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.
The only show my kids and I watched. There’s nothing good left on network TV.
What a shame. Where are the commonsense executives of network television. First “Kids Nation” was only allowed to run one season. NBC quits Leno for prime time (because it’s cheaper to produce) and puts that nonphotogenic idiot comedy writer O’Brien on as a slap in the face of Carson. Bonanza, gunsmoke, have gun will travel, the rifleman, all gone with the wind, And now the unit is hx. Whenever a show is aired with a moral conclusion, and a manly man protrayal, the idiot winnies at production TV conveniently kill it. Please, TNT, family channel, fox, NBC, or ABC, pick… Read more »
Dang! I love this show. We have a big following here at our house where a bunch of teenagers and younger boys get together with the parents and grandparents to watch this show. We only watch 24, Lie to Me and The Unit, so I am very very sad you chose not to renew it. Please reconsider!!!!
Just checking to see when the new UNIT season was to begin and I find out it was cancelled. The UNIT is the only show that I record if I am not going to be home at air time. How sad for all of us loyal UNIT fans and how typical of network television. Trust me when I say your “reality” (and we all know there is nothing real about them) shows and clones of clones shows will not keep me watching CBS. So long….
What a shame. One of the best series ever…
I am completely disappointed in whoever decided that this show was not worth renewing. I never used to watch CBS, but thanks to The Unit, I have been watching more and more shows on this channel. If The Unit does not return to the air, not only will a great dis-service have been done to all of it’s fans, but this viewer will never again have a reason to turn on CBS…
As a citizen and a soldier, ‘the Unit’ was great. It is truly a shame what Television has come to. We all live a ‘reality show’ how about fantasy and drama to escape for an hour. If some CBS exec reads this how about a reconsideration on ‘the unit’.
I am done with this network…first they cancel Shark and now The Unit! They have gone too far this time. The Unit was the BEST show on television. I hope another network picks it up and it goes against one of CBS’ far to many crappy reality shows.
BOHICA!!! The Unit was quality, not this silly reality crap.
I was waiting for the Unit to come back on…and found out it was cancelled
Everyone I work with watched the Unit, this is sad. I see the best shows
being cancelled making way for reality shows. I see a trend towards watching more cable shows than the Big 3 ABC, CBS, NBC, Seems I was on CBS everynight…that is bound to change. I do hope they reconsider and bring it back!
i guess i dont have much to watch on network anymore. first it was the Jerhico now it is the unit that leaves about 3-4 network shows we care to watch all were on CBS.We Enjoy watching NCIS the mentalists ,criminal minds the original ncis andthe original csi with Grissom cant stand the copy cat csi,we really enjoy House on Usa also burn notice.I guess Cbs”s televisions rating are probably going in the same direstion as nbc abc and pbs’s news and viewer rating, which is down When you have two shows that are highly watched .it only makes sense… Read more »
Man you guys cancelled a great show. I was laready pissed when you changed the intro song. The original cadence rocked! Now you go and cancel a show that lets me relive my youth. You screwed up.
41 yo Army Veteran
I can’t believe the Unit is no more!! No more jumping from helos with the guys. No more war paint. RESCUE US SNAKE DOCTOR!!! I used to watch CSI, CSI Miami, Ghost Whisper, and THE UNIT. I was wanting to know if Molly came back. She left Jonas at the end of last season. If the Unit doesn’t come back, then I’m going to pull a Molly and leave. Farewell CBS. Your news casts blow, your reality shows bite, and now your whole station can go down the toilet with one gentle flush!!!
This is horrible news. My husband and I LOVE The Unit and look forward to watching it every Sunday night. It was the perfect way to end our week. By the way, we are 28, not 55. It is hard to believe that the average viewer was 55. Anyway, it is an AWESOME, action packed show that is unique and it is a huge mistake to cancel it. Please don’t replace it with another boring, unrealistic cop/forensic/fbi… show. Or another dumb “reality” show. I just can’t take anymore of those and may even boycott TV altogether.
i think the people who are in charge of this show are stupid for canceling this is the best show ou ever produced it brought back a lot of memorys i’m retired army and this made me feel good when i watch it and couldn’t wait to the next show every week so if you cancelled it you will have a lot of people not watching cbs for the rating will suck because we will rally to make your ratings fall so bring it back