The CW is starting 2020 big by renewing a total of 13 shows for the 2020-2021 TV season, including all the present Arrowverse shows. The beginning of each year always gets busy for TV networks as they begin looking ahead to what they are and aren’t bringing back for the next television season. With the pilot season in full swing around this time of year, network executives are already forced to start looking at what is being renewed and canceled in order to make room for new programming. With the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour underway, the future of various shows have the potential to be revealed early or at least foreshadowed in what their chances are for renewal.
With The CW, the WB/UPN merged network has (in recent past) been making the rounds at the TCAs, when it comes to early renewals. Mark Pedowitz, president of the network, has been recognized for showing big faith in the programming his team invests time and money into. Even if various seasons haven’t debuted yet, Pedowitz has still renewed a handful of shows early, particularly during the TCAs. As the coming weeks are about to get busy for The CW with their programming resuming from hiatus break, the network is already planning for next season.
The CW announced today that they have handed out renewals to 13 series for the 2020-2021 TV season, including Greg Berlanti’s Arrowverse shows. The list consists of The Flash season 7, Supergirl season 6, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow season 6, Riverdale season 5, Black Lightning season 4, Dynasty season 4, Legacies season 3, Roswell, New Mexico season 3, Charmed season 3, All American season 3, In the Dark season 3, Nancy Drew season 2, and Batwoman season 2. Both Legends of Tomorrow, Roswell, New Mexico, and In the Dark have yet to premiere their new seasons, but this renewal echos Pedowitz’s consistent fate in his products as the president spoke about it in a statement.
The network’s announcement also came with positive news for Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene, which has gotten a 13 episodes script order. While it doesn’t count yet as a season 2 renewal, it bodes well for the Lucy Hale-led drama to join the next TV season. Despite 13 shows being slated for next season, The CW has yet to order new shows to series (which won’t take place until April/May). Two shows that are most likely joining The CW next season are Arrow spin-off Green Arrow and the Canaries as well as Superman and Lois, both from Berlanti Productions.
“These early orders for next season give our production teams a head start in plotting out story arcs and a jump on hiring staff, and this also provides us with a strong foundation of established, fan-favorite CW shows to build on for next season. We’ve been thrilled with the creative direction of all three new series, and even though we are in the very early stages of our new full stack streaming strategy, which allows viewers to catch up on our new shows from the beginning, we’re already seeing incredibly positive results from our multiplatform viewership for Nancy Drew and Batwoman.”
It remains to be seen which of the renewed shows will continue past the upcoming TV season. While The CW renews shows early, the network doesn’t always reveal if any of the returning shows are heading into their final seasons or not until later in the year. In the case of Arrow (which got renewed for season 8 early last year), Stephen Amell confirmed sometime after the renewal was announced that the eighth season would be the show’s last. Details on the next seasons in terms of episode orders, premiere dates and more will be revealed at a later date by The CW.
Source: The CW
