The Rise and Fall of The CW

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The CW had to cancel everything from Legacies to Batwoman this year...but why? In this video I talk about The CW through the years, from the Arrowverse to Gossip Girl to The Vampire Diaries.
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Music by Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicsound.com)
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Special thanks to Andrew Elliott (Stalli111: / stalli111 ) for editing this video!

[@captainmidnight]

What was/is your favorite CW show?? Go to brilliant.org/Midnight/ and sign up for free, the first 200 people that go to that link will get 20% off the annual Premium subscription.

[@natelebisky1207]

Arrow was great when he still had the murder list if I remember right. Idk I never liked CW that much.

[@Johan-tn2wt]

the flash

[@karma.2781]

Arrow was the best cw show on the beginning

[@Bender-fv9fu]

Superman & Lois

[@tronvillain]

It was definitely Legends of Tommorow. They made the lower budget work, and it's sad to not be getting Booster Gold now.

[@ramblinentertainment1922]

The fact clips of supernatural clips played both when he said “some shows worked” and “many didn’t” is too true 😂

[@Tokumastu1]

I'll always remember those first 5 seasons fondly. But holly hell did it have no idea what it was doing once the original writer left.

[@copeseticme]

Trash show for teenage girls.

[@TheGreatestJediOfAllTime]

@@Tokumastu1 yeah its best to treat the end of 5 as the series finale

[@Salty010]

@@Tokumastu1 i mean the original writer already left on season 5 i think.... but it had hardcore fanbase supernatfamily support it, thats why cw still continue it more longer...

[@tylerdurden788]

@@Tokumastu1 thank you I have said same thing repeatedly. First 5 were awesome after it was all a cash grab.

[@dukecaliblap]

To me, the biggest problem with the CW is that they just refused to evolve. The CW now is a time capsule of a time when genre shows were given miniscule budgets and expected to make full 22-24 episode seasons, and audiences didn't really care as much about the production quality of a show. But that just isn't the case anymore. The CW has been making shows for audiences in 2007 for 15 years

[@BlazingOwnager]

The biggest problem is they started producing absolute dog crap and doubling or even tripling down on disasters. *cough*Batwoman*cough*

[@spinyslasher6586]

Their quantity over quality methodology really hurts them.

[@lancevance6346]

Daredevil was the polar opposite imo. I'm amazed how it doesn't get enough praise and remembered more today, atleast from the crowd that laud Nolan's and the new Batman. It's like everyone's forgotten. I hope MCU took the other better half from the show along with just the actor. The side characters were a big part in what made it big.

[@spinyslasher6586]

@@lancevance6346 I don't think anyone forgot about Daredevil. I've seen plenty of people talk about it, and it seems Marvel is also interested in bringing it back.

[@BlazingOwnager]

@@lancevance6346 You do know Daredevil was Netflix and part of a string of great Netflix MCU shows and nothing whatsoever to do with the CW, right? And people so didn't forget about it Disney has brought Cox back in to play the character again, even having a cameo in a recent movie.

[@GenerationWest]

For the longest time, I thought The CW was straight up money laundering. With how cheap these shows are, plus viewership being barely a million views a episode, I was surprised that it could keep renewing shows, and somehow not turn a profit since it's inception. But with 75% of it being sold for $0 as of yesterday of this video... Says it all.

[@ryanhalawani2637]

I'm genuinely still convinced it is to be honest 🤣. Like, things like Gotham Knights has to be a money laundering scheme or if not some kind of elaborate psy-op designed to make us appreciate their other shitty superhero shows. I would love to be an auditor and see their taxes because I'm positive they have to be using at least some of these ridiculous shows based on batshit concepts as ways of hiding secret income or something. It's also just so bizarre how literally almost every show pitched gets greenlit for a pilot. Like you said, the viewership being sooooo low is also weird and another red flag. Can't wait for the inevitable documentary ten years from now about the inner workings of the CW and why so many shows were being made and how on God's green earth they managed to keep making so many shows for so long. By the way, love your videos mate.

[@GenerationWest]

@@ryanhalawani2637 Thank you!

[@terranceramirez4816]

Sounds to me like the CW is about 2-3 years away from becoming a MyNetwork/ION style programming service airing exclusively reruns

[@peternystrom921]

I loved more or less everything they Done, atleast they had story and took chances

[@Mark_Knight]

They hired SJWs, feminists and pushed the agenda. People left.

[@Stinkoman87]

No matter what else is true about the CW, I will always give it respect for being the last broadcast station to give up Saturday morning cartoons.

