NBC Soft Closing The Firm

Jon Dekel, Dose.ca
February 3, 2012

Sunday, Jan. 8 – The Firm [NBC/Global, 8.00 p.m. ET/PT] We're not going to lie to you, this pilot doesn't look impressive. But considering NBC spent a bunch of cash on getting Josh Lucas, Molly Parker and Juliette Lewis to star, nevermind the rights to the book, one would imagine it's going to get better, right? Right?

Photo by: NBC

After weeks of horrible ratings and a disastrous panel session at the Television Critics Association conference that amounted to little more than a public skewering by journalists, NBC has more or less relegated The Firm to cancellation, moving it from its Thursday night slot to the death slot of Saturdays at 9 p.m. for the remainder of its natural run. The Firm's Thursday night timeslot will now go to the high-concept drama Awake, starting March 1.

The move comes as The Firm, a TV adaptation set 10 years after the events of the 1993 Tom Cruise flick with Josh Lucas taking over the lead role, continued delivering weak numbers in the US. This week's episode brought in a paltry 3 million viewers and feeble 0.8 rating in the crucial adult demo.

Awake stars Jason Isaacs as a detective who finds himself leading a complex double life after a tragic accident. Watch a five-minute preview below:

jond@dose.ca