Tonight is the season finale for Numb3rs, and all of the signs point to it likely being the series finale as well. After six seasons things start to be expensive which works against you, especially if you're a Friday show when there are fewer of the coveted 18-49 eyeballs at home watching TV. A continued trend of viewing migrating from broadcast to cable doesn't help any either.
Still, these days six years is a damn good run.
I want to express my gratitude to Numb3rs co-creator Cheryl Heuton and not just for her role in creating, writing and producing Numb3rs, of which I am very appreciative. But Ms. Heuton is an honorary member of the TV by the Numbers staff, and not just for the numerical tie-in.
When fans ask "Why is Numb3rs at more risk than Medium or Ghost Whisperer when Numb3rs has more viewers," she tweets back that those those shows have better demo ratings. Suggest that some other network pick up the show and she'll respond back that it's a nice thought, but highly unlikely. Not just unlikely. Highly unlikely.
She'll scoff at the claim that CBS treated the show disrespectfully even if show star David Krumholtz (Charlie Eppes) said CBS treated the show disrespectfully in an interview. "Yeah, but he was wrong," Heuton says.
If you ask her, "What gives," and tell her that you and all your friends watch and that you're all in the 18-49 demo, she responds, "As a fan of a math show, be careful not to confuse anecdotal evidence with actual data."
Wow. Just wow. So yeah. We totally love her.
There are many examples like that within her Twitter feed.
I'll be watching the finale, and I'll cross my fingers that somehow Numb3rs makes it to 7 seasons.
Why I love Cheryl Heuton? Because of the great David/Colby fanservice in S6. That made me very, very happy
'Numb3rs' numb3r is up.
I love answers that battle ratings misinformation.
I remember *headdesking* last year when a viewer had a letter printed in TV Guide with the question of why Without a Trace had been cancelled, and got the “I don't know” answer from I believe both the columnist and one of the TPTB from Trace. And I sat there wondering why people in the industry couldn't give a better answer than that.
“I’ll be watching the finale, and I’ll cross my fingers that somehow Numb3rs makes it to 7 seasons.”
Exactly, so do I.
Indeed Robert, hopefully tonight won't be the end of Numb3rs but if it is, six years has been a great ride and I'd like to thank everyone connected with the show for their skills in entertaining me. And if it isn't, bring on Season 7 with hopefully a full season of Peter MacNicol (Larry).
However, if Numb3rs' number is up and David Krumholtz (Charlie) and Rob Morrow (Don) are indeed going to be on new pilots in the Fall, I wish them every success – as I do too for everyone else, particularly Alimi Ballard (David) and Dylan Bruno (Colby) and if they could work together on a show, it'd be awesome with their chemistry.
I LOVE Numb3rs! Sad day, if you ask me.
I love Numb3rs, and have only missed one episode in six years (thank you Hurricane Ike). Why I love Cheryl? When it first started airing, I joined a YahooGroup about the show, and Cheryl was a semi-active participant (pretty cool, eh?). I remember one episode that had a problem with the captions, they were all scrambled (I'm deaf, and require captions to watch a show). I wrote Ms. Heuton and asked if there was any way she could help me, and she emailed me back with the script! I was able to rewatch it on my TiVo reading the script. I've never forgotten that act of kindness.
Best luck whatever she does next!
Numb3rs combines several great elements — (1) plenty of action, (2) the notion that, yes, you can use your brain to solve your problems, and (3) an ongoing and evolving theme about friendship, rivalry, respect, etc., between two brothers and their father as well. I've found that sometimes the ACTION on Numb3rs can be, well, not so smart — why do the agents always yell at their suspect from a distance, precipitating a foot chase or car chase? — but all in all, I've found it to be one of the more thoughtful shows on broadcast TV, and if tonight is indeed the last show, I'll certainly miss it, and I've enjoyed every episode of its six-year run. Numb3rs, I salute you!
It is quite obviously the series finale, and CBS has been running the promo for it all week long, endlessly. I can't wait to see it, and it's been a hell of a run for one of my favorite shows of this decade.
Hate to see one of the best shows on TV go off the air. There a lot of the 'reality' shows that should be cancelled instead, hate them. Hopefully Numb3rs will be back. So move it to another night, do just end it.
I pray this is not the series finale. There won't be anything left to watch on Friday night
If Miami Medical fails then CBS is in deep trouble.
Numb3rs still seems like its got some life in it. NBC should totally pick it up.
@Journey,
If Miami Medical fails then CBS is in deep trouble
How so? They only have a couple months left in the season and one show isn't going to sink them. Besides, if it gets truly horrible numbers, they can just replace it with repeats, which will get close to what Numb3rs is getting anyway.
I'm 65 and I believe I saw that approx. 6000 people turn 65 every day. We DON'T ALL TWITTER
and do all the other IN things. Watching “NUMBERS” on Fri. night was one of the very best things to look forward to. The whole cast is great! If they don't all really get along as well as they are portrayed on the show, they are even greater actors then I thought them to be. If your not 18-49
no one seem to care if you like a show or not. To bad, there really are alot of us out here that are over 49. And WE DO WATCH TV & GO SHOPPING so ads would effect us. NO ONE CARES!!!
Best of Luck to all cast,writers,crew etc.This is one 65 year old that is going to miss you all.
“I’ll be watching the finale, and I’ll cross my fingers that somehow Numb3rs makes it to 7 seasons.”
Me too – and I really am in that 18-49 demo!
Cheryl Heuton has always been a class act. I'm sorry to see Numb3rs probably end but there's no denying 6 seasons is a good ride. I hope the next show Heuton develops is just as compulsively watchable and successful.
They should renew it just the screw with FOX and their show (pilot) with Krumholtz. Numbers might not make a lot of money but I bet it breaks even. CBS gets a Friday show that does not lose money plus they can also stick it to FOX
Honestly, and as much as I enjoy Numbers, the show has reached its peak. Beyond this, they would have to start repeating themselves. For a show about math and the FBI, Numbers is an odd combination that somehow worked. Kudos to the show's writers for a great run, but it is indeed time to log it up. At least CBS was wise enough to both give the show a chance, and to know when it was time to cancel it. Other networks don't have that much intelligence these days.
What are the factors in play that CBS is holding this show in limbo? The pilot slate? The raiting for MIAMI MEDICAL? Why not just announce the show is over? They have enough raitings date for the season so far to make the choice either way?
WITHOUT A TRACE was cancled over COLD CASE was simple – costs. Unlike COLD CASE, The contracts for cast,etc were up for renewal. The raitings and demographics for both shows were close