Death and Destruction: Network Television’s Cancellations

No more prime time Prime Suspect, American style.
We told you about CBS canceling CSI: Miami, Unforgettable and NY-22, but of course networks all like to do things at the same time, so here are the crime shows that have gone belly up on the other networks and won’t be returning.

ABC: Missing and Charlie’s Angels (blogger Rachel Hyland knew that one would fail by episode 2)

NBC: Awake, Harry’s Law (and its updated cast), The Firm (our commenters were split on the pilot), and Prime Suspect (which created controversy)

FOX: Alcatraz (blogger Clare Toohey didn’t care for this one) and The Finder

How do you feel about the cancellations?  Anything you’re going to miss, or is it “good riddance to bad rubbish?”

Comments

  1. CCRead

    I’ll miss Awake. I found it facinating how one of his lives became involved with his other life. Now we’ll never know which one was the real one! Ahhh

  2. Deborah Lacy

    I’m bummed about Alcatraz. Otherwise my shows remain alive…

  3. SandraDowns

    I liked Awake. I was getting into it.

  4. Laura K. Curtis

    I’m not losing anything I care about, either. In fact, I think all the CSIs could go away at this point. I even think (and I know this is heresy) that NCIS has run its course for me. Bones lost me last season and the powers that be decided my fave Law and Order (Criminal Intent) had to go a year ago.

    I wish CBS would stream their shows. I’d like to watch The Mentalist from the beginning because now that I’ve lost interest in some other shows, I have more time. As long as Criminal Minds and Once Upon a Time don’t go anywhere, though, I am OK!

    I am looking forward to the return of a couple of summer shows — [url=http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/08/take-a-vacation-in-the-glades]The Glades[/url] and [url=http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/07/is-haven-your-tv-haven]Haven[/url]. If I can ever wrestle the remote away from my husband, that is, who wants to watch nothing but baseball.

  5. Lakis Fourouklas

    I really liked Harry’s Law. I’ve just started watching The Firm and the first episodes i found quite interesting. I will not miss CSI Miami, that’s for sure. As for Laura’s comment I’d agree that Bones has lost some of its edge, but the last episode was maybe the best ever, while The Mentalist is a long time favorite. Haven is one of my favorites too. The writers did a great job turning a Stephen King novella into a surprisingly good TV series.

  6. Jennifer Proffitt

    I’m not surprised by any of these and the only one I really like was Awake. I occasionally watched The Finder (really not surprised, it was a Bones spin-off but lacked the things that fundamentally appealed to Bones fans) and then Alcatraz was cool just too slow-moving for me and I stopped watching it around episode 5. I’m with @LauraKCurtis…as long as they keep Criminal Minds, Once Upon A Time and a few of my Monday night shows, then I’ll be A-OK.

  7. CKL

    I was sorry to hear that Awake was canceled (which I only heard about YESTERDAY!). It’s a well-written, well-acted show. You have to actually pay attention to it. And I’m upset about CSI: Miami!! I refused to watch it when it first came out but then I ended up loving it. I wasn’t ready for that fun ride to be over. Horatio Caine was always good for laughs every week. And based on comments here and in other places, I may be the ONLY person who will miss CSI: Miami! LOL!

  8. Leslie Gilbert Elman

    Sorry that Awake was cancelled, but if it means that Jason Isaacs can go on being Jackson Brodie in Case Histories forever and ever I’m okay with that.

  9. Clare 2e

    @CKL, I have to say that CSI:Miami turned out to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it shows, but as polarizing as it might have been, our blogger Scott D. Parker was another hard core fan and wrote a great post after Season 9 about why he appreciates it.
    http://www.criminalelement.com/blogs/2011/05/questions-about-csimiamis-season-nine-finale

    Also, it was a ratings MONSTER, so you’re far from alone in that fandom.

  10. Allison Brennan

    The only show I’ll miss is PRIME SUSPECT. I liked the show primarily because of the ensemble cast — I thought the acting was top notch. Unfortunately, there was nothing to distinguish the show from the myriad of other crime shows on TV, and nothing original of the storylines.

    I liked THE FINDER, but they blew it from the beginning by not getting rid of the US Marshal. I just didn’t like her character. I would have preferred the buddy show format. There were some fun things about the show.

