The CW Renews ‘The Flash’, ‘Superman & Lois’, ‘Riverdale’ & 4 More
The CW has handed out early renewals to seven of their shows including ‘The Flash‘, ‘Superman & Lois‘, and ‘Riverdale‘, along with ‘Walker‘, ‘Kung Fu‘, ‘All American‘, and ‘Nancy Drew‘.
We have often described The CW as the “fluffiest” of the main US networks, due to its tendency to not only hand out early renewals, but very rarely cancel scripted dramas and comedies once they make it to air, unlike the bloodbath at many of their counterparts. Even when it does end a show, they tend to allow it to go out with a final season, rather than a straight-up cancellation. However, things might be a little different this year…
Whilst these seven shows have been given renewals, The CW itself is somewhat “in flux”. The network is co-owned by WB and ViacomCBS, and has never actually been profitable as a channel itself. However, they do make money from the various shows they create for the CW by selling them internationally and to streaming services, as either WB or ViacomCBS own all the shows they broadcast. However, with the rise of their own streaming services in HBO Max and Paramount+, ownership of The CW has become more of a drain and less of a necessity, leading to the two current owners looking to sell it on to a third party, whilst still retaining a minority stake, and supplying shows to the network. This has had some impact on their usual “fluffy” nature, with The CW being a little more hesitant over the renewals.
These pickups will see ‘The Flash’ land Season 9, taking over from ‘Arrow’ as the longest-running ‘Arrowverse’ show. ‘Superman & Lois’ gets Season 3, with ‘Riverdale’ landing Season 7, ‘Walker’ Season 3, ‘Kung Fu’ Season 3, ‘All American’ Season 5, and ‘Nancy Drew’ Season 4.
“As we prepare for the 2022-23 season, these scripted series, along with the alternative series we renewed earlier, will serve as the start of a solid foundation utilizing some of our most-watched series for us to build on for next year and beyond,” said Mark Pedowitz, Chairman and CEO, The CW Network. “These dramas are also important to our overall digital strategy, as they are some of our most-streamed and socially-engaged programming, and we look forward to adding more new and returning series to help strengthen and expand our multiplatform footprint.”
There are a number of shows notably missing from the list… ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ which is currently airing Season 7, ‘Batwoman’ which is on Season 3, ‘Dynasty’ which is on Season 5, along with ‘Charmed’ and ‘Legacies’ which Season 4.
Out of the remaining scripted shows, ‘Stargirl’ Season 3 has yet to air, alongside the 4th Season of ‘In the Dark’. ‘Roswell, New Mexico’ was already renewed for a 4th Season after Season 3 premiered last year. That just leaves the various newcomers. ‘4400’ which began in October 2021, ‘Naomi’, which began in January 2022, and ‘All American: Homecoming’ which premiered last month. All of these will be hoping to land 2nd Seasons.
In the UK, ‘The Flash‘ Season 8 premieres Tuesday, 29th March 2022 beginning at 8pm, with ‘Legends Of Tomorrow‘ Season 7 airing Wednesday, 30th March 2022 at 8pm on Sky Max & NOW. ‘Riverdale‘ returned yesterday (21st March) on Netflix UK for Season 6b. ‘Superman & Lois‘ Season 1 can be found on BBC iPlayer, ‘Stargirl‘ airs on Prime Video, and ‘Charmed‘ airs on E4 (when they get around to it..) ‘All American‘ is due to launch on new streaming service ITVX later this year. All the others are yet to find a UK home.
