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.
Loved the show — would follow it where ever it is shown!
We loved it, if we missed an episode we made sure to catch it on Rogers on-demand. We are definitely disappointed that it has been cancelled.
W&M
hi there i am from australia as soon as i heard one of the local digital channels said it was coming soon ( in australia everything comes late) it seemed pretty cool and it was also starring josh lucas which a good actor so are the other. it is a embarassement that people who dont have enough of iq to understand this show. yes i do watch shows like vampire diaries and others but this shows are very easy to grasp on. I in fact think it was a great show today is the 25th of december and im watching… Read more »
I read the book last year on vacation in January, loved the show. Looked forward to it every week and it was the topic of conversation at work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cos I’d watch.so sad nbc cdnt cont showing it.
This was the best show on tv last year. I could hardly wait for the next episode each week. I didn’t get that excited for any other show I watched last year or this year as a matter of fact. Hope they bring it back on cable.
the firm was an AWESOME show!!! my mom and i looked forward to every Saturday that it was on! why would you cancel it? it’s the one good show thats been out for a while that didn’t encourge things like sex, or drugs.
Stop canceling good shows. This is the second time this network has let me down in the past couple of months. And quit putting soccer all over the NBC sports channel. Come on man! Might as well put women’s basketball on.
your outa your mind, it rocked in canada, come on,keep a good show for once. if you didn’t get any viewers, try a different marketing stategy cause this show rocked
The firm hands down is one of the best tv shows since 24 . A lawyer type jack Bauer, well written and very unpredictable. Every episode kept you on the edge of your seat love it love it
We sure would like to see a season 2! Cable or DVD!
NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, CTV, CBC are all relics from the past. Internet is the future. Shows like The Firm, Harry’s Law are great shows and they cost a lot of money to produce. But I for one do not want to watch any of it if I have to sit through interruptions every 5 minutes and listen to some idiot that wants me to buy something I don’t need. So, please Cable Channels, pick up these shows. I’ll be more than happy to pay in order to watch them commercial free.
I am shocked, that show was suspenseful, unpredictable, and “can’t wait until the next season” show. I am completely disappointed!
The Firm Cancelled??????
I loved the show BIG Time.
🙁
i loved this series very enjoyable just like many other series kill it without no closure
seems to be the norm nowdays so many bite the dust this way i think viewers need to express feelings of there favorite shows being stopped without an end very disappointing
atleast give them a close stations will loose lots of viewers because they dont wont to get interested to be repeatedly disappointed 🙁