The CW has announced that the upcoming fourth season of Superman & Lois will be the show’s last. The news does not come as a huge surprise, and I previously predicted this when the renewal announcement was first issued this past Summer. The new President of Entertainment at The CW Brad Schwartz gave the typical, corporate-speak “We are grateful for the years of hard work” speech, but the fact is that this show was completely thrown under the bus by the network. This was The CW’s second-highest-rated show last season and is likely to continue to draw strong viewership numbers for its fourth year. The network is cancelling S&L because it does not fit into the model of low-cost acquisitions that new management has put into place after taking the reins last season. It should have shifted over to Max (both the streaming service and the show are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery) where it could have run for at least a couple more seasons. But the DCEU is going through a complete reboot with James Gunn and Peter Safran at the helm, and there was no interest in allowing Superman & Lois to continue despite the fact that it has been a hit across its first three seasons.
And while S&L is considered tangential to the Arrow-verse, it is the last show airing attached to that franchise and they certainly could have worked out a better way to wrap things up. One of the conditions of the fourth season renewal was a slashing of the budget which means much of the regular cast will be cut from the show, and that will almost certainly keep the writers from telling some of the bigger stories they have told in the past. With limited funds for the final ten episodes, Superman & Lois will not have the chance to go out with a bang, leaving it and the Arrow-verse to end on a whimper. A few more seasons on Max would have allowed the show to get to a more syndication-friendly count of episodes where it could have lived on for years in encore runs. It may have also given the show the chance to pick up on some of the unresolved Arrow-verse storylines and deliver a better ending for that franchise. But now, both will just fade out because neither the network nor the studio were willing to support a property that has performed well for them for years. At least S&L gets an advance notice and can wrap up as many storylines as possible, but with the slashed budget, don’t expect many fireworks for the show’s final season.
Assuming the actors’ strike is resolved soon (and it appears to be headed that way), the fourth season of Superman & Lois should still air during the 2023-24 season, likely late Spring or early Summer. So I am still counting it with the current season tally which brings the numbers to four cancelled and ending sci fi and fantasy shows so far (13% of shows tracked) vs eleven renewals (35%). You can see the breakdown of the numbers and the full list of shows for the current season at our Cancellation Watch Page.
Superman & Lois follows the title characters who return to Smallville to focus on their family life but learn that it is hard for a superhero (with two sons coming into their powers) to separate himself from a world that needs him. It stars Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Jordan Elsass, Alex Garfin, and Erik Valdez, and Michael Cudlitz will be joining the cast as Lex Luther in the final season.
The 2023-24 season is just beginning, and there are plenty more renewal and cancellation announcements on the way. You can see the status of all this season’s shows at this link. And be sure to follow this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for updates and breaking news.
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
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