It’s now looking like even more of The CW‘s series are being canceled. While the studio has produced several hit shows in past years, including Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Arrow, Jane the Virgin, Flash, and Riverdale, they have been hemorrhaging money for some time. About a year ago, CW’s parent companies, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, finished a deal to sell the studio Nexstar. And sadly, as part of their plan to make The CW profitable, they canceled 13 beloved series at once. These shows included Stargirl, Charmed, Legacies, and Dynasty, just to name a few.
Update August 26, 2023: Following the new cancelation of some of the CW series, this article has been updated to include all the shows that regrettably won’t make it in 2024.
The CW has continued to take an axe to some major series. Nexstar CFO Lee Ann Gliha said that the number of shows carried over into the next broadcast season would be “minimal,” according to Variety. This is a long way away from how the network used to operate, often given smaller cult shows like iZombie or The 100 time to grow, find an audience, and also make their own conclusions. Viewers looking to tune into The CW during the 2023-2024 season will likely see some big changes. Here is a list of all The CW series not returning for the new season.
Riverdale
The CW
Riverdale is a supernatural crime drama based on the famous Archie Comics, which has been running continuously since 1942. When a teenager is murdered in the town of Riverdale, a group of teens from the local high school try to root out the culprit. Its seventh and final season just concluded on August 23, 2023, bringing the long-running series to a close. Riverdale had been a staple of the CW lineup, so its presence will surely be missed.
Related: Riverdale: How the TV Series Has Changed Since Season One
Nancy Drew
Warner Bros. Pictures
Nancy Drew is a mystery series based on the enormously popular books series, which includes a staggering 175 novels. In the show, 18-year-old amateur sleuth Nancy Drew (Kennedy McMann) becomes intrigued by the murder of a local woman and eventually discovers it may be somehow connected to a mysterious cold case. The series premiered in 2019 and was inspired by Riverdale, taking another typically wholesome property and giving it a darker edge.
The show’s fourth season was its final one, ending on August 23, 2023, the very same night as Riverdale. The show will not be renewed mainly because its ratings fell considerably in season 3. After four fruitful seasons of mystery and suspense, the series staff are thankful for the journey.
The Flash
CW Network
After nine seasons of humor, drama, and lovingly bringing to life many classic DC heroes and villains, The Flash has come to an end. The show follows Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), a crime scene investigator who develops super-human speed when he’s exposed to a particle accelerator explosion and uses his newfound abilities to fight crime in Central City.
The series premiered on The CW in 2014 and has been one of the biggest hit series for the network. Unlike a lot of other series on this list, The Flash was not canceled but instead seemed to end on its own terms. While the series ended likely due to being on for so long, another was the high salaries for its cast members. The Flash conclusion also marked the end of the Arrowverse, as previous series like Supergirl and Black Lightning had already concluded, and Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow were canceled. The Flash series finale aired on May 24, 2023, which meant it hit just four weeks before the characters’ feature film would hit the silver screen.
Kung Fu
The CW
Another promising TV show that did not make it past 2023 was Kung Fu. It’s a martial arts action series that follows Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang), a young Chinese woman who dropped out of college and spent three years at a monastery in China, where she became a martial arts master. After returning to San Francisco, she uses her newfound skills to help fight the city’s growing crime problem. The series was a reimaging of the popular 190s series of the same name starring David Carradine that many younger fans might recognize as being referenced in Pulp Fiction.
The show sadly ended on its third season in March 2023. Unlike shows like Riverdale or The Flash, which got to wrap up their storylines, Kung Fu was canceled. The CW’s focus on lower-cost scripted originals and on the ratings is what is behind its unfaltering cancelation of so many shows.
Walker Independence
The CW
Walker: Independence is a prequel to the hit CW series, Walker. The prequel series follows Cordell’s ancestor Abby Walker (Katherine McNamara), who witnesses the murder of her husband and goes on a journey of revenge with the help of a gambler and an outlaw called Hoyt Rawlins. The show, set in the 1800s, did not make it past its first season. Its final episode was released on March 2, 2023. The cancelation sure does feel like a potential killer, but the CW’s new strict management does not give second chances.
The Winchesters
The CW
The Winchesters is a spin-off of Supernatural. It follows the parents of Dean and Sam Winchester as they meet, fall in love, and go on their own monster-hunting adventures. As soon as the first season was released, it was regrettably decided that it would be the last, bringing the hopes of all the Supernatural franchise fans to an abrupt end. Despite efforts to find a new home for the series, the show ended in March 2023 and will not be renewed.
Gotham Knights
DC Entertainment
Warner Bros.
Superhero DC show Gotham Knights is another one taking a premature stab, canceled after only one season. In fact, its daring and unlikely premise could have been what doomed it. The show is about the mysterious murder of Batman and features a wide array of lesser-known DC characters getting the spotlight as they try to solve the case while dealing with the threat of The Court of Owls.
Related: Arrowverse: Best Heroes in The CW’s TV Franchise, Ranked
The CW’s budget cuts did not allow any room for the show to take its game to the next level, especially after having to choose between making Gotham Knights season 2 or continuing with Superman & Lois season 4. Where the previous CW regime allowed the series to find themselves and possibly get a chance at a second season, the new regime is ruthless and cutting off the potential of a series before it has the chance to truly find itself.
Would I Lie To You?
The CW
The comedy game show Would I Lie To You? was not funny enough for the CW to keep around. The series is based on a British series of the same name, hosted by Aasif Mandvi, and features two team captains, Matt Walsh, and Sabrina Jalees, leading opposing pairs of celebrity guests in a game in which lie and truth intermingle. The show was canceled after its very first season simply because of its low ratings. It was never really meant to escape the CW’s ruthless cleaning spree.
Two Sentence Horror Stories
The CW
The chilling American anthology of terror, Two Sentence Horror Stories, is another series whose fourth season will not see the light of day. The show, created by Vera Miao, consists of unrelated episodes with independent plots. The diversity in the suspense-ridden stories presented in the series makes it one of a kind. Despite its uniquely good quality, the show did not survive the wide CW massacre campaign.
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