Why the early renewals from The CW are so excellent in 2020
The CW is known for offering early renewals, but the ones that came in 2020 are the best ever. Here’s why these renewals are so important this year.
Every year, The CW tends to be the first network offering out renewals. While we’ve seen the likes of Evil and Bless the Harts get early renewals, The CW remains the only network to give a blanket renewal to the majority of its TV shows. And in 2020, these early renewals are far more excellent than ever before.
We know that everything currently airing, except for the shows confirmed to be ending this year, are renewed. Even shows that haven’t come back yet, such as In the Dark and Roswell, New Mexico have been granted another season. The only show that wasn’t renewed was Katy Keene, but the freshman (which premieres on Feb. 6) has been given a 13-episode script order, so there are more episodes.
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Handing the renewals out now is perfect for planning. Deadline reported back in November that the studios are getting ready for strike action. Contract negotiations are coming up, and as you would expect, the streaming services are the bone of contention right now. The last time there was a major issue with contract negotiations was in 2008-2009, when the writers did strike. If you look back at any show that aired during that season, the episode orders needed to be reduced as writing and filming were put on hold.
The CW is clearly planning ahead, getting ready for the potential strike. Instead of burying their heads in the sand, the network bosses have decided to allow the shows to get a head start on the writing. The more scripts that have been finalized before the current writer’s contracts come to an end, the more episodes there will be to film. This could help to limit the chance of the writer’s strike affecting programming.
If it does affect programming, it’s going to be minimal for The CW, and for us. Other networks are still to think this far ahead, but they’ll want to get on it now unless they’re going to bury their heads and pretend the strike won’t happen. We’ve seen it before, so yes, it’s possible that it could happen.
Plus, just knowing that our shows are renewed ahead of the midseason premieres and even the premieres in some cases, is great as fans. We can enjoy the full season, without worrying if a cliffhanger is going to be resolved.
Right now, all shows have just been renewed. There is still time for The CW to decide that the shows have just one final season to make way for new content in the 2020-2021 season. After all, by renewing everything, there are going to be just three gaps in the schedule with Supernatural, Arrow, and The 100 coming to their natural ends this year.
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What do you think of The CW’s decision to renew all its shows? Were you aware of the potential writer’s strike coming up? Share your thoughts in the comments below.