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 even buy DVD season 1-4……………..huhhh,Already start repeating the DVD.
Season 5!!!!!
Why this sucks bring it back there is not a single show on the air with as good of a story line as The Unit
It is indeed a pity that CBS has decided to axe this show, when in fact there are some floozy woozy shows which they should seriously consider axing. I am from Malaysia and we find this show to be exciting and keep all of us riverted . One of the most fast moving , engaging series which we have seen for a long long time after the Shield and 24hrs. It is far more exciting than CSI. Hope to see Season 5.
Come on, it’s a great show, it has a massive following just do the final as a movie, you’ll make a killing.
Feel the force
K
i think the idea to send jonas on a long mission, mack jumping in for his “clearance”, bob training new unit members (new orgnization) didn`’t get me at all. i love the unit and it was/is an outstanding show…. but the described 5th season sounded to me like a quick solution = quick money making – and would have been in the end a show with an end where peopl would have said – it was “ok” …… the idea of jonas retiring would have been to obvious …. i would have preferd to see him in “Tom Ryans” position.… Read more »
Dooooooooooon’t stop now it’s almost like when your eating a big juicy steak and somebody abruptly pulls it out of your mouth come on seriously.
I love the Unit please don’t stop so soon, make season 5, shoot if it was up to me you guys would go on till season ” who knows,” but at least make season 5 don’t let us loyal people hang here in the wind.
Sincerely Yours
My husband and I love The Unit. It was our favorite show. We couldn’t wait for the night it would air. Original theme, fabulous storyline, excellent actors. There is so much “crap” on CBS that panders to the juvenile. Wish they knew a good show when they saw it! Bring back something that’s interesting… like The Unit!
I enjoyed seasons 1 though 4 and was soooo looking forward to season 5….i made sure that i had nothing to do wednesdays nights @ 8pm so that i don’t miss it, i’m so sad that there wont be a season 5. Please put The Unit back…@ least even if it’s the last, but don’t end it like that 🙁 Please bring it back some how. Thank you 🙂
Bring THE UNIT back, … some way, some how, …. I like the spike tv idea. … but offer it to somebody that’s willing to back a good show with a solid story line. …
If they won’t bring the Unit back, make a movie like Stargate SG1 did. However, we would love to see season five. This is the way I imagine the season to be. I see Jonas and the guys promoted and training others, but coming together to solve extremly tough cases.
I love the Unit. Was hoping there would be atleast 4 more seasons. Can’t you offer the show to Paramount or someone else? I noticed Spike started showing a couple episodes that cut it off. I think the Unit should take over CSI on Spike T.V. UHD channel has been showing the Unit. I record every episode. Please make a new deal with a different company…
I do hope that there will be a season V…I really enjoy the show and had been searching for it every night…..I finally saw it again on Sunday afternoon……
BRING BACK THE UNIT!!
How can it just end like that there needs to be more and from the sound of it season five would have been AWSOME.
I do hope we will see season 5.