COVID-exhausted CW shrugs, just renews everything
Like an exhausted parent whose elaborate dinner plans have now been subbed out for glumly shoving Taco Bell into their children’s waiting food holes, The CW has looked at its current scripted drama slate, shrugged, and given a “Yeah, fine, more of everything” to most of the stuff it was already making. Per Variety, the network has issued renewals notices this afternoon for a full dozen of its shows, including several that haven’t even begun airing their currently commissioned seasons.
This bounty of televisual largesse comes after what has been a pretty weird television development season for just about everyone in the business, as COVID restrictions caused mass shutdowns in the 2020 schedule that forced plenty of the network’s shows to hibernate until 2021. But now the thaw has come (barring the next major wave of infections, natch), and so The CW has announced that All American; Batwoman; Charmed; Legends Of Tomorrow; Dynasty; The Flash; In The Dark; Legacies; Nancy Drew; Riverdale; (deep breath); Roswell, New Mexico; and Walker are all getting additional seasons on its schedule. (That includes shows like Legends and Roswell, which haven’t actually come back yet from their long hiatuses.) The network also ordered extra episodes of Walker and the upcoming Superman & Lois, which is set to premiere in February.
Network CEO Mark Pedowitz issued a statement on the renewals today, rather than opting for the more relatable choice of putting his head down on his desk and moaning that everyone involved is just too tired right now to think of new TV shows, okay?
Though we’re just a few weeks into the new season, we wanted to get a strategic head start on next season with these early renewals, which allows our production teams to start laying out story arcs and hiring staff, and at the same time, continues to provide us with a strong, stable schedule to build on for next season.