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The CW cleaned house in a big way as it was a network bloodbath with a total of seven of their shows being canceled and some choices were more surprising than others.
After the dust settled, the network departures included The Originals’ spinoff Legacies, Dynasty, Naomi, In The Dark, Roswell, New Mexico, Charmed, and The 4400. Some of these decisions were made to make room for Gotham Knights and spinoffs of Walker and Supernatural, which were ordered to series. A big reason for the mass exodus is mainly due to the network’s rumored upcoming sale (perhaps to the Nexstar affiliate group) and thus its uncertain future.
The most significant cancellation was probably Legacies, a spinoff of The Originals, which connected it to the long-running CW staple, The Vampire Diaries. Now that Legacies is over after a four-season run, it also ends a 13-year run of The Vampire Diaries universe of shows that spanned through that series, The Originals, and Legacies. It really signals the end of the era for the network.
Per TVLine, Legacies has averaged 760,000 total weekly viewers this season and a 0.2 demo rating (with Live+7 playback factored in), down from its Season 3 numbers (1 mil/0.3). Out of the 19 dramas, The CW has aired this TV season, it ranks No. 12 in the audience rankings. Of note, its audience enjoys one of the two largest DVR bumps (+107%) of any CW series.
Legacies starred Danielle Rose Russell as 17-year-old Hope Mikaelson, descended from some of the most powerful vampire, werewolf, and witch bloodlines. Set in The Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted, Legacies tells the ongoing story of a new generation of supernatural students as they learn what it means to be special in a society that wouldn’t understand their gifts.
Next up is Dynasty, a reboot of the popular 1980s primetime soap. The series is currently airing its fifth season but it will be the show’s last. Dynasty was considered among the most vulnerable CW series to secure a renewal because its live ratings have always been flat. Despite soft ratings in the past, Dynasty always snagged renewals because it sold well internationally due to the brand name of being a reboot of the iconic original series and due to the money the series generated for CBS Studios through the show’s Netflix deal. This simply wasn’t enough to save the series this time around. Per TVLine, Dynasty is averaging 410,000 total weekly viewers this season and a 0.1 demo rating (with Live+7 playback factored in), which is right on par with its Season 4 numbers. Out of the 19 dramas, The CW has aired this TV season, it ranks dead last in the audience rankings and is among seven that muster just a 0.1 rating in the coveted 18-49 demo.
Dynasty follows two of America’s wealthiest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, as they feud for control over their fortune and their children. The show stars Elizabeth Gillies, Daniella Alonso, Elaine Hendrix, Sam Underwood, Michael Michele, Robert Christopher Riley, Sam Adegoke, Maddison Brown, Adam Huber, Eliza Bennett, and Grant Show.
Another reboot ending its run is Charmed, which cast its last spell after four seasons. The series was a reboot of Charmed, which aired for eight seasons (1998–2006) on The WB and starred Shannen Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, Rose McGowan, and Alyssa Milano. The new series began with Macy (Madeleine Mantock), Mel (Melonie Diaz), and Maggie (Sarah Jeffery) as the titular trio of witches, with Harry (Rupert Evans) serving as their British mentor. Following Macy’s death in the third season finale, a fourth Charmed One named Michaela (Lucy Barrett) entered the picture to establish The Power of Three. Charmed went through showrunner issues during its run and it was always viewed in a negative light by fans of the original for not living up to the parent series and for sometimes being what they called, “too woke.” Per TVLine, Charmed was averaging 650,000 total weekly viewers this season and a 0.1 demo rating (with Live+7 playback factored in), down from its Season 3 numbers (690K/0.2). Out of the 19 dramas, The CW has aired this TV season, it ranks No. 17 in the audience rankings and is among seven that muster just a 0.1 rating.
Coming down the reboot or sequel series train is Roswell, New Mexico, which is also ending its run after four seasons. The fourth season will begin airing on June 6, 2022, and then it’s the end of the road. The show was a reimagined Roswell, which originally aired on The WB in the late 90s for three seasons. Like the original, the new show is based on the “Roswell High” book series by Melinda Metz. The series follows the daughter of undocumented immigrants that discovers her teenage crush is an alien who has kept his unearthly abilities hidden his entire life. She protects his secret as the two reconnect, but when a violent attack points to a greater alien presence on Earth, the politics of fear and hatred threaten to expose him. The series stars Jeanine Mason, Nathan Parsons, Michael Vlamis, Lily Cowles, Tyler Blackburn, and Michael Trevino.
In The Dark is another series yet to air its current season, its fourth, but it’s to premiere on June 6, 2022. Once it wraps up its run, the lights will be out on the show. The show had been on the bubble but it still had a shot based on strong streaming numbers, per The CW. In the series, a blind young woman tries to solve her friend’s murder. The show stars Perry Mattfeld, Brooke Markham, Casey Deidrick, Keston John, Morgan Krantz, Theodore Bhat, and Matt Murray.
The last two cancellations are both one and done series. Naomi ends after only one season and that means it joins Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman as the recently canceled DC shows. Despite a promising launch in January, when it ranked as The CW’s third-most watched season premiere of the 2021-22 season, its audience has since fallen by more than 40 percent in subsequent airings. Naomi followed a cool, confident, and previously bespectacled Black teenager as she came to realize her hidden destiny and journeyed to “the heights of the multiverse” in search of the full truth of who killed her parents and why. Kaci Walfall led the series and it also starred Alexander Wraith, Cranston Johnson, and Camila Moreno.
Lastly, The 4400 ends after one low-rated season. The show averaged 732,000 total viewers and a 0.1 demo rating (with Live+7 DVR playback factored in); in total audience, it ranks No. 14 out of the 19 dramas that The CW has aired this TV season. That said, it enjoys the third-largest DVR bump (+97 percent) of any CW series but it wasn’t enough to justify a renewal. This served as an update on the USA Network sci-fi drama and it followed 4,400 overlooked, undervalued, or otherwise marginalized people who vanished without a trace over the last hundred years and are all returned in an instant, having not aged a day and with no memory of what happened to them.
What are YOUR thoughts on The CW cancellations?
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