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.
Of course it will be cancelled. These days with people’s insatiable thirst for murder. perversity and vampires/demons – a show that actually requires acting and a thoughtful script doesn’t stand a chance.
Sunday night CBS is horrible because of football and not just Sunday Night Football. The day games all run over and push all the CBS shows ahead later and later. The Unit (a fantastic show) was a victim of this. I have to make sure my DVR is set for anywhere from 30-90 minutes more if I want to make sure to get the shows I want to watch on CBS that night. And God forbid Andy Rooney doesn’t get his whiny 5 minutes on 60 Minutes! And all the commercials! Alex – we loved you in Moonlight and loved… Read more »
Alex O’loughlin – easily the sexiest man alive and an excellent actor – should have dumped CBS after Moonlight was cancelled. The show had so much potential and was adored by many. Now there are vampire shows everywhere – and Moonlight is gone – it doesn’t make any sense. The suits at CBS are clueless! WALK AWAY ALEX – find a network that appreciates you for the superstar that you are. And for sure – you’d be the best James Bond ever – they should pick you for the next movie – and then they’d see that release beat all… Read more »
I wish they would CANCEL football and leave Three Rivers on the air!
The Sunday night football schedule was THE REASON that Three Rivers did not get high ratings. You never knew when the show was going to be on. Unless, you painfully watched all the shows that ran before Alex came on, ( which I did) you would miss it. I hope they (CBS) rethink their decision, and put the show back on in a different time slot, on a different day. I’m certain it will be a hit!!!
Does CBS not understand that sunday night is the worst day for any show, no matter how good it is, football is still too important for the average americans! Three Rivers is a great show, with a convincing cast, but the timeschedule is totally wrong!!! just bring the show on prime time or on a week day around 8pm and it will definately hit off!
I agree with the above comments. I don’t watch many shows but I really did enjoy Three Rivers. It started off slow because I had to get to know the characters, but I was really saddened to find out that it had been cancelled. It had purpose and meaning, not just meaningless sex, which is the focus of most shows. I’ve never wrote a response like this but I was really disappointed with the premature decision to cancel Three Rivers. I don’t think the time slot was fair. I had to pursue the show because I was never sure when… Read more »
Alex O’Loughlin is a fabulous actor and his dynamic acting abilities, great looks, and sexiness were all highlighted in Moonlight. In Three Rivers, all of these attributes were played down and they made him into a more mundane personaility without much pizazz.
What a shame. Alex had such a great following and fan base on Moonlight and was voted the sexiest actor on TV. Why can’t the TV executives understand these dynamics and use him to his fullest potential.
This has been the best show on tv for a long time. It has been watched by everyone I know and we are all so upset that it will be cancelled. I think if it didnt do well it was because of the football games also cutting into their time slot You should put it on at a different time and get some of this other junk off the tv and lets see how it does then. Please do not take this off. Give it a chance at a different time and day.
At the start of the season, when I sampled the new shows, I felt that Three Rivers was the only real “winner” of the year. The writing and character development, the valuable story content, the excellent pacing and strong acting and direction set it head and shoulders above the rest. What a loss!
Three Rivers had two things going for it…Alex O’Loughlin and Pittsburgh (my hometown)! I’ve watched it since it aired which is a difficult feat considering I had no idea when it would actually start if there was a football game that afternoon! How can you expect a show to gain a loyal following when there is no consistency in the start times. It takes watching any show a few times to get a feel for the characters and, if people aren’t already a diehard fan of Alex and/or Pittsburgh, it’s probably easier to watch something else rather than play “what… Read more »
Three Rivers really didn’t get a fair chance. The Sunday time slot is not bad but the show was seldom aired on time, and I’m not a fan of reality TV. I’ll watch Three Rivers when I can find it, but am growing increasingly disappointed with the decisions at CBS. CBS execs really should have given Moonlight, Alex, Sophia, Jason and crew a second season.
I was devastated to read of the cancelation of Three Rivers. It was the only medical show that didn’t just try to copy ER. The stories of transplant patients is one that no one really can grasp unless they have experienced them first-hand. Three Rivers was magnificent in its showing the audience everything the patient and the family and the friends go through with this procedure. From learning a transplant is necessary to the actual surgery can take years. And rejection is always possible long after the new organs have been received into the body. The young lady who lives… Read more »
I wonder… are these comments being read by any station executives?? Even if they do read these, perhaps they are only moved by ratings statistics based on a few participants’ diaries (Nielsen)? Please add my “diary” of yes, yes, yes to Three Rivers, Eastwick, Trauma and no, no, no to game preemption, more “reality” shows, more shallow sitcoms.
I love this program. It would help that they would skip over 60 minutes and not have the Sunday shows air until midnight because of Sunday afternoon football. I am tired of staying up really late or my dvr missing it because it always runs late.