Aired: 2010-14 (4 Seasons Totaling 73 Episodes)
Network: CW
Starring: Maggie Q, Shane West, Lyndsy Fonseca, Aaron Stanford, Melinda Clarke, Xander Berkeley, Ashton Holmes, Tiffany Hines
Series Website: www.cwtv.com/shows/nikita
Description: When Nikita (Maggie Q) was a troubled teenager on death row, she was “recruited” by a secret U.S. black ops program known only as Division. They faked her execution and turned her into an assassin. Nikita never lost her humanity, and when she learned that Division was a corrupt organization, she went rogue, exposing their covert operations, destroying their plans, righting their wrongs.
Two years later, she finds herself working for a new Division, fighting alongside a team of allies she’s gathered throughout her adventures. They have vowed to clean up the mess left behind by the old Division – rogue spies, violent assassins – Nikita is hunting down killers just as skilled as she is. CWTV.com
Why Did It End? This series debuted in its first season to decent ratings for the fifth place network, but it was never considered a huge hit. Its ratings sunk in its second season, but it received an unexpected renewal for a third year in part because the show had a strong international audience. During its third season, Nikita sunk to all-time lows for an original series on the broadcast network, but The CW still did not give up on it. They renewed it for a shortened fourth season to allow the series to wrap up its storylines, a move that should be appreciated by many sci fi fans as so often genre shows are cancelled and left with little or no resolution. That final season barely registered in the ratings, but it at least gave the series a completed story that should play well in international syndication (which does not necessarily require the 88 plus episodes that the U.S. syndication market prefers).