The CW has handed early renewals to a large portion of its scripted schedule including The Flash.
The network also has renewed All American, The Flash, Kung Fu, Nancy Drew, Riverdale, Superman & Lois and Walker.
Traditionally, the youth-skewing network hands out early renewals, sometimes as early as January, to the majority of its slate – a boon for its owners CBS and Warner Bros.
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However, this year, the broadcaster’s future is up in the air with local affiliate group Nexstar circling, and Deadline understands that a new majority owner likely would have a say in some of its renewal decisions. The network also needs to take into account elements such as streaming rights to shows and other variables that will determine a pickup.
The renewal of flagship series The Flash for a ninth season — making it the network’s longest-running Arrowverse series, taking over that mantle from Arrow, which ended after eight seasons — was paved earlier this year with the news that star Grant Gustin was in talks for a new deal. There’s no word from The CW yet as to whether Season 9 will be The Flash’s swan song.
Some of the other renewals were more of a given that others. All American was expected to return for Season 5, and Superman & Lois and Walker were good for their third seasons.
Riverdale also was expected to return for its seventh season, but similarly there’s no word as to whether this will be its final season.
Kung Fu only launched its second season earlier this month but is now coming back for a third.
Nancy Drew, however, was thought to be slightly more on the bubble and will return for a fourth season. That comes as spinoff series Tom Swift also has yet to launch on the network.
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There are two other tranches of shows that the network still has to make renewal decisions on – and these are expected to come over the next month or so ahead of the upfronts in May.
4400, which launched in October, Naomi, which premiered in January, and All American: Homecoming, which started last month, will all be hoping for second seasons.
There also are question marks about the future of Legends of Tomorrow, which is in its seventh season; Dynasty, which is in its fifth; Charmed and Legacies, which are in their fourth seasons; and Batwoman, which is in its third.
Stargirl’s third season and In the Dark’s fourth season have yet to premiere, while Roswell, New Mexico was picked up for a fourth season ahead of its third season.
The scripted renewals follow a batch of unscripted renewals including Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Masters of Illusion, which are both returning for their ninth season, and World’s Funniest Animals, which is heading into Season 3.
Mark Pedowitz, Chairman and CEO of the CW Network, said: “As we prepare for the 2022-23 season, these scripted series, along with the alternative series we renewed earlier, will serve as the start of a solid foundation utilizing some of our most-watched series for us to build on for next year and beyond. These dramas are also important to our overall digital strategy, as they are some of our most-streamed and socially engaged programming, and we look forward to adding more new and returning series to help strengthen and expand our multiplatform footprint.”