Riverdale, Walker, The Flash, And More CW Shows Renewed For Another Season
The CW continues to be one of the most successful networks on air, further proving its status as a TV powerhouse by announcing a number of renewals for its biggest shows going into the 2021-2022 season. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the CW picked up 12 of its original series for an additional season.
For starters, audiences can look forward to the return of Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, and Jughead Jones for a sixth season of the wildly dramatic drama series Riverdale. Clearly, the show is showing no signs of slowing down, as the fifth season has recently begun, and will follow the group seven years ahead after a time-jump.
Jared Padalecki's Walker has also been handed a second season — which is really no surprise, given that the Walker, Texas Ranger reimagining was the CW's most-watched series premiere in the last five years (via Entertainment Weekly). The series sees Supernatural alum Padalecki as the legendary Ranger who returns home after working a lengthy undercover operation.
The Arrowverse continues to dominate the network as well, so expect to see Grant Gustin return for The Flash season 8, prepare yourself for more time-traveling shenanigans in DC's Legends of Tomorrow season 7, and buckle up for additional adventures starring Javicia Leslie's Ryan Wilder in Batwoman season 3. Ahead of Superman & Lois' February 23 premiere, the Tyler-Hoechlin-and-Elizabeth-Tulloch-fronted series has already been greenlit for a second season.
But wait — there's more. Expect to see Nancy Drew season 3, All-American season 4, Charmed season 4, Legacies season 4, In The Dark season 4, Roswell, New Mexico season 4 and Dynasty season 5 on the CW in the 2021-2022 season. Phew, that's a lot of TV to keep everyone going over the next few months.
Extra episodes, Walker's success, and past cancelations
The CW has seemingly been highly impressed with both Superman & Lois and Walker, as the network commissioned extra episodes for both shows in addition to picking them up for second seasons. Walker was given five more episodes, meaning season 1 now consists of 18 episodes total. Meanwhile, Superman & Lois' 13-episode run has been bumped up to 15.
The CW President Mark Pedowitz expressed his excitement about all the upcoming shows and also celebrated the success of Walker's premiere: "As the CW's 2020-2021 season kicks into high gear, we are thrilled creatively with the direction of our first new shows out of the gate, Walker and Superman & Lois, that we wanted to order the additional episodes to complete their first seasons, and we are particularly pleased with the huge success of the launch of Walker, which debuted as our most watched series premiere in 5 years."
However, it's not all good news, since the network announced the cancelation of Supergirl and Black Lightning last year. Remember, though, this is the Arrowverse, so Kara Danvers and Jefferson Pierce could always return in future crossovers down the line. A Black Lightning spin-off following Jordan Calloway's Khalil Payne is also in development, so who knows — the rest of the heroic Pierce family could still show up there too. Starring Lucy Hale as the title character, the Riverdale spin-off Katy Keene was also previously canceled, after its first season didn't live up to the popularity of the main series. Surprisingly, there's been no word on whether or not Olivia Liang's Kung Fu reboot and Republic of Sarah will return for second seasons on the CW.