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 very upset with CBS. The network is my favorite to watch, but give me a break. You cancelled The Unit for the Medium??? My grandsons, under 10, idolize those men and look up to them. To them it is the good guys vs bad guys and its true. Shame on you for putting an inferior show in its place. BRING back THE UNIT.
I am very disappointed that the show has been canceled. I do not watch much TV because there are very few shows on worth watching. The Unit has been my favorite since they first started and I have never missed an episode. I would plan my events of the day so that I was sure to be able to see the show when it came on. I have so many friends that feel the same way I do about the show. Medium, come on. Who watches that crap anyway? I am tired of all these “Band Wagon” shows. How many… Read more »
This is the second time that CBS dropped a bomb on me. They canceled an excellent show, Jericho, and now they’ve canceled The Unit. The execs at CBS are obviously a bunch of AssHats who have no idea what they are doing.
I just want you producers to know at CBS that this is bull####.I just finish my tour in afghanistan and all the other bull crap that is shown on CBS does not top the unit furthermore Ihave friends overthere that love all the series that were shown so i say to get off of your butts and run a season 5 not only for me but for the men and women who are sacrificing there lives so you can run other bullcrap shows on CBS STOP MEESING AROUND! Bring Back Season 5
R/
James E. Thornton
U.S. Navy
I can’t believe they cancelled the unit for the table scraps of another network. The unit is a table scrap I hope another network picks up. I would watch the unit over medium any day of the week. If season 5 was going to be the final season anyway why not let it finish its run in style and not as a cliffhanger.
This was the only show that I made a point to watch. I am not a military person. This was just a darn good show..!!!
You have got to be kidding me!!!! I can’t believe that CBS has gotten rid of The Unit. It very likely would have had a better following had they not stuck it on a Sunday night at 10PM. I am not impressed that it’s no longer (thanks for that CBS! ..Uurrgghh!) This was certainly my favorite show……
I can’t believe they took The Unit off air. My husband and I are so upset that I just email CBS and told them what I thought of them taking off the best TV show on air and my husband will do the same. My husband served in Iraq and loved this show. He said just yesterday it was probably cancelled when it didn’t come on last night, nor did we see reruns this summer. I hope all of you that posted your disappointment in the show’s cancellation will also write to CBS. I do hope as another poster suggested… Read more »
What a shame. There are so few good shows on television to begin with. This one was one of the best by far. I don’t care if they put it on at 0300 on Sunday. I would watch it. There are so many ways to catch it too. CBS.com any dvr that most cable and satellite providers already supply viewers for free. Great show. Hate to see it go and be replaced with more reality show garbage.
I must echo the sentiment of many others but perhaps a little stronger. This was the ONLY television show I consistentyly watched on a regular basis. I was in the Middle East when it started and did not get a chance to even know what it was about. One evening after I got back home, I watched it. Then I realized it had been on a few years so I purchased the dvd sets and watched 3 seasons worth in 2 weeks. Yes, I must admit, I was addicted. Talking about a reality show, this was it! Reality of our… Read more »
Not since The X-Files have I been as devoted a follower to a TV show as I was to The Unit. It was the ONLY show I anticipated watching each week — my other favorites were Army Wives, Supernatural, Ugly Betty and Project Runway, go figure. So needless to say I was really upset when I learned The Unit was canceled. However, given that season 5 was probably going to be the last season and I would’ve had to see MY unsung hero, Jonas Blane, put out to pasture I’m glad that Jonas went out still in action. I always… Read more »
wtf your taking one of the best shows on tv and canceling it? well i suppose it’s back to just watching movies, nothing else on tv is really worth watching. congrads cbs nice way of letting the fans know what you think of what we want.
and they keep on the shows like medium and survivor… don’t we have enough reality shows on?? and to take on a show that doesn’t even belong to the network and get rid of the people who meant something…. what kind of network are they running?
I am soooooo peeved…. this is my favorite show…. why are they taking all the good stuff off the air??? The unit put a whole different outlook on things….you really got involved with the people…. you need to bring it back!!!!!
I haven’t been in mourning like this for a t. V. Show since Jimmy Schmitz’s character died on NYPD Blue. It’s disappointing. What a quality show.