How did the CW pilots hold up against the Wayward Sisters backdoor pilot?

All new CW shows have aired. It’s time to look back and see how they faired against Wayward Sisters. Did The CW make a mistake?

When Wayward Sisters wasn’t picked up, there were plenty of fans angry and upset. There was so much potential to the series and The CW opted for shows that some weren’t interested in. I think the biggest issue was Legacies being picked up off a script rather than a filmed pilot, but Charmed and All American were also scrutinized (one more than the other).

Now all the CW pilots have aired (Legacies was the straggler this Thursdays), it’s time to look at how the episodes faired against the Wayward Sisters backdoor pilot last year. I’ll compare the ratings for the backdoor pilot to all the pilot ratings from this year.

Figuring out the number of Wayward viewers

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This is difficult to do. After all, there would have been Supernatural fans tuning in just to see what the spin-off could be like. Others would have tuned in to see if the Winchesters were in much (they weren’t because it was a backdoor pilot for another show, duh!). And then there were some of us tuning in excitedly, knowing we’d watch the spin-off.

It’s hard to tell who would tune in for the spin-off. I’m not even going to try to make that assumption because I just know someone will be offended by my assumptions. It’s easier just to use the backdoor pilot’s figures as a benchmark.

As a reminder, the ratings for Supernatural Season 13, Episode 10 were: 1.870 million viewers and 0.6 in the demo. Now let’s look at the comparison.

How the pilots faired

All American was the first new show to premiere and debuted to 0.685 million and 0.19 in the demo. Full disclosure, the third episode has seen a big tick up in ratings, but we’re looking at pilot figures right now.

Charmed then followed with a whopping 1.569 million viewers and 0.54 in the ratings. While the second episode saw a slump, it’s not been too bad and Charmed now sits second out of all the CW shows on the network. Previously, it was third behind Supernatural.

The Originals spin-off Legacies pulled in 1.124 million viewers and 0.30 in the demo. There’s only been one episode so far.

Comparing the ratings

It’s easy to see that the only show that has come close to the Wayward Sisters backdoor pilot is the Charmed reboot. That got hate of its own but it landed above the likes of Riverdale, Supergirl, and many others, proving that it was a good move for The CW to renew it. Even still in second place, the show was a good choice.

Legacies and All American haven’t faired as well. They sit eighth and 10th respectively in the full list of CW shows. The only two shows below All American are Dynasty and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which are two Friday night shows and one of them is airing its confirmed final season.

While we have no idea how Wayward Sisters would have faired after the first episode, there was a lot of social love for it and a lot of hype. I think the show would have been around Supergirl‘s figures, which would be good for The CW and suggest that maybe the network made a mistake not picking it up based on the other pilots.

However, because Wayward didn’t get picked up, there is a podcast starting tomorrow. Who’s excited?

Are you still angry Wayward Sisters wasn’t picked up? What do you think about the pilot ratings? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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