An executive producer on Nancy Drew bluntly calls out The CW over how it chose to cancel the series. Nancy Drew bowed out after four seasons, airing its series finale alongside Riverdale, as the network has notably shifted away from its brand as a destination for teen dramas. New owners Nexstar instead hope to broaden the channel’s programming, expanding into sports and reality television. As a result, over the past year, many of The CW’s familiar titles have been cancelled.
After the Nancy Drew series finale, executive producer Larry Teng took to Twitter to call out The CW for the way it handled the show’s cancellation. In a detailed thread, Teng explained that no one at The CW gave notice Nancy Drew wouldn’t be renewed.
As a result of lead star Kennedy McMann looking to film the potential Good Doctor spinoff The Good Lawyer, McMann’s representative asked the studio about the actor’s schedule. That’s when they learned the show wouldn’t be renewed, with the network saying the series was too expensive. Teng explains that if it wasn’t for the call about The Good Lawyer, they wouldn’t have known about the cancellation and had already been writing a season finale and had to abruptly change course and rewrite. Teng doesn’t mince words in the thread, writing in part: “To have clearly known in advance and not tell us until a random call 3/4 into our season is just plain f–cking disrespect.”
The CW Was Once Very Supportive Of Its Shows
The CW’s sale to Nexstar had been in the works for some time. The first wave of shows cancelled by The CW in anticipation of the sale were given advanced notice. This meant that shows like Legacies and the Charmed reboot could exit on a satisfying note. This was a reflection of how The CW’s former head Mark Pedowitz was said to have valued his relationship with talent, reporting that’s backed up by Pedowitz’s own statements. The CEO of the network took a personal interest in Supernatural, for example, and was reluctant to see it end.
The CW’s stance extends beyond just a single executive. The network was famous for rarely cancelling any of its shows. Despite routinely low Nielsen ratings, The CW would sell the dramas they got from Paramount and Warner Bros. to Netflix. Now that former owners Paramount and Warner Bros. have their own streaming services, there’s much less of an incentive to sell their shows to a rival streamer. That’s what spurred the sale, with Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery currently having a minority stake in The CW of 12.5% each, where Nexstar has 75%.
The change has been disruptive. With frequent programming changes, it seems the network hasn’t figured out what its new direction should be. But in the chaos, Teng’s social media thread serves as an example of the need to value creators and the audiences that have invested in The CW’s programming. Given the circumstances, it’s a miracle that the Nancy Drew finale was so satisfying.
