It’s a “time of transition” for The CW: Boss Mark Pedowitz addressed the “shock” of cancellations that came this season, which included series such as DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Legacies, and revealed that he encouraged his creators to approach their season finales as if they might be series finales.
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“I realize the pattern was different from what we have done in years past so I can see why it has come as a bit of a shock to you and the fans. None of these were easy decisions, we had long conversations with our studios and parent companies and everyone recognized this was a time of transition for The CW. Unfortunately, some difficult financial and strategic decisions needed to be made at every level and despite some rumors out there, content was never a factor in deciding not to move forward with the shows,” he said on The CW’s Pre-Upfronts call.
The youth-skewing network significantly pared down the number of original series it will have on air including the cancellation of Batwoman, Naomi, Dynasty, Charmed, Roswell, New Mexico, In The Dark, and 4400.
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He added that he’s always “done my best” to give long-running series a proper ending so “creators can finish telling their stories on their terms and the fans who invested all of their time are hopefully satisfied”.
“We had an idea early on, which shows could be bubble shows. We did not know 100% what would happen so we tried to encourage all of these producers to treat their finale as if it could be a series finale. We wanted to do the right thing by the series and by the fans. Ultimately, the producers are stewards of their own creative vision. Unfortunately, it’s the fans that lose out by these decisions,” he added.
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This comes ahead of The CW’s pending sale to Nexstar, which is expected to close in the next few weeks, a topic that Pedowitz, as expected, was not able to talk about.
The news was particularly galling for fans of series including DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Legacies. The superhero show ends after sevens seasons and The Originals spin-off, which comes from Julie Plec, ends after four seasons.
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