This week, The CW debuted their last two in-season programs with fates yet undetermined, the comic book duo of Superman & Lois and Gotham Knights. Stay tuned to see what their outlooks are on a slimmed-down CW.
Superman & Lois: The CW's #2 show of last season returned in fine form this week, remaining their #2 show with a 0.13 premiere. That's higher than All American: Homecoming, and only two hundredths below All American's season average. In spite of its performance, I have serious doubts about its renewal odds. For one, it's a very expensive show by CW standards, at a time in which the network is all about cutting costs amid its acquisition by Nexstar. For another, it's a Warner Bros/DC Studios production, during a time in which both Warner Bros. Discovery and DS Studios are undergoing big changes. Many DC shows have been canceled as the DC universe is reset under its new management. While James Gunn, head of DC Studios, has said that these plans won't impact Superman & Lois, I remain doubtful that David Zaslav's WBD, which has become known for ruthlessly canceling many shows and yanking them from HBO Max availability, will fight all that hard for a Superman & Lois renewal, or that they will work with the CW to manage production costs and licensing fees, especially when they don't really need this particular Superman property as part of DC's new era. So between the changes at CW and the changes at Warner Brothers/DC, I think Superman & Lois will have to pay an unfortunate price and be cut. It also doesn't help that superhero shows has nearly gone extinct on The CW, and they seem steadfast on moving away from that brand. Its ratings are strong, and it doesn't deserve to be canceled so abruptly, but I don't think it's going to make the cut. It LEANS CANCELLATION.
Gotham Knights: This is a show that's truly airing in the right place at the wrong time. It would have fit in perfectly on the CW of old, but in this day and age, it's a misfit: a superhero show not produced on a shoestring budget, on a network looking to cut costs that has seen a mass exodus of superhero programming in the past year. In the "DCW" era, this show would have been nurtured and been a lock for a 5+ season run, but with the network destined to cut its programming slate down to just a small handful of shows (likely as few as three), it's hard to see Gotham Knights being among them. They didn't bother to put it on the fall schedule like their two other new shows, and there are other shows with better arguments for renewal, like Walker and Homecoming, that fit in better with the network's programming vision. Its premiere ratings were very solid by CW standards (thus far, it ties Homecoming as the top 9 PM CW show, and it's easily their top new show), but rating a few hundredths above the rest will likely not be enough to counteract all that the show has stacked against it. It's not the show's fault, and it put up as much of a fight as it could, but it's already a LIKELY CANCELLATION.
What do you think of my predictions? What are your predictions? Let me know in the comments and vote in the poll of the week!