    Like Laura, I’m looking forward to THE GLADES and HAVEN. More the latter (can NOT wait for HAVEN to return!!!) While season 1 of GLADES was terrific, I didn’t love season 2 quite as much. It lost some of the sarcasm and quirkiness that made it fun and different. Hoping they regain it.

    I didn’t like the pilot of THE FIRM, so didn’t care about the show. I haven’t seen any of the others.

  11. Christine Arcidiacono

    I am going to miss Missing. I enjoyed Ashley Judd and the cast, except Violet. Otherwise, I did not watch any of the other shows.

  12. Suekey

    I’m really going to miss The Finder—I was totally hooked on that show, loved the quirky characters. I’ll also miss Harry’s Law. The rest I watched some, and some like Awake and Alcatraz I never even bothered to watch the pilot.

  13. bookworm

    I am really hacked off about Alcatraz. Loved that show! Of course, I’ll miss Awake, Missing, NY-22

    These networks just don’t care about their viewers anymore. Load their schedules with dreck like How I Met YOur Mother, etc. That show is a waste of time. Two Broke Girls, the premise is cute, and the actresses do a good job, but their focus seems to be on sexual innuendo, as is 2 1/2 Men.

  14. foster

    Maybe one of the more progressive cable networks – TNT, USA –will pick up ‘Missing’. It is right up there with another suspense series ‘Rubicon’ which is now missing in action.

  15. nickelsylv

    I’ll miss “Harry’s Law”; also USA’s “In Plain Sight”.

  16. Art Frank

    Many of the cancellations will not be missed, including NY 22, , Missing & Charlies’s Angels and Awake, Harry’s Law and The Firm . They didn’t have the magnetism to attract a dedicated following.

    CSI Miami had a long run and a good following. Horatio was a little wooden, but the show was far from burned out. Miami is a great setting for a lot of reasons. Rather than deep sixing it in the Atlantic Gulf Stream, CBS would have been better off repositioning its time slot to lessen the competition a little. You don’t find long term winners like that every day, and smart executives should be slow to chuck a steady performer.The barrier reef already has enough debris on the ocean floor.

    There are also other locations nearby in Dade that they could have used for back drops, places like Coconut Grove and Cooper City
    to cover the spectrum. The late Barbara Parker set some great stories in the Grove, and it was a CIA hangout for years. They could have taken the audience to the horse track, the dog track and the Hailai frontins to spice it up too, not to mention the Seminole casino. Don’t shoot the show, shoot the writers.

    Unforgettable had a great setting in Queens, and showed a lot of promise. CBS blew it by tossing this one into the East River. They also missed some of the ethnic possibilities with the Chinese and the Irish immigrant communities in Queens. It kept you in NYC , but out of Manhattan with lots of wiggle room.

    Rather than dumping shows, maybe CBS should hire writers who know the territory where their stories are set. There are thousands of stories in the naked city if you just look.

    Prime Suspect was a promising show, not as good as the British production,but could have donea lot better than it did. Once again, this show should have been repositioned to give it a better time slot and more promo. It probaby would never have done as well as the British version, but the Brits are a whole lot better at dramatization, facial expressions, camera angles etc. The actors act. This one was a loss to the viewing public. NBC is hurting for decent programming, but this wasn’t one to dump.

  17. Mary Saputo

    This is what makes the world go ’round. I really enjoyed Harry’s Law and it seemed (at least to me) that it was getting better and better. I’ll miss that one. Prime Suspect was another I miss. I thought the acting excellent and loved the personalities and the sarcastic comradery between the characters. Did watch Missing but won’t “miss” it. Neither will I miss Unforgettable. Didn’t watch it after the first few programs. I get really tired of shows whose main character is the absolute wonder without who no crimes would ever be solved. Same with the Mentalist. The last show was one of the best. Never watched Charlie’s Angels (blaaaaaack!), didn’t like The Firm, found Awake too confusing, and haven’t watched CSI: Miami for years because of the
    cast. There seems to be a run of cop shows coming on for the summer in which the cops are all babies and into sex. I don’t want to watch a bunch of shows where everyone is jumping in and out of bed. TELL ME A STORY! As for TNT and USA, thank GOD they’re around. Their shows, for the most part, are excellent. Am also looking forward to watching the Hatfields and the McCoys. The History Channel is another that has good programming. More and more of the cable channels are giving us QUALITY programming. Thanks for them.

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