Say what you will about The CW, you have to admire its confidence. The home network of soaps and superheroes has by and large plotted its 2021-2022 season of television. The network announced the renewal of 12 series, according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter.
In addition to shoe-ins like The Flash and Riverdale, the network was willing to gamble on a few newcomers that have yet to wrap their first seasons. The re-imagining of Walker, Texas Ranger (dubbed Walker in the era of minimalism) was renewed before it could finish up its debut year. In fact, it ordered more episodes tacked onto its still-running first season.The renewals of Dynasty, The Flash, In the Dark, Legends of Tomorrow, and Roswell, New Mexico are only surprising in how soon they came. None of those series have yet to premiere their current seasons.
The other renewals are likely what you would expect: All American, Batwoman, Charmed, Legacies, and Nancy Drew.
"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," network head Mark Pedowitz told THR. "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 five years."
The confidence likely comes from CW's guaranteed lucrative deals outside of traditional ratings-dependent broadcast television. As part of Warner Bros., many of the shows will become ready-made content for the WB-owned HBO Max. As THR points out, several of the series have money-making streaming deals with Netflix.
The CW didn't just renew everything willy-nilly however. Superman & Lois, Kung Fu and The Republic of Sarah still await their fate. Meanwhile, Black Lightning and Supergirl are already coming to a predetermined end.
