Earlier this week, I told you about the real reason Without A Trace was cancelled. Now, executive producer Shawn Ryan reveals the real reason The Unit was cancelled. "Listen, if the show had been owned by Paramount and Medium had been owned by 20th Century Fox, we'd be making the fifth season of The Unit now." You see, TV fans, it's comes down to money. CBS owns Paramount so it would earn more in the long run if The Unit made more episodes, went into syndication and reaped revenues for years to come. However, Fox owns The Unit. Get it?
It's too bad, really, because like Without A Trace, The Unit had a good 2007-08 season. The Unit's Nielsens were better than the previous year, and very competitive with Brothers & Sisters (although they reached different demographics). The Unit could have been picked up for a fifth season with some assurance that it would continue to be viable for CBS.
Ryan had a plan for Season 5, one we'll never get to see, but here's what he had in mind: "Bob was going to be training some young people for a whole new organization. Jonas was finally going to be seeing his run end. The final season -- and I figured if we got a fifth season that would be the final season -- it was going to be a long final mission for Jonas. He's not medically cleared. Mac has to go in and change the medical records so Jonas can keep up. We had a whole thing planned. It was gonna be good." Oh well ...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
8-07-2009 @ 12:47PM
JAC said...
I stopped watching when they changed the theme song. Still upset about that!
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8-07-2009 @ 1:01PM
Dorv said...
Yeah, but theme song was by the same guy that did the original, which was a nice touch. I liked both, though I liked the first one more.
8-07-2009 @ 5:08PM
Michael said...
As much as I liked the original theme, the second version ROCKS!!! I use both of them as ringtones on my phone and I am really going to miss this show...
8-07-2009 @ 1:22PM
Rob said...
I'm sooooo disappointed that The Unit was dropped. I understand though. It was inevitable, I guess. But damn,.. it was a really good show that never got the credit it deserved. When it got canceled I felt like it was a really good friend that was moving to another country and I'd never see again...... get's me all teary just thinking about it.
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8-07-2009 @ 1:23PM
Christopher said...
Thank you CBS, for ruining this for your own greedy reasons. Really, your not making crazy money off the CSI franchises in syndication?
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8-07-2009 @ 10:56PM
Jimmy said...
One day the CSI franchise will be gone, or not as hot as it is today. TV is a business with escalating costs and falling ratings and ad revenues across the board.
That is right, the economics are changing. Previously, all the money was made from advertising in four distinct areas: first run episodes, reruns on the network, syndication and international.
Shows are now rarely rerun on network television in their regularly scheduled time slot, so even if they are rerun on Friday or Saturday, those ad revenues are diminished or non-existent. Online ads bring in nowhere near that from TV. Sure, there's DVD revenue, but that (along with syndication and international rights) goes to the producing studio.
In the past, the networks can make a lot of money buying shows from other studios. However, nowadays, TV show revenue comes from places other than the network where it runs, and the for CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, etc to retain that money in the future, it makes the most economic sense to produce the show themselves.
One good modern example is The CW. The network is unprofitable, but the shows that CBS and Warner Bros. produce for it are, and make up for the losses.
8-07-2009 @ 1:23PM
Matt said...
That show was way to badass for me to stop watching over a change of theme song. I am so mad they canceled it, especially now that I know that it's not even because the show was doing poorly. All we needed was one more season, and we could have gotten some closure.
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8-07-2009 @ 1:25PM
Travis Bell said...
Damn! What Ryan had in mind sounds exactly how I would have liked to see it end.
The Unit was never _amazing_ but it was a reliably interesting hour of TV. Something a lot of shows never achieve and it's shitty CBS canned it. 4 seasons in, and they can't just let us have the final!? Boo.
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8-07-2009 @ 2:21PM
Han Solo said...
>The Unit cancelld
WHAT?!!
@#$&*@#&*(@#&*#(@$*@#($*(
GOD DAMN MOTHER*@#$*ERS!
/first I heard of it
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9-18-2009 @ 8:23PM
idjeanie said...
I'm crazy sad... The one show that my husband and I both liked... Thanks a lot CBS...
8-07-2009 @ 2:25PM
Han Solo said...
Holy crap! They cancelled it?!
Can NO goodTV shows survive anymore?!
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8-07-2009 @ 2:40PM
JLM said...
I thought it might be a candidate for "first-run" syndication in the Fall/Spring. You would think adding a few more episodes could make more money at the end of the run. With 1000s of channels around the world needing content, this show would do well!
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8-07-2009 @ 2:40PM
unc69dmo said...
Another braindead SUIT wanting to get another lame reality show on the air........
I watch 20+ TV shows regularly........but now that the Unit is gone...... Criminal Minds and CSI-Miami are the only CBS shows that make the cut in my house......
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8-07-2009 @ 3:14PM
Will said...
It sucks that The Unit got canceled. Thanks to Shawn Ryan for at least letting us know what his plan was.
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8-07-2009 @ 9:58PM
colonelbright said...
OK men...listen up! THE UNIT has been cancelled...as far as I'm concerned, so has CBS-TV!!! That show had a lot more episodes to run...very viable..so the greed of the money whores at CBS sends them down the drain with me! Goodbye CBS!!
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8-07-2009 @ 11:21PM
Deezul said...
I watched "The Unit" because it was about a MILITARY UNIT. But then when they did that arc that got the whole families involved, and transferred to another city, I gave up. Yes, I know it's TV and it's make believe, but come on. It takes years of training to keep a cover, but we're supposed to believe in a 20 minute meeting that all the folks will be OK? No wonder we have CIA agents discovered. Maybe they watched "The Unit" too? I guess to me it really died when they killed off one of the supporting characters. It then became too touchy-feely for me.
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8-08-2009 @ 11:47AM
Tricia Lawrence said...
The Unit was my favorite favorite show. We base what we did around that show. It changed to different nights.
We taped them and watch it over and over. The last few of the season we taped it watched to get ready for the new season. I hope it comes out on Dvd. Such a loss for us. I am not African American, I will watch what ever Jonas is in I really liked him and Mac, Brown. I am so mad.
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8-14-2009 @ 7:19PM
S Davies said...
We didn't know, we thought it was the last of the series, when it was over and they said "Well, that's the last ever episode of The Unit...." we were horrified.
One of the last good shows on TV....
In England they usually run one season, then it disappears forever. It's been like that with Breaking Bad, Burn Notice, Dexter - though that came back a year later, Carnivale, Jericho etc and once it's been gone a year or more, even if they bring it back, you lose the love. But, The Unit was on all four seasons.
We too feel like we lost a friend, and we also taped all the episodes so we could watch them over.
I guess some more reality TV or a doctor show or some lame police drama will go in that slot now. Wednesday nights will be sad :(
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8-16-2009 @ 9:46AM
steve said...
They should rename it "CSI-Unit"
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8-21-2009 @ 3:55AM
Judy said...
I, too, really liked The Unit, though the plot was getting a little weird toward the end. Ditto Without a Trace. As for the CSI franchises (Miami, New York), the casts lack the quirkiness and unpredictability that made the original CSI so good, until Gil left CSI for Sara which proved he was just another middle-aged male at the mercy of his hormones. I also love NCIS and, from what I've seen of the NCIS: Los Angeles spinoff, that cast also lacks the subtlety and yes, quirkiness, that makes NCIS so popular. For both CSI and NCIS spinoffs, the new casts just don't interact as interestingly as the originals. Of course, I'm way beyond the 18-34 marketing demographic advertisers like so much!
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