[@Loremastrful]

I'm neutral. CW did a lot to kill Sat AM cartoons by using Pokemon to block anything new on a rival network.

[@catdogmousecheese]

I have so many memories as a kid watching Kids WB (which was later rebranded as the CW4Kids). I actually looked forward to going to school Monday because me and my friends would always talk about the new episodes of Batman and Yugioh and Pokemon.

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

@@catdogmousecheese Oh, such good memories

[@PeterGriffin11]

@@Loremastrful Are you sure Pokémon was on CW? I have a feeling you may be confused because the only US networks to ever air Pokémon were Kids WB in the 90s and early 2000s then Cartoon Network & Boomerang from the early 2000s to the mid 2010s then Disney XD from 2016 to 2020 and now it's on Netflix.

[@adrianna5378]

@@PeterGriffin11 You’re right. The CW never had Pokémon. They’re were two different things. They were still the WB then I think.

[@TheFocus05]

i am embarrassingly nostalgic for the Arrowverse shows, and have always had a soft spot for Supernatural. i can't help but be a little sad at the state the CW is currently in.

[@PeterParker-ff7ub]

Dont be embarassed about what you like

[@ssshar2176]

Same.

[@Dave102693]

@@johndurham6172 Walker is so boring. Why do people loves it so much?

[@spinyslasher6586]

I will always stand by the first two seasons of Arrow being some of the best superhero shows ever made. The Legends of Tomorrow was fun, The Flash was also decent (for two seasons atleast). The rest were forgettable as hell, other than Superman and Lois, which was great.

[@FedoraKirb]

Same. Even though I’ve since encountered MUCH better television, I’ll always look back on those Tuesday nights in middle and high school fondly. Same with the discussions and hype with my siblings and friends.

[@programmerdave9893]

The problem with Flash/Supergirl wasn’t the special effects, it was the writing.

[@ExeErdna]

Like how they treat the Flash's powerset sometimes he does what the Flash would do. Then he'll ignore the plan and do something dumb

[@triggeredcat120]

The acting, just about everything about it.

[@dawoodwilliams3652]

True, although i feel Supergirl has gotten better, Flash has been on a downward spiral.

[@lifeisberserk9566]

Oh it definitely is the effects just as much

[@williecrooks3636]

That was the major problem with batwoman They refuse to offer a balance to the audience and the storylines Supernatural at least offer something for pretty much everyone

[@TeeklGrey]

Man, I always forget that Supernatural and iZombie were CW shows. I feel like I enjoyed them too much for them to possibly come out of the same network that spit out Batwoman

[@DWAkhaten]

On the bright side, the lead actors in Riverdale are finally free from their seven year contracts. Hopefully they won't make the mistake of making seven year commitments again in the future.

[@TheFourthWinchester]

7 yr contract is standard for network shows usually.

[@eileensnow6153]

@@TheFourthWinchester yeah and that’s 7 years of working vs. not working, that’s nothing for an actor to sneeze at

[@willowwithin]

Honestly glad that The CW gave their shows a chance even if they weren't doing well ratings wise. I can imagine something like Crazy Ex Girlfriend only getting one season on another network and that would have been tragic, because shows like that need to be given a chance.

[@GothPaoki]

That's what got them in trouble. Making bad decisions and insisting on them

[@petraw9792]

@@GothPaoki I bet it's doing pretty well on Netflix and will find new viewers in the years to come. Shows like CXG find their fans over time.

[@clwilliams9276]

@@GothPaoki they did that for some. Meanwhile they completely gave up on The Secret Circle. One of my faves even tho I watched it like 5-6 yrs after it aired.

[@petraw9792]

@LTNetjak I was talking about CXG, not Batwoman. I agree regarding the latter, I gave it two or three episodes, than I gave up. But I only discovered CXG when it was already in its second season and was hooked from the pilot on. And I know others discovered it far later. It possibly was too well hidden between vampires and comic heroes and marketing didn't really work. Actually, I prefer it when the network respects the creators vision and sticks to the planned run. I'm probably not the only one who wished Supernatural ended after five season, as originally planned. ;)

[@Tsukiakari-qb3tk]

@LTNetjak i really liked Batwoman especially once they got rid of Ruby Rose. Ryan became a favorite of mine and i really miss her show. I also miss Legends so much, that show was a gem

[@alyzu4755]

Not only am I old enough to remember the beginning of CW, I remember a time before the WB and UPN. Heck, I remember when there were 3 major networks and TV antennas. 😂

[@Dave102693]

Lmfao

[@ezio_Winchester]

Born in 87 myself and remember all those and had to use a TV antenna too lol

[@dawoodwilliams3652]

Ah yes, the good ol days

[@SanJo408..]

