The CW is officially bringing back nearly its entire lineup for the 2019-20 broadcast season.
The younger-skewing broadcast network has handed out renewals for the rookies All American, In the Dark and Roswell and the veteran The 100. Those join the 10 previously announced scripted series that were renewed back in January, including the freshmen Charmed and Legacies. That means the Mark Pedowitz-led network is bringing back its entire 2018-19 freshman class, marking the first time that The CW’s entire rookie class is returning.
With the four renewals, The CW’s entire slate — save for the previously announced final seasons of Jane the Virgin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and iZombie — is returning for 2019-20. The decision also leaves the network with little room on its schedule. The CW has six pilots in contention — including DC Comics frontrunner Batwoman — and an abbreviated eighth and final season of Arrow. It also means that the network will, for possibly the first time ever, not have a single cancellation this season.
All American, from superproducer Greg Berlanti and Robbie Rogers, is a fish-out-of-water drama starring Daniel Ezra and inspired by the life of former pro football player Spencer Paysinger. The Warner Bros. TV-produced series earned only a three-episode back order and wrapped its 16-episode season earlier this year. While All American counts fans at the network, including Pedowitz, its Netflix deal may have helped push the drama co-starring Taye Diggs over the second-season goal line. Also helping the bubble show’s case is that its lackluster adults 18-49 ratings doubled after a week of delayed viewing.
Roswell, New Mexico, which wrapped its freshman season Tuesday, is an immigration-themed reboot of the former WB Network/UPN drama. The series launched midseason and ranks as the most-watched of The CW’s freshman roster at just under 2 million viewers. The Warner Bros. TV drama starring Jeanie Mason, Nathan Parsons, Tyler Blackburn and Michael Trevino and from showrunner Carina Adly MacKenzie and executive producer Julie Plec will return for season two.
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Early returns for fellow midseason debut In the Dark — both in terms of critical approval and Nielsen ratings — have not been promising for the CBS TV Studios-produced dramedy about a blind woman who is the only “witness” to the slaying of her drug-dealing boyfriend. The series from writer Corinne Kingsbury and exec producer Ben Stiller is returning based on the strength of its creative as Pedowitz continues to express patience in programming he hopes will find a larger audience.
The 100, meanwhile, has scored an early seventh-season renewal as the post-apocalyptic drama from showrunner Jason Rothenberg and Warner Bros. TV doesn’t return until April 30.
All told, The CW’s 2019-20 class consists of The 100, Arrow, Black Lightning, Dynasty, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Riverdale, Supergirl, the final season of Supernatural, Charmed, In the Dark, Roswell, All American and Legacies.
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