! It is intelligent, human, and compelling, a cross between The Defenders on steroids and Mission Impossible. I saw the movie, and the TV series is richer because it had time to grow. It doesn’t hurt that Mr. Grisham is associated with it either. He is brilliant. NBC doesn’t deserve such a fine show. If anyone is listening (or reading),… Read more »
This is crazy. A great show being cancelled partly due to bad time slots on US television? I guess the show would easy get 1mil viewers in the Netherlands if programmed on a worthy time of the day.
I have just finished watching Season 1 of The Firm and I am very disappointed that it has ended there!!! I can say 100% that I would watch Season 2 3 4 and 5 if they are ever film and aired!! Bring back The Firm one of the best t.v shows I have seen in my lifetime thusfar.
The Firm is an awesome show. Whoever is smart enough to pick it up & let people know about it will gain some new viewers. Gonna replace it with another stupid reality show?
Yeh it’s true.. I never knew when it was on so I relied on VOD. I just kept checking back week after week to catch it. I don’t know if the ratings is also included for those who watch VOD but if so there may have been many many others in the same category as me. The ratings may very well have dropped because the show changes couldn’t be followed, for one, and for two, it had to compete with too many great things those days and times. There could be a few reasons to the lower ratings for the… Read more »
I LOVED this show! It was so exciting and the beauty was you were on the edge of your seat till the next week and it was that much more exciting! It was like watching a really great movie that extended over the weeks. I would definitely buy Season 2 on DVD – I would buy any seasons of this show!
Loved The Firm. It was exciting and you really wondered what would happen to them each week. I looked forward to the show each week, which is rare. It was smart and you had to pay attention. How could it survive? The way the show got moved around, Thursday-barely, Sunday against major NFL games and Saturday. Weeks were skipped. You definitely needed the DVR or you would miss it. It had a great cast. Why would such a great cast and story be put together, and then treated like crap. was NBC really serious? Maybe the show was too smart.… Read more »
I loved the show and hated it ended and how it ended! I would buy season 2!!!! We at least deserve an ending!
I loved the Firm watched every episode.Would pay for season 2 on DVD or be so happy to watch on another network.
I will definitely watch it on DVD!
We loved The Firm and looked forward to watching it together. We are very sad that it has been canceled. We would definitely watch it on another channel or DVD if that was our only choice. The actors did a great job!