When upn used to play a Bay Area classic song all the “I get my grown man on “ the hood stars

[@ahoy1014]

While Arrow and Flash began to suffer from finishing its loose ends and its formulas becoming repetitive, Legends of Tomorrow managed to continually bring in new and fun settings and stakes, and the revolving door cast made sure there was always more character development to enjoy. It is a crying shame that it got cancelled - and worse yet, due to a change in management the regular one-season notice of cancellation was omitted, leading to the show ending on a horribly tantalising cliffhanger. I really hope Keto Shimizu gets the chance to finish the show's vision in one way or another, as it has truly been one of my favourite shows of all time.

[@nightmarepinster9713]

Wow. I've never felt so called out before! This was my exact progression into the CW, starting with The Vampire Diaries on Netflix in 2011. I've enjoyed years of the camp and silliness and am shedding a tear for the cancelation of my last two shows, Legacies and Legends of Tomorrow. It was an amazing run of trashy but thrilling TV and the old CW formula will be sorely missed by this viewer.

[@evacody1249]

At least Legacies got an ending.

[@TaZeTheGod]

@@evacody1249 not a complete ending - they actually had plans for a Season 5 and so forth.

[@sonorasgirl]

I think that’s the thing that gets missed with the discussion of these shows - most people who watch them KNOW they’re terrible, but that’s the fun. They’re light and silly and I can 100% tell you which I’d prefer after a long day of helping people deal with actual issues I often can’t solve for them

[@obsessedwithrandomstuffiwatch]

@@sonorasgirl yes !!! They don't try to cater to a broader fanbase, their priorities are their current viewers. And that leads to good content in comparison to the flash (the first few seasons are excluded from this)

[@--julian_]

@@TaZeTheGod but it didn't end on a cliffhanger

[@mikejanacone8328]

The CW had a insane 2010s run No one can’t take form them

[@icedcapplord710]

Superman & Lois was too good for the CW. I'm really happy HBO Max picked it up

[@karnielcashumphries683]

Wait it did? Where was that announced?

[@benwasserman8223]

@@karnielcashumphries683 That’s a lie. It’s still a CW show- budget just looks a little higher. Also Iced knows both of these Superman and Lois Lane versions began on Supergirl, right?

[@simz88]

@@benwasserman8223 it was produced by hbo, it just aired on the cw because of a deal they had

[@benwasserman8223]

@@simz88 The show wasn’t available to stream on HBO Max until last September. And even then it still pulls from Hoechlin’s Supergirl incarnation

[@MissBabyNe]

@@simz88 Nope Ben is right, HBO didn't produce it, CW did. That was just a rumour that got around the webs, which isn't true at all. HBO did get to distribute thru WB deals but they had no hand in making the show.

[@skysthelimitvideos]

Personally I’ve always liked the Arrowverse shows. The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl. They’re fun and upbeat and kinda campy in a way big budget DC superhero movies don’t let themselves be. Is it maybe time to let the Arrowverse ride off into the sunset? Maybe but I’ve enjoyed the ride.

[@benwasserman8223]

My hope is that, if the next Flash season is its last, do one last mega crossover that brings back all the other shows. The recent Earth-Prime comics certainly teased that. Oh and give Legends of Tomorrow one final season on HBO Max. It deserves that much.

[@kylelatter554]

Well said sir, but I will say I feel like the arrow verse jumped the shark with their big crisis on infinite earths. I liked flash and some of the others but to be up to date on literally every little thing they’ve done is just asking too much

[@ryanhalawani2637]

I generally agree. However, for me personally, I do think they massively overstayed their welcome by a lot 🤣. These shows have some amazing ideas and really great character moments, it's just so unbelievably easy for them to fall into the same trap of churning out mediocre cookie-cutter plots that are so generic and predictable. Like, every single show has to have an unnecessarily massive cast of characters and superheroes who end up doing mostly nothing besides standing in the background, they all have soap opera level melodramatic family drama, they all have love triangles, and they all have the entire cast watching from the headquarters as the series lead fights the villains and cheers them on. Now, in the beginning, like I said, it was easy to get past this because of all the fun and cool ideas a lot of these shows explored and the characterization of some of the characters. But, towards the end, for me at least, they just completely veered off into being daytime soap operas for superheroes in spandex. Which is perfectly fine, if that's what you like, but for me, it just didn't work and really got annoying.

