The cancellation of NBC’s Trauma series is upsetting many EMTs and regular viewers. Apparently the San Francisco economy is going to miss it as well.
Trauma follows a group of first responder paramedics in the San Francisco area. The high-action medical drama stars Derek Luke, Cliff Curtis, Anastasia Griffith, Kevin Rankin, Aimee Garcia, Billy Lush, Jamey Sheridan, and Taylor Kinney.
The show’s been struggling in the ratings from the start and NBC announced last week that the network wouldn’t be ordering any more episodes, cancelling the series.
Though many shows have been set there, Trauma is the first show to be completely filmed in the City by the Bay since Nash Bridges went off the air in 2001. Before that, there was Midnight Caller and Streets of San Francisco. As with many out-of-town productions, the filming of Trauma hasn’t all been smooth sailing.
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Plans to film the series in San Francisco nearly got derailed after the pilot. Productions can typically get rebates from local government to entice shooting in their area. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors reportedly changed their program so that rebates went to film productions. The Trauma pilot was ineligible and NBC was none too pleased after spending $8 million on it.
Things eventually got worked out and the network okayed local production of the 12 additional episodes. Around that same time, Mayor Gavin Newsom came under criticism for taking campaign contributions from an NBC exec. Later, the city had to spend an extra $270,000 for a big annual convention that’s usually held in a facility that was rented out for Trauma.
Despite some extra expenses and inconveniences to the locals, Trauma has very been good for the local San Francisco economy. It’s estimated that $3-4 million per episode is spent in the area. That comes from payments of crew, police overtime, permits and catering. There are 150 people employed on the full-time crew, as many as 300 guest actors, extras, and other local labor as well.
If the show had continued, many of the actors who were renting apartments had been talking about buying houses in the area. But now, with the show ending, all of the extra revenue to San Francisco will be stopping as well.
NBC has said that they plan to finish production on all of the previously ordered episodes. It was initially announced that filming would last until mid-December but it’s unknown if the show’s cancellation will curtail that.
What do you think? Did it make a difference that Trauma was actually shot on location? Does seeing a city like San Francisco on a TV show each week entice you to want to visit?
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Image courtesy NBC.
I was beginning to think NBC was finally getting to a season with some good shows… I’ve been enjoying Trauma, enjoying the character development, looking forward to it each week. Then I see NBC’s infinite wisdom cancels another great show! They wouldn’t know a good show if it bit them in the ASS!!! Maybe they will put some stupid mindless dribble on in its place. I say each season that if something is going to be on NBC there is not much point in watching it, as they will cancel it. Having been in San Francisco, I enjoyed seeing and… Read more »
It’s too bad that NBC is already pulling the plug on a show this good. I know their programming time is limited due to the five hours a week dedicated to Leno (that was a stupid decision, and I like Leno). But they could attempt to grow the audience for a solid show like this instead of continuing to show reality trash – when is the next Apprentice anyway? NBC – please reconsider the decision to cancel Trauma, or at least move it to another night to see if the audience can grow. Get rid of some of those spare… Read more »
The last medical show that I liked, and was able to watch for more than one season was Chicago Hope. The popular ones on now have too much bed hopping for my liking. Now with this, and Three Rivers being canceled I`m back to zero again!
NBC is unbelievable…this show is good, no great…Cliff Curtis (had no idea he was a Zealander, not that it matters) is FANTASTIC, I just saw him in Sunshine, though a small role, and also in Whale Rider…he is HOT HOT HOT…also the realization that while these characters work with each other and will risk their lives for them and GQ public is a 1/4 of what I see…the relationships that are building and the sanity for some that are at the breaking point, but we haven’t yet seen. Also it has Jamey Sheridan, a HUGE name, talent, HOT HOT man,… Read more »
TRAUMA
KEEP TRAUMA ON AIR
I LOVE THIS SHOWWWWWWWW
THIs IS MY SHOW
Trauma rockssss maN!
i love TRAUMA
keep me and my boyfriends show on
I LOVE ITTTT
Well, it may have “sucked”, depending on what you want and how many episodes you were willing to watch, but after the Halloween episode, it was clear that it started to roll. It started to get a little personal and had some touching moments. It really should get a chance to either take off and soar, or prove that it should be cancelled.
I really like this show, see thats the problem with big corporations and money…they dont want you to see how “real” people make a honest living by acctually working for there money and what they went to school for(I know they are paid actors but what about the real EMTs)…no they’d rather just waste time and MONEY of course and cancel it to put something that no one will really be interested in watching like a stupid reality show where you really dont have to do anything to WIN a large sum of cash and you are also paid while… Read more »
I really like this show! See its funny there networks put shows on that people really like tease them and then just cancel them. It doesnt make any sence, oh well I guess just another reason for a huge corporation to waste money…..what a shocker.
This is nothing new for NBC. They’ve cancelled every show I’ve watched for the last 10 years, only to replace them with more reality shows (there is NO REALITY involved with ANY of them!!!), Law and Order, or Dateline! Take “Medium” for example. NBC cancelled that show (which had some decent ratings), and it was picked up by CBS, where it’s doing GREAT in the ratings! Another bone-head move by their network bigwigs!
IMO, the network needs to replace their programming director! NBC now stands for “Nothing But Crap”!!!!! (or “Nothing But Cancellations”, if you prefer!)
Anyone can scribble off eight meaningless words. If all a contributor has time to do is make a silly, unintelligent, inarticulate statement instead of a meaningful contribution to a dialogue, perhaps they should go out and take a long walk, clear their heads and open their minds a bit. A really sorry and inchoate comment by Mario.
That show sucked. Glad to see it gone.
I left San Francisco in 2005 after 18 years for personal reasons, largely economic. I have dreamt about returning to spend the remainder of my retirement. Not a great idea since I gave up a fairly affordable rent-controlled apartment. What does this have to do with the program, “Trauma?” Nothing came remotely close to reminding me of the beauty and desirability of The City as this series. Despite its high octane pyrotechnics, it lavished money on a true portrait of San Francisco. By the fifth episode, “Masquerade,” the character development was coming alive and I really felt connected. The “Masquerade”… Read more »
What a shame. NBC is canceling one of their most popular shows because they put it up against popular shows on other channels. Why don