The CW was once known as the go-to channel for sci fi and fantasy across the broadcast networks delivering long-running shows like the Arrow-verse entries, The Vampire Diaries and its spin-offs, Supernatural, The 100, and more. But to start off the 2023-24 season, the network has only one genre entry on the Fall schedule (the German acquisition The Swarm which is worth checking out) and two more scheduled for the rest of the year (returning Superman & Lois and new series The Librarians: The Next Chapter). You can read more about the ownership change that pretty much killed sci fi and fantasy on the network at this link. And as the current television season kicks off, I thought this might be a good opportunity to reminisce about the glory days of The CW by looking at its schedule of genre shows going back to the pivotal 2012-13 season.
2012-13 Season
Arrow (1st Season)
Beauty and the Beast (1st Season)
Cult (1st Season)
Nikita (3rd Season)
Supernatural (8th Season)
The Vampire Diaries (4th Season)
The CW had already shown a willingness to add sci fi and fantasy shows to its schedule prior to this season, but when Mark Pedowitz stepped in as the network boss he decided to give a particular focus to genre entries. The network had The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, and Nikita carrying over from the previous season, but one new show on the schedule would have a huge impact on The CW’s future. Arrow debuted on Wednesday, October 10, 2012 and would turn into an immediate hit. Apart from that network’s Smallville (which wrapped up two seasons prior), superheroes had not found much success on television at that time, but that would change with Arrow as the DC-based series would go on to spawn a multi-series franchise.
Also premiering that season was the reboot of the 1987 Beauty and the Beast television series which would never enjoy high ratings but it still had a four-season run because The CW under Mark Pedowitz (which I would later dub the “Happy Net”) tended to support its shows and renewed them more often than it issued cancellations. One other genre entry on the schedule that year was the mystery thriller Cult which would debut to historically low ratings and end up getting cancelled by the end of the season.
2013-14 Season
The 100 (1st Season)
Arrow (2nd Season)
Beauty and the Beast (2nd Season)
Nikita (4th Season)
The Originals (1st Season)
Star-Crossed (1st Season)
Supernatural (9th Season)
The Tomorrow People (1st Season)
The Vampire Diaries (5th Season)
While Arrow had proven a hit in its first season, it was not enough of a breakout to generate a spin-off just yet. But as the second season progressed, it was already teasing an expansion of the franchise with the introduction of Barry Allen. In addition to that, The CW continued to expand its genre offerings with four sci fi/fantasy shows joining the schedule. The post-apocalyptic The 100 arrived that season, and while it was perennially one of the network’s lower-rated shows it still managed to stick around for a seven-year run. The Vampire Diaries spin-off The Originals premiered that season and would go on to enjoy a five-season run. Not as successful were the sci fi soap opera Star-Crossed and the reboot of the British series The Tomorrow People with both getting cancelled after one season.
2014-15 Season
The 100 (2nd Season)
Arrow (3rd Season)
Beauty and the Beast (3rd Season)
The Flash (1st Season)
iZombie (1st Season)
The Messengers (1st Season)
The Originals (2nd Season)
Supernatural (10th Season)
The Vampire Diaries (6th Season)
The Flash arrived this season and the Arrow-verse was born, though it would not adopt that name for another year or so. The speedster series quickly caught up to Arrow in the ratings and would eventually become the top-rated show in that franchise for many years and it would also be the longest-running entry at nine seasons. Also joining the schedule that year was the supernatural dramedy iZombie. That was another show that never had high viewership, but The CW allowed it to run for five seasons. Not so lucky was late-season supernatural entry The Messengers which failed to build up an audience and was cancelled by the end of the year.
2015-16 Season
The 100 (3rd Season)
Arrow (4th Season)
Beauty and the Beast (4th and Final Season)
Containment (1st Season)
The Flash (2nd Season)
iZombie (2nd Season)
Legends of Tomorrow (1st Season)
The Originals (3rd Season)
Supernatural (11th Season)
The Vampire Diaries (7th Season)
Only two genre entries would join the schedule in the 2015-16, but one of those was a rather significant addition. Legends of Tomorrow was the third Arrow-verse show on The CW and it would team up characters we had already seen on Arrow and The Flash while also bringing in new heroes. The show got off to a rather rocky start and it was never one of the higher-rated Arrow-verse entries. But it hit its stride around its third season and became a perennial fan-favorite across its seven-year run. Also joining the schedule later in the season was the viral-outbreak series Containment. By that point, The CW had developed a trend of sacrificing at least one show per year at the Nielsen altar, and this one was cancelled by season end. Also ending that season was Beauty and the Beast, though its fourth year was announced as its last in advance (another trend that we started to see from the network).
