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.
I really enjoy(ed) this show and would love to see it come back. You can’t base popularity on older types of rating methods. Let the internet voters sway you – believe me, we’re watching!
Bring this show back!! Why is it that when a television program requires people to think a little bit it is always cancelled? Yet, we have hours and hours weekly of mindless television shows and they continued to be renewed. Somebody pick this show back up. It was a great series!
Another show disappears that I enjoy–I don’t understand these networks!
Absolutely—- The storyline was in fact Brilliant– NBC has Thing for giving a tatse of a show, then taking the plate away.. Just like how they didnt finish Heroes. I would watch the Firm on ANY channel
Bring it back. It will develop into a classic. The characters are well conceived and developed and the plot is fresh and gripping.
The fi was outstanding tv series. What a shame to sed znother good one go
We Loved the firm!! Our 13 year old daughter even watched it with us!! Wish they could more good shows on air!!
I loved The Firm! I was really hoping there would be a 2nd season. It was hard to wait each week to see what happened. I really hope someone picks it up and we can continue to watch. If people could see it, they would love it. Very good show!
If CBS were to pick up the show, it would pick up viewers and ratings. Especially considering the air time and the fact that The Firm would be able to fill the dead air time that is constantly being filled with reruns. The show has the perfect thriller quality to pick up viewers from shpws like NCIS and CSI and even Blue Bloods. A good slot and good timing would mean more viewers to the network and to the show itself. I loved the book and I hope that this will mean more books get adapted into TV series as… Read more »
NBC doesn’t have the best track record in prime time. Ratings I didn’t know they cared about ratings, they haven’t had any for years. New shows don’t seem to last very long with them. If you are going to start watching a series you would like to think it stay around for awhile, at least reach some closure to the theme that was started. NBC is the about the last place I look for my TV viewing. Maybe it is their scheduling. In fact I never knew the Firm as a TV series was aired, until I noticed it was… Read more »
What a shame!!! The Firm was one of the best series I have ever watched with great acting. To bad not more people got addicted. Hopefully some other network will pick it up but to be honest I don’t think so. As it already has been a long time since season 1 finished. What a shame!
I would love to see Season 2 we just finished watching the dvd again and wonder why NBC cancelled a show with such good acting.
The Firm is an excellent series. The best I have ever watched. Please bring back season 2. I need to know what is going to happen next!
Please!!!!!! Bring it back! I really like these series! It is one of the best!
Please bring back “THE FIRM”. I love the show and the actors.