The CW Renew/Cancel returns this week as decisions approach and the threat of a network programming purge looms. The network's midseason superhero dramas take center stage again as I assess their performances a month out from their premieres.
Gotham Knights: I pegged this show as goner immediately after its debut. It seemed nearly impossible to imagine The CW renewing a freshman drama that they stuck in midseason during a season in which they are rumored to be cutting their current programming crop down to as few as two or three shows. In the month since its debut, things have, to say the least, not changed. The show has dropped as low as 0.05 in the time being, eliminating the one argument it had for its renewal. With weakened ratings that put it on par with every other 9 PM show on The CW, Gotham Knights looks well and truly doomed. The show had everything stacked against it, and needed to greatly over perform to even have a chance of getting a second season amid CW restructuring, particularly being a Warner Bros. show during a time when that studio is undergoing major changes of its own. It has not done enough to even keep itself in the conversation. While it's hard to be certain about anything on the CW at this point, it seems to be the most doomed of all of The CW's programs this season, and is a LIKELY CANCELLATION.
Superman & Lois: In a similar situation to Gotham Knights, Superman & Lois doesn't seem to be overperforming enough to keep itself around as a WB-produced superhero on a CW that is moving away from that brand quickly. To the credit of Superman & Lois, however, is that it has remained at or above the 0.10 mark for its whole run thus far, which Gotham Knights has certainly not done. This ties it for #2 among The CW's programming for this season, alongside All American: Homecoming. This show has more hurdles to a renewal than that one (hence that show being predicted for a renewal and this one a cancellation). It isn't at all inconceivable for Superman & Lois to get the third CW renewal over Homecoming, but its expenses and scheduling this season (The CW has treated it as a bit of an afterthought, vs. the preferential scheduling for Homecoming) leaves me believing that Superman & Lois is on its way out sooner than Homecoming is. It LEANS CANCELLATION but hope remains.
What do you think of these predictions? What are your predictions? Let us know in the comments and vote in the poll of the week!