Why Did CBS Cancel One of Its Most Popular Shows?

Lots of shows aim to solve crimes week after week, but only Numbers (stylized as Numb3rs) catches suspects using math. Produced by Ridley Scott and his producing partner and brother, the late Tony Scott, Numbers is a crime drama that premiered on CBS in 2005. In the series, David Krumholtz plays Charlie Eppes, a mathematical genius who gets recruited by his FBI agent brother, Don (Rob Morrow), to help the bureau with challenging cases.

Initially, the show was a huge hit, especially during its first two seasons, as Numbers helped CBS win on Friday nights. Sadly, though, its successful run didn’t last; Numbers would run a shortened Season 6 before ultimately going off the air. In the end, the numbers just didn’t add up.

Numb3rs

Working for the F.B.I., a mathematician uses equations to help solve various crimes.

Release Date

January 23, 2005

Seasons

6

‘Numbers’ Is a Crime Drama Partly Inspired by Bill Nye

For television show creators, inspiration is everywhere, and for the husband-and-wife team, Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, one of their inspirations for Numbers was none other than Bill Nye, the Science Guy. During an interview with Wired in 2005, the show’s creators said that they couldn’t help but look to Nye since he is all about “inspiring young people to study math and science.” In creating a series like Numbers, they also hoped to encourage people to use math as an “everyday language.”

In Numbers, Charlie sees the math in everything, whether it’s a map or the water coming out of a sprinkling system. In the show’s pilot episode, he uses math to help Don track down the whereabouts of a serial killer who has already attacked 13 victims. And while the equation Charlie comes up with doesn’t seem to work at first (it even gets his brother kicked out of the case briefly), a slight modification to the equation does the trick. Don and his fellow agents eventually find their perpetrator, and it’s all thanks to Charlie’s math.

Aside from all the math applied to cases, Numbers also took the time to explore the sibling dynamics between Charlie and Don, as well as their relationship with their father, Alan, (Judd Hirsch). The brothers may get into some disagreements, but they’ve remained supportive and protective of each other. This especially becomes clear in high-stakes moments, such as when Amita (Navi Rawat), Charlie’s girlfriend, gets kidnapped or when they confront a bomber who specifically asked for the brothers.

‘Numbers’ Started Strong on CBS Before Its Ratings Went Down

It seems that CBS had a solid feeling about Numbers early on. In 2005, the network decided to give the crime drama a Sunday preview right after the AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers. While 44.3 million viewers tuned in to watch the game, 24.92 million viewers stuck around to watch the pilot episode of Numbers. According to CBS Entertainment, Numbers had the most-watched pilot of any new program in the 2005 to 2006 season, and even more impressively, it had the best debut drama episode since Earth 2, which premiered in 1994. Soon after, Numbers moved to its regular 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. timeslot on Fridays, where it continued to be a hit, so much so that CBS decided to order four more episodes of the series. Because it averaged 12.56 million viewers an episode, it was an easy decision for the network to give Numbers a Season 2 renewal.

For fans, more Numbers episodes couldn’t come soon enough. Season 2 premiered in September 2005, just a few months after the Season 1 finale. The crime drama continued to perform well during its sophomore run, even helping CBS keep its top spot in viewership during the May sweeps in 2006 with a reported 12.35 million viewers. Hence, it came as no surprise when CBS granted Numbers a Season 3 renewal, and later on, it scored another renewal from CBS for the 2007-2008 season. Unbeknownst to many, though, things were about to change drastically.

The 2007-2008 season wasn’t particularly good for network television. Aside from the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike that year, networks also faced pressure from the rise of DVR and viewers making the switch from network programming to cable. As a result, shows suffered significant ratings decline. With that said, CBS managed to return to scripted programming in March 2008, taking the top spot again during the May sweeps with Numbers leading Friday nights once more. This time, however, the viewership was already down to 9.6 million. Unfortunately, things only got worse for Numbers, because in November 2008, CBS announced that it was cutting its episode order for the crime drama from 22 to 16.

David Krumholtz Tried To Revive ‘Numbers’ Later On

Many of the show’s main cast have long moved on from Numbers since the crime drama was pulled out of CBS’ Friday night lineup. However, Krumholtz would later reveal that he tried to get the series back on the air; during an interview with MovieWeb, the actor said he once reached out to Falacci and Heuton about doing a Numbers reboot. The co-creators spoke with CBS about it, but the network turned them down. Since then, Krumholtz has given up on the idea, too (although he’s returned to crime drama by joining the cast of Law & Order: SVU after starring in the Oscar-winning film, Oppenheimer). “It’ll never happen,” the star even said.

Numbers may not be CBS’ most successful show, but it certainly held its own, ruling its Friday timeslot for several seasons. While it will never get a reboot (even as other shows are getting a second chance), Numbers is proof that crime dramas aren’t all the same, and also, math is cool.

Numb3rs is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.

Watch on Prime Video