There’s another casualty on network TV. CBS’ military drama, The Unit, has been cancelled after four seasons on the air.
The Unit revolves around an elite military unit and their civilian loved ones. The series features the talents of Dennis Haysbert, Regina Taylor, Audrey Marie Anderson, Robert Patrick, Max Martini, Abby Brammell, Michael Irby, Scott Foley, Demore Barnes, Alyssa Shafer, Danielle Hanratty, Kavita Patil, and Rebecca Pidgeon.
Created by acclaimed director and writer David Mamet, the series debuted in mid-season 2006. An average audience of 15.5 million viewers ensured a second season for the drama but year two didn’t go as well, attracting 11.1 million viewers. The show has continued to decline in the ensuing years and season four has averaged an audience of 9.67 million. Though the overall viewership isn’t too low, the series does skew older. The average age of The Unit’s viewership is about 55.
The series has been “on the bubble” for awhile and many took it as a bad sign when showrunner Shawn Ryan signed on to helm FOX’s Lie to Me. Ryan however maintained that he would continue on both shows if The Unit was renewed. He’d previously performed double duty while working concurrently on The Unit and The Shield.
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Like most of the networks’ actions these days, the decision to renew or cancel came down to finances. CBS had asked for all of its shows to reduce their budgets. The Unit is actually already cheaper to produce than it looks. Shot primarily in Southern California, it costs less than $3 million per episode to produce. That’s about half as expensive as other primetime dramas.
A couple weeks ago, Haysbert told the LA Times that he was unsure if he wanted the show to come back if it meant making too many creative and salary concessions. He said, “There are a number of factors that go into whether I want it back or not. It’s been a great ride and, if I don’t work with these people again, I’ll certainly play golf with them.”
In an age when the networks and studios have to watch every dollar, they’ve all been favoring renewing shows that are created by sister or in-house production companies. Since 20th Century Fox TV produces the show, the network wouldn’t benefit if the show went into syndication.
Prior to the cancellation news, Gary Newman, chairman of The Unit’s studio, said, “For the CBS viewer, this show is unique. The audience may not be huge, but there’s going to be enormous disappointment if it goes off and it’s replaced with one more procedural or forensics show.”
Image courtesy CBS.
Just found out that the show was cancelled. What is wrong with you people. This was the best show out there. Well written and not the same old trash. I won’t be watching CBS any time soon. Big mistake, bring The Unit back.
What a huge disappointment. I have purchased all of the episodes through ITunes and have been an avid follower since Season 1. It boggles my mind the kind of content that CBS is putting out these days, while taking away a show that touches on real world content and proudly shows the type of sacrifices from the men and women in our armed forces.
I’m just hoping another network picks up the rights to the show and puts it in a better time slot than 10 pm Sunday evening. You just have to wonder what CBS executives are thinking.
I wish our shouts would be heard. We are followers of this show mostly because in a time of war we need hope and this show gave us hope. Hope that our country was Good and that our men and women of the armed forces were of the “stuff ” that made this country what it is. The pride in our fighting men and women and the job they do was shown in this show. We could watch each week and beleive in our ablity to protect ourselves and others from the powers out there that want to beat us… Read more »
I am soooo pissed right now… I just found this out and was upset… My buddies out here in Afghanistan told me and I was mad. It was the best show out on TV. I do not know what these idiots are talking about saying that the shows audience is 55 years old on average. Almost all of my friends watch it and we are about 25 years of age at average. It is the most intense drama I have ever seen to the point where the end of the fourth season had me hooked. It is disappointing to hear… Read more »
Big Big Big Mistake….Huge.
CBS is as stupid as AIG AND GOLMAN SACHS for canceling this show!! It was one of the top ten shows on TV, relevant to today and great scripts!! It is no wonder the Networks are following the path of the auto industry! Sorry but we have Cable so NO bailout for you cheese eating bums!! Besides that I have no strong feelings on the issue!
Millions of viewers and they cancel it! Send The Unit in at once. Political not popular decision.
Oh and by the way, your vote says of the three and a half thousand voters, 98% agree with me.
I don’t think The Unit got a fair shot this past season. It was almost always delayed 30 to 60 minutes because of sporting events running late, then we’d have wait until Cold Case was done(which is a waste of an hour, we’d always find something else to watch until The Unit came on.) How about putting the show on a night where it actually airs on time and then maybe you’ll have the viewer numbers you’re looking for. But canceling it is just dumb. Try giving it a time slot where it gets a fair shake, having it scheduled… Read more »
why would anybody cancel this show! It is the only good thing on the networks. Im so sick of the stupid forensic shows. CSI was cool at first but how many of those stupid crime dramas can they make. Bones, WIthout at Trace, CSI x3, etc. its all crap compared to the Unit and its level of intensity. The Unit had creative writing and quality actors. It made us think and user our brains, thats probably why it got cancelled.
My husband, 3 teen agers & I make the best of our sundays… we religiously sit around our living room & watch the most intense show. it is ridiculous to take the Unit off th air. your have others in better time allocation like Cold Case & With out a trace gimme a F_$%*# brake any of those shows DO NOT compare to The Unit. We also had sunday night gatherings with our friends to see the show well you can pretty much say its over ! Thanks CBS we are so upset we all decided to cancell CBS fo… Read more »
I never missed an episode. The Unit was the only show that I really cared to watch. It was different than all of the other garbage on TV. I think I would be better off taking up reading in my leisure time.
So it seems that from age 50 on you dont merit any kind of recognition….thats what CBS and advertisers would have us believing. I would think you would rather have an audience of more stable and dedicated viewers than the flighty younger ones that can’t decide what to watch because there’s so much sex, violence and drugs on TV that they switch from channel to channel so that they dont miss anything! CBS don’t know a good thing when they have it, it’s the only great show you had on your network worth watching for decent folk. We will miss… Read more »
I must be living in a bubble cuz I just found this when looking to find out when The Unit’s new season premier date would be since I haven’t been able to find any new shows on my DVR… I’m really upset. Not only was it a great show, great story lines, but now the only time I get to see Dennis Haysbert is in the Allstate commercials?!? Thanks a lot CBS… grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!
Well, Thanks CBS – you did it again. No wonder I no longer watch this network. Every time I like a show – you cancel it. My husband and I watched every episode of this show since the beginning. First, Jericho – now The Unit. Bye CBS – end of story for you.
Average age 55?! Who comes up with this? Honestly, it was awesome when they had it on a week day. When they moved it to Sunday it got a little hard to watch specially when it aired at 10:00pm! But even then my wife and I would stay up and watch it. My wife is 24 and I’m 23 and we both get up to work at 4am and we wouldn’t mind making the sacrifice of staying up just to enjoy such an awesome show! Shame on u CBS! A 5 year old can make better descisions than that! Some… Read more »