Kung Fu: While I was initially of the belief that Kung Fu's renewal last season and fall placement this season was enough to guess a renewal for it this season, I'm doubting that now. Its lead-in, Stargirl, has already been canceled, and that show had better ratings. That alone doesn't mean much on The CW, as ratings have always taken a backseat. However, the fact that The CW is canceling shows already, and per a Deadline report, they are looking to end even more shows this season than already announced, does not bode well for Kung Fu. With the network looking to transition to cheap international coproductions and reality programming, I expect them to continue phasing out old CW shows at a relatively quick pace, leaving only the top performers (like All American) and shows that fit the network's new, older-skewing brand in this Nexstar era (like Walker). With little buzz on streaming and mediocre first-run ratings (in both the 18-49 demo and viewership), I fail to see how Kung Fu fits into that vision, and so I am downgrading it to LEANS CANCELLATION.
The Winchesters: Among other big announcements from The CW this week was the decision to cap The Winchesters at thirteen episodes for its first season. This is, obviously, not ideal news for the show. The future immediately turns grim for any fall show that does not receive any sort of a backorder, unless they are explicitly capped at their initial orders (such as La Brea last season or Evil a few seasons before that). However, I'm not going to immediately jump to a cancellation prediction here. For one, shorter seasons seem to be in fashion right now for The CW: multiple fall series last season only had thirteen episodes, including Nancy Drew, which received a renewal. My guess is that this is a strategy to continue producing new series that they can sell to streamers and to international markets, while keeping production costs down by only producing shorter seasons that they can time share with other shows. Walker Independence was similarly capped at thirteen, and both series will likely be replaced by benched shows like Superman & Lois, The Flash or Gotham Knights come midseason. It's truly anyone's guess as to what The CW will do with these show, or what the decision to cap them at thirteen episodes means, but The Winchesters being solid in same-day ratings and a spinoff of one of the network's legacy shows should theoretically be a boost to its renewal odds. It LEANS RENEWAL despite some less-than-favorable recent developments for it.
Stargirl: As mentioned above, The CW canceled Stargirl earlier this week. While its ratings would have been more than enough to keep it going in the old CW, it was clearly on the chopping block this season, as the network continues to move away from their superhero-heavy "DCW" era. It's a correct prediction for me and another step towards a new direction for The CW.
Nancy Drew: Also announced as being canceled this week was Nancy Drew. This announcement came ahead of its premiere, and therefore it did not have a prediction. That being said, the decision isn't a terrible surprise, given that The CW is on a show-killing spree lately and Nancy was one of their lowest-rated series.
What do you think of my predictions? What are your predictions? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to vote in the poll of the week!
