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.
My family loves this show. We are only 44 and our daughter is 15. Again we always had to tape the show due to the time. Then when it moved we had to tape it and the news because of the delay in start time. That was very annoyning. But the character and the drama just always kept you on the side of your seat. PLEASEEEEEE bring it back. I agree with the others, if you are putting another reality show on, I think I will just start reading again.
this is one of the best shows on the air,,,and needs to return for number 5,,,this makes me very sad,it was something I looked forward to each week,,,,
Although The Unit had lost some focus and meandered a bit, it was still an excellent program. Strong characters, well defined and dimensional, complex story lines that demanded your attention and intelligence, all added to compelling TV watching. I intend to watch the re-runs, I hope that another station picks up the franchise
I can’t believe it! The show was making a great turn around after, what I considered a less tha impresive, season 3. It was one of the few shows where myself, my wife and my 14 yr old, would actually sit and watch together. I should have known because it was always the red headed step child. It was never shown during the summer, or it was being bumped for some other programing. As a military member, it was great being represented on television. Thanks to the cast and crew for the great shows that they were able to put… Read more »
WHYYYY! This kind of stuff makes me not want to work with CBS. I’m in the film industry doing movies and TV. All this show needed was a little extra advertising and it would have pulled in so much more cash. And the viewer rates are bull anyway. I guess the network hasn’t heard of Tivo.
This is such tragic news…even the people in my office are still disappointed, hoping that the show will be picked up by another network, something!! BRING BACK THE UNIT!
Boo!!!! For cancelling the unit . My husband I dvr’d it (due to his work schedule) but always watched it together, never missed an episode. Damn good show, but of-course you continue with that dingbat “Christine” whatever the name is on the air. Please reconsider bringing back The Unit!!!
I cannot believe they have cancelled this show!! Of all the crap they leave on the line up and they take this show off!!! I have watched and DVR’d every episode since the beginning. Please reconsider. I am sure there is something else you can bump from the line up that is much, much less worthy!
im very annoyed at the news this show may be cancelled. im 18 from the uk and i love this show. i have also watched this since the start. PLEASE MAKE A SEASON 5!
Totally upset that the Unit is being cancelled! My husband and I have watched it since the beginning and yes we Dvr’d it after it moved to sunday night.. but we still watched it! We LOVE this show!! And we are in our early 30’s..
Maybe FOX will pick it up. How cool would that be?!
What the F CBS? Out of 35 shows on CBS I watch The Unit and The Mentalist. BTW you can tell all your ad sponsers that I will Tivo the Mentalist and never watch any ads. Godd luck with your other dumbass shows!
Viewership is down because CBS moved the show to Sunday night @ 10PM. That’s when everyone is going to sleep because they want a fresh start on Monday for the work week. Anytime a network moves a show to Sunday night @ 10PM… that will spell the end to the program. Just look @ Sci Fi channel when it moved Battlestar Galactica from Friday nights ( big ratings ) to Sunday night @ 10PM. Rating sank and the show was cancelled. Network schedulers are clueless.
I am greatly disappointed that the show will not return to the air. I enjoyed the break from the typical reality show and looked forward to CBS’ Sunday night line up! I am not a 55 year old but a 41 year old that thought the show was spellbinding! 🙁
The viewership numbers are down because of Tivo and DVR. It’s on at 10pm, so a lot of people record it to watch later, which does not compute in their rating numbers. Count me as someone who is VERY dissapointed in this!