[@mARTYR2010]

@@kylelatter554 more like jumped into the shark.

[@shahanahsan05]

Superman & Lois is amazing

[@billy-the-good-boy]

The CW gave Crazy Ex Girlfriend 4 seasons, and no amount of Riverdale can ever take that away from us.

[@paulaabelenda5867]

I live in Brazil and “discovered” CW because of The Vampire Diaries. The first three seasons were good and even though the later seasons fell off, it was still popular. Heck, it still is popular because I often see it among the most watched shows from HBO Max’s catalogue. I find it a bit sad that CW became the “Arrowverse” channel, when it used to have more variety.

[@flaviomonteiro1414]

Agreed... CW had a lot of good and diverse shows, but after the introduction of the arrowverse things went downhill...

[@SuperMurray2009]

This is a shock to me because although CW suffers extremely cliche, and tired writing.... Let's be honest most tv shows never had to be good to actually sell.

[@GothPaoki]

Not being good from being horrible is an oceans worth of difference. The flash is not good for example. After season 1 at least. It still did ok for several seasons. Then there's shows like batwoman which was absolutely terrible and did terribly in terms of viewers. Like your point stands. But my point is there are many more bad shows in cw than shows which are not good.

[@Bunny11344]

I always wondered who watched those craps

[@karlfranzemperorofmandefil5547]

Actually I'd say after season 2. I loved both of those.

[@SuperMurray2009]

@@GothPaoki Exactly. Bad shows still sell pretty well. Whether you like it or not.

[@GothPaoki]

@@SuperMurray2009 Yea bad shows do sell.... For a while till they lose hundreds of thousands of viewers like flash did between s1 and 8. It used to average a million at some point and now it averages less than 600.000. And that's completely ignoring that for every mediocre show in terms of ratings like flash ( which btw is supposed to be a heavy hitter for cw) there are 2-3 more completely crap which end up being a total financial loss. It's really not hard to see why cw failed. In fact a lot of people were wondering how it could keep going and well seeing the debt they have amassed i guess we know.

[@tux75]

It's insane when you think about it the arrowverse has launched one new show or web series every year since 2012

[@peachpanda9693]

The 100 is such an underrated gem of a show! Easily one of my fav shows of all time

[@hcstubbs3290]

Honestly the early 2010s was such a great time for comic book adaptations. I know the arrowverse was never really competition for the MCU, but I think the MCU might have gone very differently if it hadn't existed. The Arrowverse kept superhero hype alive for a lot of people between MCU films. It proved you could have loads of interconnectivity across different shows, that stories could be weird, characters whacky and comicbooky, and people would still watch it. In the long run, I think it's done a lot for mainstream comic book adaptations. I'm not sure we would have had shows like The Boys, or Umbrella Academy, Doom Patrol, Invincible etc... without the Arrowverse (and Smallville before it) to pave the way and prove it could be done. For that, I'll always love the arrowverse, no matter that a lot of the shows ended badly.

[@Tsukiakari-qb3tk]

i know i'll appreciate that the shows were my introduction to these characters and got me into the comics. and by god i'm gonna miss seeing sara lance

[@technojunkie123]

I’ll always have a spot spot for CW, it was the streaming service I grew up on when free cable cut cut from American households and we couldn’t afford cable TV - plus Jane the Virgin was an absolute delight that got me thru the tough times of college ❤️

[@trinaq]

The best decision they ever made was cancelling Riverdale... After seven seasons, but still!

[@jericklim7640]

Better late than never

[@dr.s8972]

Honestly, after 7 seasons, that's barely a cancelation. That's dying of natural causes lol.

[@GothPaoki]

Had no idea it was cancelled. I gave up on s3 i was forcing myself to watch it way too hard but i just couldn't deal with the cringe after some point. That plot with the board game killed half my brain cells

[@megamcee]

Superman & Lois and Legends of Tomorrow were my favorites from the whole Arrowverse. One is really serious and well-written and the other is super fun and quirky and well-written with that theming in mind.

[@Kevin_Street]

I haven't seen Superman & Lois, but it looks like a show with potential.

[@megamcee]

@@Kevin_Street it has the benefit of not being a fucking 24h slog that somehow has to have enough interesting content to keep its viewers entertained. And imo its writing is leagues above most other Arrowverse shows (though that's obviously subjective).

[@0x00Fyou]

@@megamcee They put the show on so many breaks for so reason. Season 2 started airing in January. Like let them finish airing the fucking thing.

