With the Upfronts approaching next week, the networks are getting their schedules in order and making the expected renewal / cancellation announcements. This afternoon, CBS announced that first year series Supergirl will be coming back for a second season but it will be shifting its home to the fifth place network The CW (CBS co-owns that net with Warner Bros.) The news does not come as a huge surprise because there were already rumors floating around that the show could move. There were talks of a physical move to Vancouver to cut production costs and the change of networks were included in those rumors. It makes sense, though, seeing as The CW is already home of the popular superhero shows The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow which share a universe, and Supergirl was tangentially linked to the universe with a cross-over episode this Spring with The Flash. I am assuming that the character will be brought further into the mix of the Arrow-verse during the show’s second season and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go through a bit of a reboot. Supergirl bowed on CBS last Fall to exceptionally good ratings, but the show saw its numbers drop throughout the year and for the last third of the season it was flying below the network’s average for non-sport, non-special, non-repeat programming. Apparently the network decided that instead of cancelling the once celebrated show that they should shift it to what has now become the “superhero network”. The CW will now have five DC comics based shows (including iZombie) and a pretty crowded schedule seeing as it only programs ten hours a week in Prime Time. But the good news is that this could cut down on the excessive repeats the channel runs, especially in the latter half of the season. And Supergirl has a much better chance of surviving into a third season on The CW because that network follows a different model than the Big Four broadcast nets and does not demand high ratings for a show to stick around.
There has been no word yet on Limitless, but we should hear something on its fate shortly (currently I consider it very much On the Bubble). CBS gives its Upfront presentation to the sponsors on the afternoon of May 18th, so we should have an announcement by then. Though the network went into overtime last year before we finally heard word on Person of Interest.
Keep a close eye on this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and other cancellation / renewal announcements as we cover the leadup to the Upfronts over the next few days.
