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.
 Loading ... |
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 just finished watching Chapter 22 and The Firm has to come back with a Second Season. Chapter 22 ends right in the middle of a Trial with new characters coming in, being the Russian Mob. I have watched another series “24” which was another excellent series and The Firm seems to have the same type of setup. However when “24” ended, it left room for a further season if wanted, but all of the main stories in the series came to an end. The Firm does not come to an end – it leaves you hanging in the middle… Read more »
Very disappointed that this show has been canceled! I do not understand theses networks anymore. I think a large part of the problem with ratings is that shows are moved around too much or one week their on and then off for two weeks its really annoying! If I didn’t have the shows I like to watch scheduled to record on my dvr I might miss them because of how they are moved around so much. And then this winter/summer season BS is ridiculous and even more confusing. I tjink people forget about shows that way. I hope they bring… Read more »
Bring back season 2 on any station. One of the best shows. It was moved around so much no chance to build a following. Bring it back
I agree!!
Loved it. Please bring the show back
I Love the Firm, and I was really looking forward to seeing what happens next so I really am rooting for a station to pick it up they have to, it’s such a great show and the way it is written makes me want to keep watching like every day…. it’s that good to me, so please bring it back.
hi love this show.seems like everytime i start to watch a good show they cancell it.hi know of lots off bad shows and they keep them on the air.very sad.
I hope this show is picked up by another network, my husband and I loved this show! So frustrating to watch a show and then it gets cancelled! It’s like reading a book and someone takes it from you before you finish it and with no warning that you can’t ever get that book back. Very frustrating! This is 2nd show that we are watching that has been cancelled (The Boss on Starz cancelled without warning). If shows like Honey Boo Boo survive, what is going on withbwhat America watches.. Seriously?
Loved the show! So disappointed it was cancelled. I would definitely watch on any other channel.
I’m sorry to see this cancelled. This show was very well-crafted, kept you on the edge of your seat and provided just the right amount of teaser for future events. I suspect that it was canceled more because of its appeal to viewers like me (older)–we just aren’t golden to the networks any more, and we don’t really watch much TV anyway. My kids watch edgier stuff mostly on cable or netflix, where protagonists are proudly disfunctional and violence is casual and humorous.
Sure I would see another season!!!
I really liked this show a lot!!
So disappointed this show was cancelled. Makes me not want to watch any new shows at all until 2 or 3 years have gone by without cancellation. I’m not a fan of NBC anyway. I do hope another network or cable show picks up The Firm. I loved the characters and the scripts.; very suspenseful.
Loved this show! Devastated to see this news. I hope they are able to get it onto another channel. I will definitely watch!
I am very disappointed that this show has been cancelled. My wife and i loved the show!
I´m looking forward to bying the second series and beond.
I want to know what happens!