Walker (Courtesy of Rebecca Brenneman/THE CW)
The CW is renewing 12 of its scripted series, including an early Season 2 pick up for its freshman drama “Walker” starring Jared Padalecki.
The other shows are: “All American” (renewed for Season 4), “Batwoman” (renewed for Season 3), “Charmed” (Season 4), “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” (Season 7), “Dynasty” (Season 5) “The Flash” (Season 8), “In The Dark” (Season 4), “Legacies” (Season 4), “Nancy Drew” (Season 3), “Riverdale” (Season 6), and “Roswell, New Mexico” (Season 4). “Legends of Tomorrow,” “In The Dark,” “Dynasty,” and “Roswell, New Mexico” have yet to debut with their new seasons yet this year.
Freshman shows “Kung Fu” and “The Republic of Sarah” were not among the early renewals, though both of those shows have yet to premiere on the broadcaster.
In addition, The CW has ordered five additional episodes for Season 1 of “Walker” and two additional episodes of “Superman & Lois.” That brings “Walker” to 18 episodes total for its first season and 15 for “Superman & Lois.”
“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,” said Mark Pedowitz, chairman and CEO of The CW. “As The CW’s 2020-2021 season kicks into high gear, we are thrilled creatively with the direction of our first new shows out of the gate, ‘Walker’ and ‘Superman & Lois,’ that we wanted to order the additional episodes to complete their first seasons, and we are particularly pleased with the huge success of the launch of ‘Walker,’ which debuted as our most watched series premiere in 5 years.”
The CW has often made such sweeping renewal announcements, but this one comes as television networks continue to grapple with fallout from the pandemic. For the second year in a row, broadcast pilot season has been upended as the networks still work through the shows they had ordered to pilot last year.
The CW is also plotting spinoffs of multiple shows in its lineup via backdoor pilots. The network is currently prepping such a pilot for a potential “Black Lightning” spinoff built around the character Painkiller that will air during the mothership show’s fourth and final season. It was also recently announced that Tian Richards will make his first appearance as Tom Swift in an upcoming episode of “Nancy Drew,” potentially setting up his own spinoff. Most recently, the network announced that Geffri Maya would star in a backdoor pilot for a spinoff of “All American.”
Variety's Joe Otterson contributed to this post.
https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/walker-renewed-season-2-cw-flash-riverdale-legends-of-tomorrow-1234899745/
