UPDATE: It’s Cancel Time: The CW Cancels 10 Shows

While most networks are in the midst of their typical cancellation/renewal season, at the CW things are particularly bleak as the network prepares for its pending sale to Nexstar. This had led to a slew of cancellations, including shows that would normally be untouchable on the network:

The 4400 – Canceled after its freshman season, The 4400 is a reboot of the series that aired on USA Network, about 4,400 people who have disappeared across history and suddenly reappear at the same time. The returnees, who have not aged at all and have no memory of what happened to them, begin developing supernatural abilities like telepathy, regeneration, and telekinesis, among others. The rebooted series puts a strong emphasis on diversity, stating that the 4400 would be “overlooked, undervalued, or otherwise marginalized people.”

Batwoman – The initial season of Batwoman finds Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) taking up the mantle of Batwoman to protect Gotham City, particularly from the murderous Alice who she eventually discovers is her thought-to-be-dead twin sister Beth. When Rose left the show after the first season, Ryan Wilder (Javicia Leslie) took her place as the new Batwoman. Batwoman was canceled after three seasons.

Charmed – A reboot of the network’s previous iteration (The WB), Charmed follows three sisters who discover that they are not only witches but the “Charmed Ones” after their mother dies. The latest in a long line of Charmed Ones, the sisters are the most powerful trio of good witches and use their magical abilities to fight demons and other evil beings that terrorize the innocent. As with The 4400, this rebooted Charmed put a heavy emphasis on diversity, focusing on three sisters who are Latina and/or black. Charmed ran for four seasons.

Dynasty – A reboot of the 1980s series of the same name, Dynasty is about two wealthy families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, who feud over money and attempt to control their children. The series shows all the glitz and glamour of the one percent while digging into the corrupt world it hides. Dynasty was canceled after five seasons, just three episodes shy of 100 episodes.

Legacies – A spin-off of a spin-off, Legacies follows Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell), the daughter of Original Vampire Klaus Mikaelson and the world’s only tribrid (vampire, werewolf, and witch), who attends The Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted in Mystic Falls. The school is designed to help young vampires, werewolves, and witches learn to control their abilities and have a safe place. Set in the same world as The Vampire Diaries and a direct sequel to its spin-off The Originals, the tone of Legacies diverges somewhat from its predecessors. It had more of a “monster of the week” format, rather than fast-moving, overarching stories, and had essentially the same main villain for three seasons. The series lasted four seasons.

Legends of Tomorrow – A ragtag group of heroes and villains travel through time and space aboard the Waverider to protect the history and the timeline from time travelers, demons, aliens, and mythological creatures. Led primarily by Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), the original Canary from Arrow, the team is ever-changing, but the constant is the found-family they’ve found in each other. Legends was canceled after seven seasons.

In the Dark – Murphy Mason (Perry Mattfeld) is a blind twenty-something with only two friends—her roommate Jess and teenage drug dealer Tyson, who saved her from a violent mugging. One night while out for a walk, she stumbles over a dead body that she believes to be Tyson. When the police don’t seem interested in investigating, she sets out to solve his murder herself. The series was canceled after four seasons.

Naomi – Created by Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship and based on the comic book series of the same name, the show follows Naomi McDuffie, a popular, comic book-loving teenager living in Port Oswego, Oregon, who finds out she is from another planet in another universe. With the help of her friends, other aliens, and her adoptive parents, she seeks to find out the truth about her origins and how she ended up on earth. The series premiered earlier this year and was canceled just after its first season ended.

Roswell, New Mexico – The third reboot to be canceled on the CW, this series follows the daughter of undocumented immigrants, Liz Ortecho (Jeanine Mason), who discovers that her teen crush, Max Evans (Nathan Dean Parsons), his sister Isabelle (Lily Cowles), and best friend Michael Guerin (Michael Vlamis) are aliens. She is quickly drawn into keeping their secret and helping them delve into their origins. Where the original series focused on teenagers and was heavy on the romance, the reboot is grittier and balances the romance with other storylines and struggles. The series will end with its fourth season.

UPDATE:

Riverdale – It seemed like the live action series based on the Archie Comics had escape The CW’s great culling, but not quite. It was announced today that Riverdale will be coming to an end after its seventh season. The adventures of Archie (KJ Apa), Betty (Lily Reinhart), Jughead (Cole Sprouse), and Veronica (Camila Mendes) in the surprisingly dangerous small town of Riverdale will be coming to an end, but luckily, fans will have a true final season for this series, unlike everything else that was canceled this season. 

Biggest Loss: Charmed. It’s difficult to choose just one show I’m sorry to see go because they each feel like they represent more than just themselves – the end of the Arrowverse and superheroes, the end of nostalgic reboots, the end of genre TV at the network. While this reboot never reached the height of its predecessor, it had just reached a pivotal point in its world-building: where the first few seasons focused primarily on the tensions between witches and demons, the series has opened the door to the rest of the magical community. From a creative standpoint, some of the original series’ most impactful stories involved the series dealing with the death of the oldest sister, Prue Halliwell (Shannon Doherty). With the original oldest sister of this newest trio of Chosen Ones also dying in the fight against evil, the surviving sisters must struggle with their grief, changing dynamics within their group, and the tensions with the rest of the magical community. The series was setting itself up for some exciting storylines that will never be told now.

Find what other shows have been canceled:

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Photo: The CW Logo. Courtesy of The CW.