CBS delivered some great and really bad news today about a TV For The Rest of Us favorite, Person of Interest. The show will finally come back with season five on May 3rd, almost one year after season four signed off with it’s explosive (literally) finale, but it will be the last season. The show has been cancelled per Variety.
It was pretty sad at Comic Con in July as I talked to a few bewildered cast members and producers who couldn’t understand why they didn’t make the fall schedule, even with ratings that were lower but still far better than many other shows. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t due to anything in their control. It was even more disheartening to see that the show didn’t make the midseason schedule either.
In this case it all boiled down to economics. CBS wants to produce their own shows and make money on their own shows. Person of Interest is owned by Warner Brothers and in the negotiations CBS found that it just wasn’t worth the cost. CBS’ number one show, The Big Bang Theory, is also produced by Warner Brothers, but exceptional ratings seems to be one of the few exceptions to the rule (a buzz worthy Supergirl being another). Cancellation also came this year for Mike and Molly despite a big name in the cast and a decent ratings following. It just didn’t make CBS enough money.
The message from everyone at Comic Con was clear though, if this was the end, they were going out with a bang. From the interviews I collected, it sounds like these 13 episodes will be intense and tell a very exciting story from beginning to end. No filler this season.
We’ll have more previews coming as the premiere date gets closer, but for now I just want to say thank you to Michael Emerson, Jim Cavizel, Kevin Chapman, Amy Acker, Sarah Shahi, Denise The, Greg Plageman, Jonathan Nolan, and everyone else that had the immense pleasure to be part of this show. We were honored to cover it and we will be following season five with excitement and anticipation here each week until the end.
Update: Here’s a statement from Jonathan Nolan and Greg Plageman about the cancellation.
“We’re extremely excited to be able share this final season with the fans. We’re eternally grateful to our amazing cast and crew, as well as our partners at the studio and network. Most of all, we want to thank the show’s fans — the best fans in the world. This subversive little paranoia-inducing cyberpunk-thriller is for you and would not have been possible without your support. As life has come to imitate Person of Interest, it’s been our great privilege to work on show for the past five seasons. We can’t wait for you to experience this thrilling and final chapter.”
