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 loved the Unit! Great show and left me wanting more! I wish there was a RE-boot of this show. I guarantee it would be successful! Bring it back please!
The Unit was the best military show I have ever viewed. Heck it was the show in any category. It was a big mistake taking it off the air. BAD CBS!!! You guys really ought to consider bringing it back, if only for one more season. You have to think of your viewers when you make these decisions. The way the show ended is not fair to the loyal followers. Take a poll and I am sure you will find people loved this show, and would love also to see it return after all these years
I wish they would have run a season five and had each person leave the unit for their own reasons. It would have given some much needed closure. I recently found the show on Hulu and had never seen it before, I was hooked! I hate when a station just cancels a show with no actual end. I think every show that runs more than one year should have a chance even if only one final show to be able to tie it all up and end it so it isn’t just left hanging… We become faithful followers to these… Read more »
YES! Please more seasons of The Unit!!!!
Would like to see a season five
We loved the unit. Need some closure with this show. Let’s get her done.
There was a pretty good amount of closure with Charles getting married at the end of the last episode but I would have liked to see Betsy go on to make more rank, Bob and Kim’s kids grow up to be at least middle school age, and Tiffy and Macs kids go on to college. They definitely could have had episodes involving their kids kidnapped or sold into trafficking or something off the wall like that.
I’ve been enjoying watching this series and learning at the same time. I hope you could do the season 5 of the Unit. We are all waiting for it. Thanks
Was a great fan of the Unit show. A military veteran
Who fully identified with the show
If you really like the unit like I did (I’m also a military veteran) check out Seal Team, it’s a great one as well.
I was really looking forward to the 5th season of the Unite..Sad to hear it isn’t going to happen.
The unit was so amazing I wish I can have a season 5 to watch so upset that they would end it without any closure
I think the Unit has excellent character development compared to other shows of the type. As a military brat myself, I can appreciate the wives perspective. My brother had never watched it until I recommended it. He ended up binge-watching all four seasons in just over a weekend. IMO the unit is one of the best shows to come out in the last decade or so. Hope you can bring it back.
I am so upset that The Unit ended so stupidly. I vote that there be a closure that makes sense. The Unit is a great show and yet it ended so badly. So many unanswered questions. Please bring it back for a better ending.
Would have loved it to have a final season instead of leaving us hanging. It was a great show, very well worth the watch.
Keep the unit going it’s great
I am so disappointed there will not be any more seasons of this show.