Status: Ended
Aired: 2018-21, 4 Seasons Total 58 Episodes
Series Premiere: January 16, 2018
Network: CW
Starring: Cress Williams, Christine Adams, China Anne McClain, Nafessa Williams
Series Website: http://www.cwtv.com/shows/black-lightning
Description: Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) is a man wrestling with a secret. As the father of two daughters and principal of a charter high school that also serves as a safe haven for young people in a New Orleans neighborhood overrun by gang violence, he is a hero to his community. Nine years ago, Pierce was a hero of a different sort. Gifted with the superhuman power to harness and control electricity, he used those powers to keep his hometown streets safe as the masked vigilante Black Lightning. However, after too many nights with his life on the line, and seeing the effects of the damage and loss that his alter ego was inflicting on his family, he left his Super Hero days behind and settled into being a principal and a dad. Choosing to help his city without using his superpowers, he watched his daughters Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) grow into strong young women, even though his marriage to their mother, Lynn (Christine Adams), suffered. Almost a decade later, Pierce’s crime-fighting days are long behind him, or so he thought. But with crime and corruption spreading like wildfire, and those he cares about in the crosshairs of the menacing local gang The One Hundred, Black Lightning returns — to save not only his family, but also the soul of his community. Based on the characters created by Tony Isabella with Trevor Von Eeden for DC, the Black Lightning TV series comes from Berlanti Productions and Akil Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti, Salim Akil & Mara Brock Akil, and Sarah Schechter. CWTV.com
You can see the current schedule of sci fi and fantasy shows at this link.
Why Did It End? This show was never one of the higher-rated CW entries, though it did enjoy critical acclaim throughout its run. Perhaps if they had merged this into the Arrow-verse sooner and done more crossovers it might have helped draw more people to the show. But it remained mostly apart from the network’s other superhero shows. The CW rarely outright cancels a show and it did announce the final season of this one in advance in order to give the creative time to wrap up its storylines (although they had more stories planned). There were talks of a Painkiller spin-off series, but the network has decided not to go forward with that. But expect characters from this show to continue to crossover with other Arrow-verse entries as long as that franchise remains viable.
2020-21 Season Ratings Results:
| Air Date | Airings | Live+SD Rtg | StD Avg | Tot Vwrs (M) | Status |
| 2/8/21 | 1 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.5 | Final Season |
| 2/15/21 | 2 | 0.13 | 0.14 | 0.4 | Final Season |
| 2/22/21 | 3 | 0.09 | 0.12 | 0.4 | Final Season |
| 3/1/21 | 4 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.4 | Final Season |
| 3/8/21 | 5 | 0.16 | 0.13 | 0.5 | Final Season |
| 3/15/21 | 6 | 0.12 | 0.13 | 0.5 | Final Season |
| 3/22/21 | Repeat | 0.06 | 0.13 | 0.3 | Final Season |
| 3/29/21 | n/a | Preempted | 0.13 | n/a | Final Season |
| 4/5/21 | n/a | Preempted | 0.13 | n/a | Final Season |
| 4/12/21 | 7 | 0.09 | 0.12 | 0.4 | Final Season |
| 4/19/21 | 8 | 0.12 | 0.12 | 0.4 | Final Season |
| 4/26/21 | 9 | 0.09 | 0.12 | 0.3 | Final Season |
| 5/3/21 | 10 | 0.08 | 0.12 | 0.3 | Final Season |
| 5/10/21 | 11 | 0.07 | 0.11 | 0.3 | Final Season |
| 5/17/21 | 12 | 0.07 | 0.11 | 0.5 | Final Season |
