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.
I am so disappointed. Every time I like a show it seems to get cancelled. This was my favorite show. The only one I couldn’t miss. I hated that you kept moving it around but it actually was perfect on Sundays at 10:00. I think I will give up getting hooked on any series again. Outside of So You Think You Can Dance I hate the reality shows and they are now taking over. I suppose this will give me more time to read…
I’m so sad that the Unit isn’t coming back. I always looked forward to this show. We even recorded it so the kids could watch it the next day. I was anxious to see if Jonas was going to go after Molly. Anyway..I loved the military plots and all the actions. Nothing compares to the Unit!!
I can’t believe CBS killed the greatest show on TV. They cancelled the show because its ratings decreased yet viewers never knew when the show was going to be on due to the network always airing other programs in its timeslot. They say that the average viewing age was 55 but they aired it during times that only older individuals watch tv other than the loyal viewers that tuned in just to watch the UNIT!!!! The show is amazing and I wish they would sell the rights to NBC so a real network would continue to aire this program!!!! I… Read more »
I figures….leave it to those damn execs! Dumbasses don’t know a good thing if it bit ’em in the backside! Why does this happen? They always seem to “drop” a good program and leave the numb crap on the air! This country enjoys military shows!!!! This is what we have to turn to while our husbands, wives, sons, and daughters are fighting for our FREEDOM and what does CBS go and do, rip the rug from under our feet! I am VERY disappointed in their decision to cancel this show! All good things must come to an end, I know… Read more »
UNITed we stand. Disappointed we fall. I hope Mac beats you all up
You have got to be kidding! THE MEDIUM is going to shove out THE UNIT? I know the insane asylums are overflowing, but some of you CBS programming execs meirt immediate admittance. I hope, in turn, NBC revives THE UNIT and pours the lava allover your mediocre MEDIUM. What a travesty. Plus the seaon 5 scenario sounds incredibly exciting. Please… come to your senses… But one more thing to consider… WHEW! I know I wouldn’t want Jonas mad at me!!!!!
I still wake up everyday with a slight degree of depression since iv heard about the cancellation, MAN how rare it was to find a show as magnificent as The Unit.
CBS if u keep losing fans like me, might as well cancel yourselves.
if this show gets picked up and maintains the storyline by some holly miracle I’d donate everything iv got to it.
CBT,
This is the only show I intently watched. This is the only show affording my undivided attention. Sundays made it more difficult but I would record it rather than miss it. Canceling the show is a blatantly bad call.
I can’t believe they killed it. But we should have seen the handwriting on the wall. They moved it from a great timeslot on Tuesday where I would watch it live and put it in a Sunday timeslot (maybe I should say range) where I had to DVR it and the next 5 shows so I could make sure I got all of it. You never knew for sure when it would start. CBS you killed one of the best shows on TV. Get rid of the shows that jumped the shark years ago and unreality TV and bring back… Read more »
I live in the UK and my family and I love The Unit. The charachters and storylines are fantastic and are in no way tired. We were dumbfounded to hear of the series’ cancellation and extremely disappointed.
What kind of people are making these decisions, it ridiculous. I truly hope that common sense prevails and the series is’ rescued’ and brought back asap.
First Jericho and now the Unit? Who is making these programming decisions at CBS? The people at CBS seem to have no clue about what the acerage person really likes and they don’t seem to want any original programs? I guess they are happy with a network if nothing but CSI’s, NCIS’s and crappy reality shows………….THANK FOR NOTHING CBS adnd count me as one of the MANY people that il not be watching your network again!!!!
I will no longer watch cbs untill they bring the unit back. Everytime a good show comes out some dumb big wig has to get rid of it. Thanks for sticking it to the little guy during these hard times when this show was one of the few that good help take your mind off everything going on. Thanks CBS.
I loved the show and I am so sad that it was cancelled. I am a thirty something female that set aside each Sunday to watch it and am so disappointed to see it go.
We loved the show. So disappointed it was canceled.
wHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT. THIS WAS ONE OF THE ONLY SHOWS THAT WAS WORTH WATCHING AND I WAS SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEW SEASON. I WAS JUST TOLD LAST WEEK IT WASN’T COMING BACK. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTIME A SHOW IS WELL WRITTEN, ENJOYABLE FOR A THINKING PERSON, AND IT’S ONE OF MY FAVORITES, IT’S TAKEN OFF THE AIR. IT’S GETTING SO I HATE TO TELL SOMEONE I LOVE A SHOW BECAUSE IT BECOMES THE KISS OF DEATH FOR THE SHOW. PLEASE BRING IT BACK!!!!! ELLEN MUENTER