Much to the dismay of the show’s loyal followers, The Unit was cancelled by CBS in May. The series’ viewership had declined in its later years but, despite being preempted several times, still attracted 9.67 million viewers in season four.
The Unit was supposedly being seriously considered to continue in first-run syndication but the deal didn’t work out, likely because of production costs. Sadly, while the military drama and Dennis Haysbert, Regina Taylor, Robert Patrick, and Scott Foley will be around in syndication for years to come, we won’t be seeing season five of The Unit.
It turns out that the writers had a full plan for year five which Executive Producer Shawn Ryan was expecting to be the show’s last. He pitched the storyline ideas to the CBS execs but ultimately they weren’t interested.
At the recent TCA press tour, Ryan shared with The Futon Critic what would have happened. He said, “It was going to be a whole new show in the sense that we were going to be training some young people, Bob was going to be training some people for a whole new organization. Jonas was finally going to be seeing his run end.”
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Ryan continued, “The final season was going to be, I figured the fifth season was going to be the last… It was going to be a long, sort of final mission for Jonas. He’s not medically cleared, Mac has to go in and sort of change the medical records so that Jonas can keep on [going on missions]. We had a whole thing planned, it was going to be good.”
Of the cancellation, Ryan points to CBS’ last-minute decision to save NBC’s discarded Medium series. If things had been reversed and The Unit “had been owned by Paramount and Medium had been owned by 20th Century Fox, we’d be making the fifth season of The Unit right now. I don’t know how else to say that.”
What do you think? Do the plans for season five sound like a good way for the military drama to finish?
Image courtesy CBS.
we really looked forward to the unit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
one of the best shows on tv
how stupid was it to cancel!!!!!!!!!!!
guess cops sex and boring tv win!!!!
what a deal thanks so much for youe time
I’m really disappointed in CBS. The unit was an excellent program that gave American a chance to see how the real world operates. Does CBS think the USA can’t handle the truth?
Why would CBS cancel such a great show. Bring the Unit back!!!!!!
This is total utter bollocks. The Unit was the best and the only military show on TV…. and I’m not even from the USA.
Invasion…..
…… Jericho
…….. The Unit
I would really like to know something, who on earth do the network execs listen to when they decide to cancel a show?
It’s just 1 hell of a serie!!! Awesome, i really hope the scriptwriters can turn the decision of CBS or try to shoot the film with another producer…
Please let the unit continue!!!!!!!!!!!!
I cant believe that The Unit was cancelled. It was my FAVORITE drama!!! I am highly saddened by this. I stayed up every Sunday just to watch it. Wow….I just cant believe it!!!!
This was a “please Obama” decision. Can’t have any pro-American entertainment coming out of network TV. I will NOT be watching any thing connected with CBS this day forward.
CBS has given into the adolescent dominated culture of today by cancelling “The Unit” and carrying the reality shows and trash trivia shows in its place. The ratings will tell the story at the end of the season. There is no choice in viewing options anymore due to the networks catering to the pop culture and politically correct crowds. Good ol’ American citizens are not influential enough to rate consideration when the networks schedule the series seen on TV. Who do they think has the resources to purchase from their advertisers?
Bring it back, Bring it back, Bring it back!!!
I’m in the army about to go to Iraq “the unit” was the show that motivated me I loved it as an army soldier 11B infantry I beg you please bring the show back
It’s a shame they cancelled it, they had me buying all 4 seasons once i had seen the first episode… i can’t imagine how good the 5th one would have been. CBS, bring us back the entertainment! Bring us back The Unit!
I can’t believe they cancelled the show. This show is as good if not better than 24. I think CBS just did a bad job of selling it. The time slot was not the right. They need to put it up against Leno or some stupid reality show.
Bad decision, and one that should be revisited, and rescinded.
Great show, and another example of ‘put it in the wrong time slot (Sunday at 10 PM) and it has a lower following? More like, even with a horrible time slot, it had a great following … and how do they count the millions of DVR’s?
I believe CBS fell to politcal pressure….Lord help us if we offend any of our ARAB “friends”!
I have been in the military for 20 years, I think that the Unit was one of the best shows on TV. I have to say, some of the story lines went a little far fetched, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the show. The family interaction was right on and the acting was spectacular. There should be at least one more season of this show to wrap things up.