Also of note, Supergirl debuted over on CBS this season. That was originally supposed to be separate from the Arrow-verse, but the show worked in a crossover during its first season. Supergirl started out strong in the ratings, but those declined as the season progressed seeing as it did not have as much appeal to that network’s older-skewing audience who preferred Prime Time-friendly sitcoms and procedurals. That show would move over to The CW in the 2016-17 season which proved a much better home.
2016-17 Season
The 100 (4th Season)
Arrow (5th Season)
The Flash (3rd Season)
Frequency (1st Season)
iZombie (3rd Season)
Legends of Tomorrow (2nd Season)
The Originals (4th Season)
Riverdale (1st Season)
Supergirl (2nd Season)
Supernatural (12th Season)
The Vampire Diaries (8th and Final Season)
As mentioned above, Supergirl flew over to The CW in the 2016-17 season and that would be the only addition to the Arrow-verse that year. Also joining the schedule was Riverdale, the bonkers dark take on the Archie comics. That show proved successful early on, but its ratings would drop in subsequent years. But The CW still stuck with it and allowed it to continue for a seven-season run. The sacrificial lamb for the season was the time-bending series Frequency–based on the film of the same name–which failed to find much of an audience and was gone by season end. The Vampire Diaries also wrapped up its run that year with its eighth season announced in advance as its last.
2017-18 Season
The 100 (5th Season)
Arrow (6th Season)
Black Lightning (1st Season)
The Flash (4th Season)
iZombie (4th Season)
Legends of Tomorrow (3rd Season)
The Originals (5th and Final Season)
The Outpost (1st Season)
Riverdale (2nd Season)
Supergirl (3rd Season)
Supernatural (13th Season)
The Arrow-verse grew by one show in the 2017-18 season with Black Lighting joining the fray. That show would receive high marks from critics, though it never managed to match the viewership of the other entries in the franchise. But The CW still allowed it to run for four seasons which became somewhat of a trend for any show on the network surviving past its first season. Also joining the schedule was the fantasy series The Outpost which arrived in Summer and would stick around for four seasons. Wrapping up that year was The Originals, and a spin-off from that one was planned for the next year.
2018-19 Season
The 100 (6th Season)
Arrow (7th Season)
Black Lightning (2nd Season)
Charmed (1st Season)
The Flash (5th Season)
iZombie (5th and Final Season)
Legacies (1st Season)
Legends of Tomorrow (4th Season)
The Outpost (2nd Season)
Pandora (1st Season)
Riverdale (3rd Season)
Roswell New Mexico (1st Season)
Supergirl (4th Season)
Supernatural (14th Season)
Two Sentence Horror Stories (1st Season)
Five genre entries would join The CW’s schedule in the 2018-19 season–bringing the network to fifteen total–though none of those were Arrow-verse shows as the network appeared to be looking for its next big franchise. As mentioned above, the spin-off from The Originals would premiere that season, and Legacies would perform well in the ratings but would end up getting truncated when the network went up for sale. Another supernatural drama that arrived that year was the reboot of Charmed which had previously run for seven years on The WB (the network which merged with UPN to form The CW). And yet another reboot hit the schedule with the aliens-among-us series Roswell New Mexico (the original series Roswell had aired for three seasons on The WB then UPN). Summer brought the sci fi series Pandora along with the horror anthology Two Sentence Horror Stories. Wrapping up in the 2018-19 season was iZombie which had its fifth year announced in advance as its last.
2019-20 Season
The 100 (7th and Final Season)
Arrow (8th and Final Season)
Batwoman (1st Season)
Black Lightning (3rd Season)
Charmed (2nd Season)
The Flash (6th Season)
Legacies (2nd Season)
Legends of Tomorrow (5th Season)
Nancy Drew (1st Season)
Riverdale (4th Season)
Roswell New Mexico (2nd Season)
Stargirl (1st Season)
Supergirl (5th Season)
Supernatural (15th and Final Season)
Two Sentence Horror Stories (2nd Season)
Batwoman would join the schedule in the 2019-20 season which would deliver a high point for the Arrow-verse. That year saw six entries in the franchise in a single season, and you could bump that to seven if you include the tangential series Stargirl. That latter show had premiered on the DCU streaming service and then had an encore run on The CW followed by a permanent move to that network after the streamer shut down. Also joining the schedule that year was the supernatural take on Nancy Drew which is another show that never enjoyed high ratings but was allowed to continue for four seasons. The Outpost and Pandora both ended up getting pushed to the 2020-21 season due to COVID-related production shutdowns.
Wrapping up that year, the original Arrow-verse show Arrow had its final (shortened) season as it passed the torch to the other entries in the franchise. The 100 also aired its final season and Supernatural ended its historic run after fifteen years. The final seasons of each of these shows was announced in advance as was The CW’s tendency at that point. But that would change within a couple of years.
