Julie Plec’s reign of terror at The CW ends in one fell swoop

The CW didn’t come to play this cancellation season which is unfortunate for fans of the network’s shows. They’re currently sitting at nine shows cancelled.

The decisions being handed down are being touted as due to The CW’s sale which is pending. Given the quantity of series axed in 2022 by the network, we’d say that’s a pretty good reason for so much upheaval.

Unexpectedly, this also means that Julie Plec’s influence on The CW has been axed as well. The creator of The Vampire Diaries has had a grip on the network since 2009 when her vampire teen drama, co-created by Kevin Williamson, blew up.

Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, and Ian Somerhalder’s stars rose astronomically due to the show’s fervent fan base. Its  popularity span into a franchise with Originals and Legacies making their home at The CW. They, too, were created by Plec.

She also executive produced Roswell New Mexico, a reboot to the hit ’90s teen drama with aged up iterations of the beloved characters and a twisting plot that errs on the darker side of storytelling.

In many ways, Plec helped make The CW what it is today despite not being a creator or executive producer on the network’s popular superhero dramas. Her era of TV influence (at least on broadcast), however, has come to a close thanks to the cancellations of Legacies and Roswell New Mexico.

Legacies and Roswell New Mexico cancelled by The CW

Plec has stirred up controversy during her tenure at The CW. The most notable being the treatment of Bonnie Bennett on The Vampire Diaries.

For years, fans lamented the lack of respect shown to Kat Graham’s character in terms of storytelling that went beyond Bonnie being the one to always save the day at the detriment to her own well-being and happiness.

For some fans, her work is indelibly tied to both exuberant exclamations of love for her shows and visceral discomfort or even disgust with the treatment of certain characters. Plec is a polarizing figure in fandom circles that have been touched and hurt the most by the shows attached to her name.

As such, there will be fans excited that her take on supernatural television, which often twisted and twisted until it couldn’t possibly twist anymore, is over at The CW. But there will also be fans who consider these cancellations to be a personal blow.

The Legacies fandom has been campaigning for the show to be renewed only for their hopes to be dashed before season 4 could come to an end. And, while Roswell, New Mexico wasn’t created by Plec, the series clearly leans toward her brand of decidedly dark storytelling and has an audience who expected five seasons since that’s how far the show was plotted.

If you’re a fan of Julie Plec’s work, the cancellation of her two remaining CW shows isn’t the end for her. She’ll be making the hop to streaming with Vampire Academy, The Girls on the Bus, Dead Day, and Confessions releasing in the near future. In fact, the TV adaptation of Vampire Academy is set to premiere in 2022.

To be honest, it seems fitting that Plec’s major television era began with a vampire teen drama on a network that many have counted out, and now her streaming years will begin with a vampire teen drama on Peacock. The streaming platform has produced great shows but it’s often bypassed when it comes to discussing notable streamers in the game.

Here’s what Plec had to say about Legacies and Roswell, New Mexico‘s cancellations:

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