The CW is the fifth — and final — broadcast network to firm up its fall 2021 schedule, and there are some big changes.
Riverdale is leaving Wednesdays behind after five seasons leading off the night.
The buzzy teen drama is moving to Tuesdays at 9/8c, out of The Flash.
It’s a big move, but clearly, one to bolster the ratings of the young-skewing drama.
It has been on a slippery slope in the ratings, much like many of the other CW series, so the move is hardly a big surprise.
The CW is also touting both The Flash and Riverdale kicking off with “five-episode events.”
The Flash‘s five-episode event will feature crossovers with Arrowverse characters.
“We’re talking about other superheroes from the CWverse that will come together in each [of the] individual episodes,” CW CEO Mark Pedowitz said of the news.
“That will not quite be a crossover but it will have a crossover-type feel at the introduction of all these characters.” Meanwhile, Batwoman and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow are leaving Sundays behind and relocating to Wednesdays.
The network is giving Sundays an overhaul with game shows. It will be fun to see how that works out for them.
Nancy Drew will move from Wednesdays to Fridays in the fall. The series has struggled in linear ratings, and is surviving based on streaming figures, so this move makes sense.
On Mondays, All American Season 4 will remain in its current slot, leading into the reboot of The 4400.
The 4400 is the sole new scripted offering in the fall.
Walker and Legacies will remain on Legacies, which is a bit of a bizarre move.
Legacies is not holding up well in some of the older demos out of Walker, so The 4400 would have probably been better in that slot.
Saturday will consist of Whose Line Is It Anyway, which marks the first time CW is operating on the night.
The aforementioned Sunday asked will consist of the reboot of Legends of the Hidden Temple and an American redo of Killer Camp.
ALL AMERICAN: HOMECOMING, Charmed Season 4, DC’s Stargirl Season 3, Dynasty Season 5, In the Dark Season 4, Kung Fu Season 2, NAOMI, Roswell, New Mexico Season 4, and Superman & Lois Season 2 are all being held back for midseason.
The network previously bid adieu to Black Lightning, Supergirl, Supernatural, and Trickster.
Bulletproof was canceled by UK broadcaster Sky TV after sexual assault allegations leveled against series star Noel Clarke came to light.
The CW announced earlier this week pickups for Naomi and All American Homecoming while nixing the Painkiller Black Lightning spinoff.
The network also put the Powerpuff Girls live-action update back to redevelopment, saying that it was a creative decision.
“Sometimes things miss, and this was just a miss,” CW Chairman & CEO Mark Pedowitz told explained to TV Line on Tuesday.
“We believe in the cast completely, we believe in Diablo [Cody] and Heather [Regnier], the writers, and we believe in the auspices of [executive producer] Greg Berlanti and Warner [Bros.] Studios. In this case, the pilot didn’t work.”
But because we see enough elements in there, we’re going to give it another shot. We didn’t want to go forward with what we had.” Your thoughts on the schedule?
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.