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.
Some people don’t know a good thing when it jumps in the lap! Have faith good followers…..remember, ‘money talks’. Let the bids begin!
That’s right CBS……you’ve dropped the ball on this one! Let’s see who picks it up & runs for a TD! This show is a sure win for the next player! Any take’er?
Yeah! What they said!!!
I’m so disgusted with CBS for not bringing back the Unit. This was such a good TV show. I’d have paid to see them continue it!! There is so much crap on TV, so many mindless shows…this show was great. So much could have happened. This show deserved a 5th season and I think CBS gave a big fu to people by canceling it. What’s the point of starting to watch any new series when they cancel one this good? It’s annoying to get into a show and get attached to the characters and have them just pull the rug… Read more »
I can not believe how stupid CBS was for not bringing back The Unit. My husband and I were so looking forward to another great season and were really disappointed to find out that this would not be happening. Pretty soon there wont be anything worth watching on CBS.
I finally looked up this show today and I can tell you I’m really disappointed you didn’t bring The Unit back this season. When the public should be connecting with our military efforts in these unsettling times, you choose to air mindless sitcoms and reality shows. Another reason not to watch your channel. Too bad – it was a good show and yes, I fit the profile of the viewer.
I loved this show. How strange that they could leave this show with out a proper ending. Having it on Sunday night hurt the show and it’s followers. If football ran late working people were unable to stay up and watch it.
The Unit should have stayed after NCIS where it was a perfect fit. Good shows should never finish the way this one did. I for one think about it all the time
Extremely Disappointed. It was probably my favorite show.
Is there anyway that either USA or TNT could pick it up?
Wow! Finally get a show with some American pride involved and they cancel the thing. I loved watching this show! Bring it Back.
Snake Doctor Out
I just can’t believe you would cancel such a great show. I am sure if you wouldn’t have kept moving it around to different nights and times you would have been able to keep your viewers. I know I had to dvr it but I always watched it as soon as I got home the next evening because it was on too late on a sunday night for me but I was dying to see what happened monday evening but a lot of times it wasn’t there due to football games and stuff….always a disappointment when I couldn’t watch it….I… Read more »
I can’t believe it I’ve just found out it was cancelled. My husband and I were so looking forward to at least one more season. They should at least have one 2 hour season finale. CBS – you’re loosers!
Decreased viewers might have been because it came on Sunday night competing with football. This was my favorite show. Would watch on any network it aired on. Could it have anything to do with it being a military show?? I love my country and I love the greatest military in the world. Please do a mini series or bring it back on another network!
It just goes to show that idiots are running things in the big office. They got rid of The Unit so they could keep Medium? The Unit was an outstanding show and was watched by millions. They made a mistake by cancelling the show. Now they need to bring the show back for one more season. As a fan I lost respect for CBS after this decision.
im just finding out the show is cancelled. im so disappointed in cbs. i never missed an episode. you have great characters. you could have done half of season show. start in january and finish in may. thats what nypd blue did before its final. you wanted to save Medium instead. did you really take a poll? the only other shows i watch from your network is numbers and the original csi. i would say cold case but it start time gets cut off too much, miss it in dvr. please please find a way to bring season five and… Read more »
The Unit is probably the best show ever made. You cant beat the cast or the story lines. I certainly think that they should keep the show going.