The Unit Becomes The Latest Casualty of Network Television!
Hi everyone! If you are wondering what made CBS axe one of its best shows, then you are not the only one who is doing so. The news about the cancellation of The Unit has shocked every fan of the show, as it was expected that the show would be revived for a fifth season. What prompted CBS to take such a drastic decision about the vastly popular drama series, The Unit, remains a mystery.
CBS cannot even put up the lame excuse of poor ratings, as the reason behind this thoughtless decision since the series has been having very stable ratings. The Unit had built a strong fan base within a short span of its premiere in March 2006. The overall average viewership per episode, amounted to about 10-15 million. So it definitely was not a show which ought to have been cancelled as there was no downslide in ratings.
What surprised the people even more was the fact that there was not even a single rumor about the cancellation of The Unit. The series finished airing yet another successful season that is Season 4, only days ago, and it was a general assumption that it would get another season. The fact that the show was amongst the Top 30 series aired on all networks, seemed to confirm the belief.
If the show was not axed due to ratings, then the only other possible reason could be its budget. Networks now favor renewing shows that have been created by sister or in-house production companies, so that they can save a few more dollars. CBS had already asked all its shows to reduce the production costs. So the only plausible reason behind canceling The Unit is that it appears expensive to produce.
But has nobody at CBS come across the idiom “Looks can be deceptive”! I am saying this, because The Unit was actually produced at less than $3 million per episode, which is about half the amount it takes to produce many primetime series. So probably, CBS was worried that since the show was being produced by 20th Century Fox, the network would not be able to benefit much from the syndication.
But whatever be the reason, the fact remains that The Unit has been cancelled!
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:38 pm
To try to put the cancellation of The Unit in perspective, one needs to view the cancellation of another, perhaps less popular series; Jericho. It is my firm belief that the order to cancel The Unit was more founded in it’s own considerable high ratings and popularity - hence the influence.
In a world where there is real corruption in places where people unknowingly go about their lives, there is a concept that art no longer imitates life but that life is exposed through art as a medium of communication. Just as Jericho was truncated when, what many believe, the reality of the story line hit way too close to home in some of those “corrupt corridors” of real life, so too did The Units missions.
Conspiracy theories aside, some of the story lines that have been depicted during The Unit’s tenure, I suspect, have unwittingly broached and maybe even crossed an unforgiving line of information that doesn’t want to be known. The question that begs to be answered might be: “Is there a “real” Unit, that operates so covertly that our own military doesn’t know about them, out there?” My guess is that answer is too close to “yes” to allow “This” Unit to continue to operate.
It’s long been a given that Hollywood has been working to extremes of the entertainment spectrum. In a world where “Big Brother” has been made a reality show, so has episodic drama based on potentially real scenarios. This is what The Unit represents, and with the internet as an informational tool, the resulting staff research may have become more truth than fiction.
My hat is in my hand over this cancellation. The world will be just a little bit less safe tonight…
September 24th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
We can not believe that you cancelled one of the very best shows of all time!!! Just when life is already hard enough to handle!! This show kept people believing what America stands for and all the people that have died for our freedom…There are so many other shows you could have cancelled in order to keep this one going. Very very very disapointed…Makes me think twice about watching anything CBS puts out…