To little surprise, CBS has pulled Three Rivers from the Sunday night schedule, effective immediately. Will the show be back? Has it been cancelled?
Three Rivers follows a group of dedicated doctors and medical staffers who help those in need of organ transplants. The series stars Alex O’Loughlin, Katherine Moennig, Daniel Henney, Justina Machado, Christopher Hanke, Amber Clayton, and Alfre Woodard.
The medical drama got off to a slow start in the ratings back in early October. Unfortunately, the numbers only got worse as the weeks wore on and it became a likely candidate for early cancellation.
To CBS’ credit, the network has been patient with the series and has kept it on the air. Two weeks ago, the network tried switching timeslots with Cold Case. While the veteran crime drama benefited from the time change and attracted more viewers, Three Rivers did not.
Three Rivers has now been pulled from the Sunday night schedule. As expected, Cold Case will slip into the earlier timeslot and repeats of various crime dramas will take over at 10pm.
A CBS spokesperson has said that Three Rivers’ fate has not yet been decided but the network has not ordered any additional installments beyond the initial 13 episodes.
Eight episodes of the drama have been aired, leaving five on the shelf. CBS will likely burn them off either on Saturdays or during the summer months but, unless the execs have a major change of heart, Three Rivers is essentially cancelled.
What do you think? What went wrong with Three Rivers? Is Sunday night football to blame for the show’s failure to attract more viewers or was the show flawed?
Image courtesy CBS.
I am very disappointed. I liked this show a lot. I always said it was a rollercoaster of a show because you were sad because of the lose of life but happy for the person getting the organ. I thought the acting was good and I really liked it. Oh well.
What is with so called “Executives” today? How could you determine that a show like Three Rivers was not a solid addition to the weekly menu? If ratings were a problem, why not consider its placement in the weekly schedule, rather than the quality of the program itself? The content and the characters in Three Rivers were the best in the medical series on TV and a parent or grandparent did not have to be embarrassed about the content of the show. It was truly a “FAMILY” program as is reflected by many of the comments left by viewers. The… Read more »
We could not figure out what happened to Three Rivers so I just thought I would google it. Totally surprised to hear it was not doing well. My family thought the show was great and who doesn’t love Alex O’Loughlin? I was disappointed when Moonlight was canceled too, but this really upsets me almost as much as canceling “Without a Trace and The Unit” last fall. I don’t know where they get their ratings. I guess I am shocked that it could be because of football. Sometimes it would run late because of afternoon football, which I found irratating but… Read more »
Where I live, the show always started at different times (1/2 hour late, 20 min late) and for programing cable box it makes it hard to know…ended up missing beginning and end of every episode. Would love to see it back on TV again.
I love Three Rivers … bring it back. It was definitely the tme slot. I watched faithfully, but that is really rare for me — I had basically abandoned anything on CBS Sundays due to football making it impossible to figure out when anything would be on. I only started watching Sunday night again because of Three Rivers.
I really enjoyed Three Rivers and I think they should bring it back. It was a feel good story and was entertaining. I believe the time slot was the problem they should put it on Saturday or Thursday and it would do better. I hope it comes back because it was good for CBS
Three Rivers was a great show, I am sadden that the show has been canceled.
The problem with Three Rivers was the story line was the same in every episode. Something tragic happens to a couple people and their family members have to decide wheather or not to donate their organs. In the end they do and those who are on the receiving end are offered another chance at life. I think if they would’ve started to go into more depth about the characters and their personnal dilemmas and added a little sex it would’ve been a popular series. Personally, I loved the show (Katherine Moenning is amazing!!). It’s a shame that it didn’t receive… Read more »
Any show has basically the same story line. Sex is not what was needed. There are too many shows on TV that have “sex” as a big part of their storyline. However, this show has the potential to educate everyone about the importance of organ donation and dispel the myths that many people have…. if they have any knowledge at all about organ donations. I think it should have had more storylines about the patients and patients families. There could be a wealth of storylines…. personal decisions, religious beliefs and consequences. I loved this show…. it was a personal draw… Read more »
I loved the show. Bring it back!
Please put this back on the air…….believe me their is nothing on Friday nights…..and I would love to see it back
i really loved this show and was wondering when i didn’t see the new season come on so i went online to find out and was disappointed to find out u r canceling it. what is the problem? this is a great show and i am not good with names but the handsome doc [Alex] and the African guy [forgot his name,the one who needed the heart] were my favs. this show, i thought was going places, don’t give up now.
I really liked the show – the acting, the character development as well as the plot around long-term patients. I can state that for me personally, Sunday night football definitely got in the way. I have the ability to record the shows and watch them later. To account for NFL overtime, not only did I have to record the show following Three Rivers, I also had to record the news. Those without TV recorders would definitely have abandonned the show – I sure would have if I couldn’t record it. Monday, Tuesday or Friday nights would definitely provide better time… Read more »
Yes, I also agree with Frank and Joan, I think Three Rivers was a great show. And yes its a great idea to put Three Rivers for Saturdays evenings. Its good entertaining and you learn about it stuff that you never had though about.
We loved the story and so did a lot of our friends and relatives. We all wondered what happened to the series. We hope that you reconsider and resume the series again perhaps on a Saturday evening time slot, there isn’t much on TV on Saturday evenings.
I believe that the time slot for Three Rivers had a lot to do with it. Alex O’Loughlin is a big draw for me and I think that the few weeks Three Rivers was on did not do it justice and the characters did not have a chance to evolve. The action was great, but you also need to develope the cast in personal ways. Make that your primary target and the action your secondary target, like ER.