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.
PLEASE BRING IT BACK! The best series by far! I am utterly dissapointed!
The Firm is freaking awesome.. I demand that it comes back……….. Or else
I’d love for The Firm to come back for a second season. It’s one of the best series I’ve seen in a long time. The suspense is great. Plesa bring it back.
we would like to see a second season, it is a great sering with full of action which keep us watching all the time. please bring season 2 back who ever is interesting to cast it
I have just watched the complete series and I’m sorry NBC aren’t considering another series.
I love the main characters and their interaction.
However a station’s got to survive I suppose but maybe a few more episodes could have been tacked on just to give us closure for Mitch to win the case and get the Russian mob put away and for the Italians to disappear.
Very sad about this–watching it overseas and it’s a great thriller to enjoy. Please bring it back!
Wish it was continued, I really loved it.
Very disappointed! I’ve been waiting to see when it was coming back on..
i loved the firm its real ,not fiction like suits and i wished it had continued
very upset about this. i thought it had great suspense and was also action packed. i will miss the show the finale was awesome. i would definitely watch the firm if it “undiscontinue” it.
i am sad.
I think that “The Firm” was a great movie and they made it into a great show. It’s sad that it won’t be continuing and i’m kind of upset. I really liked that show and wish they would have kept it going; I have no idea why it was rated so low
Extremely disappointing that this outstanding series has been discontinued. Intelligent, witty, intriguing and riveting in the attention it commands, it absolutely merits a second season.
Really ??
I’m disapointing with dis discontinnuity !!
The firm is an inteligent serie, with adults themes and dialogues! So, the series to be continued, must to be idiot ??
What happens with you ??
great show! 18 to 48 year olds can’t get enough 0f pathetic reality shows (not real)!
This is really disappointing. I have been awaiting to hear that the season 2 premiere would be airing sometime soon. I enjoyed the suspense and thrill of this show so much that I still have all of the episodes on my DVR. I have been waiting to rewatch them so that I can be ready to start back in the next season. However, of course, as soon as there is a show that makes anyone actually use a few brain cells, it has to be cancelled in order to add another useless reality show. What is America coming to?