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.
Bring back “The Unit”! Even after all this time since its cancellation, I still can not believe the show was cancelled. I always find myself watching episodes here and there whenever I’m eating by myself or eating a meal with my brothers and friends. There was also a little controversy since it’s one of the few shows out there that was blatantly pro-military and dealt head-on with the war and whom our war-time enemies were. But I digress.
P.S. Kim Brown was getting sexier every season, and Bridget Sullivan was drop-dead gorgeous.
REAL TALK!!! The Unit, 24, and the CSIs are the best shows out there, hands down! There was too much unsolved things that occurred in The Unit for it to end like that. Where did Annie go after season 3? Did Betsy go back to Iraq to her troops? I mean there’s much more but you can’t end it with Mac and Tiffi all of a sudden getting back together after 3 seasons of divorce talk, Jonas and Molly all of a sudden split up on the last episode, Ryan becomes a brigadier general, and finally Carlito gets married and… Read more »
this show could be another 24. need to get rid of everything ie women children that does not relate to the missons of the unit. here we have a group of soldiers willing to give there lives for there country and wives that commit adultry a a drop of the hat. put them all in a safe house, have it blown up and spend the next season with the unit chasing the bad guys.
i agree with others postings… bring ‘the unit’ back please … i believe that if you (cbs) take on a tv show you should at least guarantee that it will at least finish at a point where there is no more questions … like seriously how can we all be left in the dark about what happens to these characters … i don’t think its fair to have your viewers become involved in a show if your going to axe it before its due … and if its a money thing then maybe if the company should start thinking about… Read more »
one of the few i enjoyed watching…guess im not on same page as hollowood
This is crap. I will admit that I did not want to watch it to begin with BUT only because I had it mixed up with some other show’s name. I was hooked on the first episode that I saw. Now with that said, I can understand if the corporate bigwigs want to end a show (any show), but this one really hit close to home for me. They really could have done a spectacular job if they let season five run and end it after that. Jonas could have finally retired and found his wife again. Mac and Tiffy… Read more »
I second Pierluck. Dennis would be an enlisted man until he was 70 if I could pay him off. -_- Sigh. CBS. You kill everything I love young. You’ve lost my faith.
I totally agree.y my partner is in the forces and the unit has been one of the few programmes that we both love and always looked forward to watching together! I was devestated to find that the 5th series was not going to be made. If this was going to be the last series anyway and it was still pulling in millions of viewers then surely it deserves to have it’s finale and go out with a bang, not just an abrupt, open-ended stop.
My favorite show of all time. I could never get enough of the show.
How can you take something off the air that the people are enjoying and love. this show had it all and as far as inspiration goes i couldnt explain how much it gave me. ending this show was the worst decision and im VERY dissapointed, no PISSED at cbs for selfish reasons. ending a show because you dont like it. numerous people liked that show and would love to see a season 5, hell a season 5-10 or even through 16 would be a hell of a show. the unit is the best show iv seen in a LONG time… Read more »
It would serve the network to continue making the unit since we’re in this perpetual war. It might inspire the youngsters to join the military. Aside from that point the unit is a kick ass show non the less, the characters are very interesting and the show keeps you on your toes. I can’t say that about most other shows that are on the air right now, and it’s not like the show is running out of gas it just keeps getting more interesting.
jadore cette emission sa me brise le coeur si elle se terminerait!!!!!
The Unit is the best TV Show EVER!!!
If i win 777 7777 77777.777 1/2 $$$$$$
I would buy the right and make The Unit last 4Ever………
Long life to THE UNIT 😉
BeTTyBluE
The Unit is by far the best tv show that i have seen on television in the past few years.I have seen season’s One to Four and i am excited about watching season Five.Maybe season Five is going to be the last of the The Unit but i do think it should be shown to viewers.Please Please Air ” The Unit Season Five”.
I have sat at work, looking for some kind of series to watch to help the time fly by. i will admit that when i first stated watching “THE UNIT” i only watched because of just that, helping the time fly by, but after the 3rd episode of season 1, i was hooked. i have sat here multitasking, getting everything done as fast as possible to fit in 4 or 5 episodes before going home. I would stay awake till almost 7AM just finishing a season and i have fallen in love… i have even gown as far as having… Read more »
ya man it sucks big time and d/w i also had tears in my eyes when hector died. There was so much that was unsolved and i was excited for the fifth season to see how everything turned out like who would be in command of the unit now because as i recall thomas ryan accepted the stars in the last episode.
I agree. I love the unit. Bring it back!!!