CW crown prince Jared Padalecki hates the network's new direction

Until recently, Jared Padalecki hadn’t really known the pain of a beloved show being canceled before its time. The CW’s Supernatural went on until its original premise was on life support, finally bowing out at the end of its 15th season in 2020. That would not be the case for Walker, the adaptation of Walker, Texas Ranger that Padalecki led and produced for the network a year later. In May, the actor announced on his Instagram that the series had been canceled after its fourth season, a change of plans he told Variety he was still “grieving” in a recent interview.

To say goodbye to a beloved character before he’s said everything you think he needs to say is hard; to do so because the network that’s been home for the past two decades is pivoting to a harebrained bid for relevancy with their supposed 58-year-old demographic is downright devastating. In his Variety interview, Padalecki did not hold back explaining just how frustrated he was about being sidelined for televised board games.

“My understanding is—and again, this is just what I’m told—that Nexstar (the network’s new owner) is going in a different direction with The CW. I mean, they have an hour of ‘Trivial Pursuit’ and an hour of ‘Scrabble’ coming up. I don’t know why you wouldn’t just download the app or grab a board game and play with your friends, but they’re clearly just—what’s that great quote? It’s like, ‘If somebody tells you who they are, ask questions. If somebody shows you who they are, believe them,’” he said.

If it sounds like the actor is talking about a bad breakup, that’s because he essentially is. “I feel like The CW that I was a part of last year is not The CW that I was a part of under [former chairman and CEO] Mark Pedowitz for that entire, almost 20-year stretch,” he continued. “They’re just changing the network around, where it’s not really going to be a TV network as much as it’s going to be, ‘Here’s something fun for an hour that you’ll never watch again, but hopefully you watch it. And it’s cheap!’”

If you haven’t been following along at home—and we don’t blame you, 2022's Riverdale cancellation was really the end of the network in our eyes—here are some examples of the slop Padalecki is talking about. Once home to heart-eating dogs and some of the best damn musical episodes to ever grace our screens, the CW will now feature a professional golf league that no one else wanted, true crime, and yet another Sherlock show.

“I hate to say that, but I’m just being honest,” Padalecki continued. “I mean, fuck it. They can’t fire me again. I’m just being brutally honest. I think it felt to me like they were looking for really easy, cheap content that they could fill up time with.”

Luckily, Padalecki gets to start his next, non-CW era with a bang… literally. The actor confirmed that he would be appearing in the fifth and final season of The Boys, which also came from the twisted brain of original Supernatural creator, Eric Kripke. Other alums like Jensen Ackles and Jeffrey Dean Morgan have also joined the show.

“So yeah, I’m going to go play in Kripke’s newest playground,” Padalecki said. “I had a great time the first time around, so I’m sure I’ll have a great time here again. I love the show. I think it’s hilarious and exciting. But you were asking what my plans for the future were—and I love Jensen and Eric Kripke. Obviously, I’ll be indebted to [Kripke] and entangled with him forever. I met my wife because of him. I was Sam Winchester because of him. Supernatural happened because of him. So working with him on a show that I enjoy, I’m like, ‘Yeah, when do I fly out?’ But I don’t think we would film until at least January.”

In the meantime, you can watch The Boys’ penultimate season, which is currently airing new episodes Thursdays on Prime Video.