'Third Watch' canceled

Thursday, March 24, 2005 Posted: 8:25 AM EST (1325 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- It's official -- NBC's "Third Watch" will not be returning for a seventh season.

The network has opted not to bring back the Warner Bros. TV/John Wells Prods. drama about cops, paramedics and firefighters serving the graveyard shift in New York.

The Peabody-winning "Third Watch," on hiatus to make room for midseason entry "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," will return with the remainder of its sixth season, ending its run with a series finale.

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) While some TV shows are announced with trumpets, promoted like the Second Coming, given the best spots on the schedule but can't make it through one season, other shows, despite being booted around and ignored, just keep on chugging.

Such is the case with NBC's Friday drama "Third Watch," created by John Wells ("ER," "The West Wing") and Air Force veteran and former Chicago cop Edward Allen Bernero.

NBC has just announced new seasons for several current shows. "Third Watch" -- which has been pulled from the schedule until Friday, April 8 -- is not among them, but that's nothing new.

"We've never ended a year knowing we were back," Bernero says. "They usually let us know the day before the upfront announcements [to the advertisers] in May. Last year, they picked up every single drama except us. They went through their pilots. We're always the show that they say, 'Let's see if we get anything better.'

"It's insulting. Sometimes it hurts. It's a weird thing."

This means that Bernero doesn't have warning to write a proper series finale. "That will be a disappointment [if the show is canceled]," he says. "But I always end the season with a cliffhanger, because I like to think, at the end of that last script, it says 'To be continued,' and the executives go, 'Damn! Now we have to bring it back.'"

Since premiering in 1999, "Third Watch" has focused on a group of New York police, paramedics and firefighters. While it's seldom mentioned in the same breath as NBC's "Law & Order" franchise, it shares those shows' distinction of being filmed entirely in the Big Apple.

"I know," Bernero says, "but they mostly shoot inside. Six out of eight days, we're in New York on location, shooting all the boroughs. We shoot everywhere.

"Today, we're shooting outside in the snow. We don't pay attention to the weather, because we don't care. Most people are pretty sure that it's make-believe anyway. I also like to think that if people are looking at the weather in the background, we're screwed anyway. They're not following the story."

Over almost six seasons, the show has followed the characters through changes in their lives, and has managed to introduce new people along the way. Among those actors who have left are Eddie Cibrian (firefighter Jimmy Doherty), Michael Beach (paramedic "Doc" Parker), Bobby Cannavale (paramedic Bobby Caffey), and Kim Raver (paramedic Kim Zambrano), who can now be seen on Fox's "24."

The newest addition is West Virginian Josh Stewart as Officer Brendan Finney. Bernero thinks he's a find.

"He's such a good guy. He's one of those guys that you'll say, someday, 'He started out on "Third Watch." ' He's going to be something special."

Stewart, who's been compared in looks to Sean Penn, probably has a lot more in common personalitywise with Dale Earnhardt Jr. This worries original cast member Coby Bell, who plays his partner, Officer Ty Davis Jr.

"I do all my own driving," Stewart says. "Coby's like, 'Dude, you need to slow down. You're not in West Virginia driving the General Lee right now.' My grandfather was a stock-car racer, so what do you expect? I grew up in muscle cars. I'm in acting so I can afford to buy my own race car."

Stewart represents just one of the changes that has taken place during the run of "Third Watch," but if you're in Hollywood, Bernero isn't sure you've noticed. "I honestly believe that the show right now is vastly different than it was when it started," Bernero says. "It started as a show where you couldn't keep up with everything that was happening. It was a lot of action and explosions. Now it's a show very much about the characters.

"In our industry, there's a real reticence to look at something again. Everybody thinks they know what 'Third Watch' is. Sometimes people will see clips of the show and go, 'That was "Third Watch"?' The industry really doesn't give you another chance."

"Third Watch" recently did a crossover episode with its time-slot neighbor "Medical Investigation." Molly Price, who plays Detective Faith Yokas (who began on the show as a patrol officer), was one of the actors flown from New York to Los Angeles to participate.

"They're the new kids on the block," Price says, "and this is our sixth season. So it's nice to be able to help a new NBC show. Our audience has been so incredibly loyal and dedicated."

Given that dedication, she doesn't understand why the show is overlooked. "It's a mystery wrapped in an enigma, but that's what we are. The fans are really loyal. We've been through so many time changes, and we always have the same exact core audience that follows our show."

"We started Sunday at 8 p.m.," Bernero says. "Then we were Sunday at 10, Monday at 10, Monday at 9, Friday at 10 and Friday at 9. I'm trying to find a way to work the word 'Medium' or the word 'Vegas' into our title. Maybe 'Third Medium Watch.'"

As of February, "Third Watch" was averaging a 2.9 rating, 9 share among the coveted 18-49 demographic and 9.3 million viewers overall. According to NBC, the show led its Friday time slot for the season in 18-49 and has been building on its lead-in from "Dateline NBC" in 18-49 by double-digit percentages.

All this, though, just isn't good enough, says Bernero. "They want higher numbers. I counter that by saying, 'I would like to get some promotion. I'd like to get a time slot two years in a row so people could find us.'"