2020-21 Season
Batwoman (2nd Season)
Black Lightning (4th and Final Season)
Charmed (3rd Season)
The Flash (7th Season)
Kung Fu (1st Season)
Legacies (3rd Season)
Legends of Tomorrow (6th Season)
Nancy Drew (2nd Season)
The Outpost (3rd Season)
Pandora (2nd Season)
Riverdale (5th Season)
Roswell New Mexico (3rd Season)
Superman & Lois (1st Season)
Stargirl (2nd Season)
Supergirl (6th and Final Season)
The 2020-21 season would see two more Arrow-verse shows heading into their final years. Black Lightning‘s fourth season would be its last and Supergirl wrapped up with its sixth year. But joining that franchise (sort of) was Superman & Lois even though it was considered tangential to the other shows. Also new on the schedule was the martial arts series with supernatural elements Kung Fu. That one started out with decent ratings but saw its numbers drop in subsequent years. It likely would have been allowed to go at least four seasons if the network was not sold, but it was truncated after three years. The sci fi entry Pandora aired its COVID-delayed second season that year, and it was effectively cancelled after that as The CW uncharacteristically never made an official announcement on its status. Two Sentence Horror Stories would end up getting pushed to the next season.
2021-22 Season
4400 (1st Season)
Batwoman (3rd and Season)
Charmed (4th and Final Season)
The Flash (8th Season)
Kung Fu (2nd Season)
Legacies (4th and Final Season)
Legends of Tomorrow (7th and Final Season)
Nancy Drew (3rd Season)
Naomi (1st Season)
The Outpost (4th and Final Season)
Riverdale (6th Season)
Roswell New Mexico (4th and Final Season)
Superman & Lois (2nd Season)
Stargirl (3rd and Final Season)
Tom Swift (1st Season)
Two Sentence Horror Stories (3rd and Final Season)
The 2021-22 season ended up being a pivotal year for the network as rumors started of a potential sale. A change in the decision-making was evident when Stargirl was cancelled after three seasons despite decent ratings. That was the first CW show not to make it to its fourth year after getting renewed for a second season since the non-genre entry The Carrie Diaries was cancelled in 2014. Plenty more cancellations would follow in the 2021-22 season, though ironically this season also saw a peak in the number of genre shows at sixteen.
Naomi was the most recent addition the Arrow-verse, but it jumped onboard at the wrong time. It was cancelled after one season along with the other two first-year shows 4400 (a reboot of the 2004 series) and Tom Swift (a spin-off of Nancy Drew). As the season came to a close, the “Happy Net” turned pretty dour and cancelled quite a number of its shows (several of which were performing well in the ratings) to prepare for the eventual transition of ownership. The genre entries that were cancelled without a final season announcement in the ensuing bloodbath were Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, Charmed, Legacies, Roswell New Mexico, The Outpost, and Two Sentence Horror Stories. Fortunately, the showrunners had been warned that the end could be near, so they had the opportunity to wrap up at least some of their storylines.
2022-23 Season
The Flash (9th and Final Season)
Gotham Knights (1st Season)
Nancy Drew (4th and Final Season)
Riverdale (7th and Final Season)
Superman & Lois (3rd Season)
The Winchesters (1st Season)
How the mighty have fallen! After slotting in sixteen genre shows on the schedule in the 2021-22 season (seventeen if you count the Summer acquisition The Rising), that number dropped to only six in the 2022-23 season. With Nexstar Media Group taking majority control of the network, the new owners decided to shift away from younger-skewing genre shows to inexpensive programming that appeals to an older audience. That worked out badly for new entries Gotham Knights and The Winchesters which were given the greenlight by the prior regime. Both of those pulled decent ratings but Nexstar execs had little interest in allowing them to continue. The final seasons of The Flash and Riverdale were announced in advance, and the Nancy Drew showrunners were given notice that their series was coming to an end in Fall before the fourth season premiered. The only show that would survive into the next season would be Superman & Lois, but it received only a ten-episode order and a major cut to its budget. Thus, by season end, the glory days of genre programming on The CW were officially over with just one show still standing, and only barely at that.
As mentioned above, the 2023-24 season currently only has three sci fi/fantasy entries on the schedule: Superman & Lois, The Swarm, and The Librarians: The Next Chapter. The former series could likely be in its final season, and future genre entries will probably mostly be acquisitions like The Swarm. The CW was once the champion of sci fi and fantasy across the broadcast networks, even if its particular youth-skewing brand did not appeal to all tastes. But those days are over and there is little of interest to genre fans on the network at this point.
Be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates. And for the latest news and discussions on sci fi and fantasy television, follow r/SciFiTV
Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and you can see the premieres for all the upcoming genre entries at this link.
