‘The Mysteries of Laura’ canceled by NBC; season 3 hopes dead (for now)

We are here today to report some news that we certainly did not want to hear, and also something that we definitely did not think was going to be reported on a Saturday of all times: “The Mysteries of Laura” is not going forward over at NBC. While the show had an avid following, its ratings in the key 18-49 demographic were low in comparison to many other ones on the network.

If you look below, you can see star Debra Messing’s reaction to the news, which makes us even sadder given that we’d really come to take a shine to the show over the past several months, as season 2 took many steps forward from season 1. Also, it’s rare to have a crime show these days that also includes a nice dosage of humor to go along with its mysteries; the idea of losing both this show and “Castle,” which was similar in its style, is rather sad; also, we’re losing “Bones” in just one more season.

While the show wasn’t a ratings monster, we’re actually relatively surprised by this move. Sure, it was a Warner Bros. TV series and NBC didn’t have as big of a financial stake in it as anything with “Chicago” in the title, but at the same time, this had the makings of the perfect midseason entry show. It’s ratings were remarkably consistent throughout all of season 2, so it felt like you could pick it up and plug it in almost anywhere.

Would we like to see it continue somewhere else? Absolutely, but we’re not sure what the odds are of that at the moment given that networks like TNT and USA, which were once really friendly towards this particular genre, have backed away from that philosophy somewhat over time.