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2019-20 Season Ratings Results:
| Air Date | Airings | Live+SD Rtg | StD Avg | Tot Vwrs (M) | Status |
| 10/7/19 | 1 | 0.30 | 0.30 | 0.9 | Renewal Possible |
| 10/14/19 | 2 | 0.20 | 0.25 | 0.6 | Renewal Possible |
| 10/21/19 | 3 | 0.20 | 0.23 | 0.6 | Renewal Possible |
| 10/28/19 | 4 | 0.20 | 0.23 | 0.5 | Renewal Possible |
| 11/4/19 | Repeat | 0.10 | 0.23 | 0.3 | Renewal Possible |
| 11/11/19 | 5 | 0.20 | 0.22 | 0.7 | Renewal Possible |
| 11/18/19 | 6 | 0.20 | 0.22 | 0.6 | Renewal Possible |
| 11/25/19 | 7 | 0.20 | 0.21 | 0.7 | Renewal Possible |
| 12/2/19 | 8 | 0.20 | 0.21 | 0.7 | Renewal Possible |
| 12/9/19 | 9 | 0.30 | 0.22 | 0.9 | Renewed |
| 12/16/19 | n/a | On Hiatus | 0.22 | n/a | Renewed |
| 1/20/20 | 10 | 0.20 | 0.22 | 0.5 | Renewed |
| 1/27/20 | 11 | 0.20 | 0.22 | 0.7 | Renewed |
| 2/3/20 | 12 | 0.20 | 0.22 | 0.7 | Renewed |
| 2/10/20 | 13 | 0.20 | 0.22 | 0.7 | Renewed |
| 2/17/20 | Repeat | 0.10 | 0.22 | 0.4 | Renewed |
| 2/24/20 | 14 | 0.20 | 0.21 | 0.6 | Renewed |
| 3/2/20 | 15 | 0.20 | 0.21 | 0.6 | Renewed |
| 3/9/20 | 16 | 0.20 | 0.21 | 0.5 | Renewed |
2018-19 Season Ratings Results:
| Air Date | Airings | Live+SD Rtg | StD Avg | Tot Vwrs (M) | Status |
| 10/9/18 | 1 | 0.40 | 0.40 | 1.2 | Renewal Possible |
| 10/16/18 | 2 | 0.30 | 0.35 | 1.0 | Renewal Possible |
| 10/23/18 | 3 | 0.40 | 0.37 | 1.2 | Renewal Possible |
| 10/30/18 | 4 | 0.30 | 0.35 | 1.0 | Renewal Possible |
| 11/6/18 | Repeat | 0.20 | 0.35 | 0.6 | Renewal Possible |
| 11/13/18 | 5 | 0.30 | 0.34 | 0.9 | Renewal Possible |
| 11/20/18 | 6 | 0.30 | 0.33 | 1.0 | Renewal Possible |
| 11/27/18 | 7 | 0.30 | 0.33 | 1.1 | Renewal Possible |
| 12/4/18 | 8 | 0.30 | 0.33 | 1.0 | Renewal Possible |
| 12/11/18 | 9 | 0.40 | 0.33 | 1.1 | Renewal Possible |
| 12/18/18 | n/a | On Hiatus | 0.33 | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 1/21/19 | 10 | 0.30 | 0.33 | 0.9 | Renewal Possible |
| 1/28/19 | 11 | 0.30 | 0.33 | 0.9 | Renewed |
| 2/4/19 | 12 | 0.30 | 0.33 | 0.9 | Renewed |
| 2/11/19 | 13 | 0.30 | 0.32 | 0.9 | Renewed |
| 2/18/19 | Repeat | 0.10 | 0.32 | 0.4 | Renewed |
| 2/25/19 | Repeat | 0.10 | 0.32 | 0.4 | Renewed |
| 3/4/19 | 14 | 0.20 | 0.31 | 0.8 | Renewed |
| 3/11/19 | 15 | 0.20 | 0.31 | 0.8 | Renewed |
| 3/18/19 | 16 | 0.20 | 0.30 | 0.8 | Renewed |
2017-18 Season Ratings Results:
| Air Date | Airings | Live+SD Rtg | StD Avg | Tot Vwrs (M) | Live+7 Rtg | Status |
| 1/16/18 | 1 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 2.3 | n/a | Renewal Likely |
| 1/23/18 | 2 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.9 | n/a | Renewal Likely |
| 1/30/18 | 3 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 2.2 | n/a | Renewal Likely |
| 2/6/18 | 4 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.9 | n/a | Renewal Likely |
| 2/13/18 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.8 | n/a | Renewal Likely |
| 2/20/18 | Repeat | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 1.0 | Renewal Likely |
| 2/27/18 | 6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0.9 | Renewal Likely |
| 3/6/18 | 7 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 0.9 | Renewal Likely |
| 3/13/18 | 8 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 0.9 | Renewal Likely |
| 3/20/18 | 9 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 1.0 | Renewal Likely |
| 3/27/18 | 10 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0.9 | Renewed |
| 4/3/18 | 11 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 1.0 | Renewed |
| 4/10/18 | 12 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 1.6 | Renewed |
| 4/17/18 | 13 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 0.9 | Renewed |
