JeremyNortham.net

Just as we were getting used to seeing Jeremy Northam on our TV screens once again every week, even if it was in scrubs, CBS announced today that it’s cancelled Miami Medical.  Despite five episodes already having been filmed for season two, the hoped-for full Fall season won’t now happen and we’ll never know if Miami Medical would have delivered on the early promise it showed.

The CBS decision seems both harsh and premature, especially as the show was holding its own in its time slot and pulling reasonable ratings despite a number of factors stacked against it, including: some TV pundits having nixed it before viewers had even had a chance to see it for themselves and make up their own minds; the fact that it aired so late in the season because of the Winter Olympics; having to contend with the notoriously tricky time-slot of 10pm on Friday night; and the fact that it often had lead-ins that were re-runs. All of which makes this viewer feel as if the show was never given a decent shot at becoming the successful show I felt it could be.

In my opinion, Miami Medical was just starting to hit its stride and bed in. I was enjoying the slow reveal of Jeremy Northam’s character, Dr. Matt Proctor, whose story has formed this season’s story arc, and was looking forward to where he was going to take him. I was also investing in the other characters and thought the team was beginning to gel. I really feel for all the cast and crew, who worked so hard and so long on this show to make it the best they could. Having followed some of these on Twitter since the show began filming, it was clear that they were enthusiastic and passionate about what they were making. Apart from the time and effort put in, it also seems incredibly wasteful in the current economic climate to have commissioned what was clearly an expensive show to produce and then only let it run for a very few episodes before making a decision on its future.

I’m sure that all involved in the show – not least Jeremy Northam and the show’s creator, Jeff Lieber – will go on to work on other projects and have future success, and I wish them well with those, but to everyone who worked on Miami Medical, in particular Jeff Lieber, who worked so tirelessly to promote the show each week, THANK YOU for making the first medical drama I have ever watched in my life. It was a great show and you should be proud of what you achieved with it in the short time allowed you. And to the network, if you’re reading this, all I can say is, “Badly done, CBS, badly done indeed!”

The season finale of Miami Medical airs this Friday, May 21 on CBS, 10/9c, and the remaining 5 episodes of the show will now air from June 4 to July 2.