[@megamcee]

@@0x00Fyou 'rona fucked up a lot of stuff, outside of the usual tv breaks and stuff

[@0x00Fyou]

@@megamcee I don't know how it would fuck up the airing of a tv show, if the footage is all filmed just air the episode.

[@ryanroncancio7889]

The 100 is definitely a hidden gem. Not many people I know watched it, and I got almost as much enjoyment out of it as the Expanse, which I also don’t know many people who watched.

[@benwasserman8223]

Yeah The 100 is still my favorite for how GoT in a body count it reached. Ik S7 was a mess but still think a comic continuation would be awesome similar to the Buffy comics.

[@kyleferguson4236]

Best show they made. If not for any other reason than the acting alone. Those characters were extremely well written, and they didnt have that many plot holes thru 7 whole seasons.. Iv rewatched it twice since it ended

[@Carloszavalalol]

Man. That ending, killed it for me.

[@ryanroncancio7889]

Carlos I guess it’s a good thing I never watched the last half of the last season lol

[@SuperCrow02]

The first two seasons of that show were pretty great but it started going off the rails fast in season 3 imo. It only really got worse from there.

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

the reason why the CW is mostly referred to through the arrowverse is that a lot of those shows you mentioned went off AGES ago Everybody hates chris ended when the Dinosaurs were still around

[@themoviecritic1092]

Bruh that hyperbole is crazy

[@Smoke2Locc]

Fuck me am I old. I remember riding my Triceratops back home from school to watch everybody hates Chris. Awwww, the good ol’ days.

[@seriousnesstv7902]

I mean I didn’t even know everybody hates Chris was first on the CW 😂

[@sparrow8072]

Nah Dinosaurs ended in the mid-90s!

[@NathanielClay]

Yeah the show ended in 2009, I didn't see Dinasours though.

[@rambo9199]

The problem with CW was never budget... It was that all these shows eventually had exactly the same plot where there is constant crisis with the flimsiest of reasons supporting it. They always also become soap operas where nothing actually matters

[@TeflonGeorge]

I was overjoyed when Superman and Lois confirmed it wasn't taking place on the Arrowvrrse

[@benwasserman8223]

Technically it’s in the multiverse that the Arrowverse created

[@maximussaktish]

But wasnt diggle there? He even mentioned oliver

[@starsINSPACE]

@@maximussaktish they retconned that this was an au Dingle

[@Dave102693]

@@benwasserman8223 no

[@enhydralutra]

Honestly, I'm kinda fed up with people who nitpick special effects. When you expect movie-quality special effects in television shows, you end up with a landscape that's full of 5-10 episode shows. And sometimes those short shows work, but often they're plagued with pacing problems and poor character development. They either try to tell too much of a story, or there's not enough episode to tell more than an overlong movie worth of story. The CW shows weren't all great, and some shows/seasons of shows were downright awful. But they did have room to breathe and tell stories about supporting characters, or do weird ideas like a musical episode, or just build a world for a bit before jumping way too hard into the action.

[@snakesnoteyes]

Exactly!

[@thuranz2773]

I'm kinda split on long vs short shows/seasons. On one hand, a longer runtime allows for more world building and lets you know the characters better. On the other hand, I generally have a low tolerance for filler these days, and if a show you've been following for several years fizzles out or screws up landing badly it can leave a bad taste in your mouth. For example, the Walking Dead fizzled out for me after watching it for several years some time after the group spent a season looking for Beth, only for her immediately get killed off, and Game of Thrones suffered some awful decay in the final season; whereas Wonder Egg Priority consisted of 11 24-minute episodes and one double length one, that was genuinely really engaging up until the last episode, which was unfortunately a shit show. But hey, I didn't invest as much time in it and the journey was pretty damn good, and you can always course correct off of it. I guess it just comes down to liking it when seasons and shows have a clear goal or direction that it is moving towards, instead of being designed to go on until the ratings drop too low, or enough people want out.

[@jaspervanheycop9722]

There are ways you can stretch a special effects budget that can make it go way longer, CW used to be pretty good at it even: Arrow and Supernatural knew exactly what they could, and couldn't do with their budget. There's some fights in Arrow's first season that look genuinely impressive, and it's because all they needed was a guy who could do Batman-flips, some pyrotechnics and a warehouse. The later shows just got lazy with bad lighting (for which there's no excuse, LED stands can let you get nice lighting wherever you want, and cameras are getting cheaper all the time), awful sets, and overreliance on CGI.

[@RobEcu123]

Sorry everyone want quality over quantity, network tv needs to just die off it's a same all these DC characters got used up in such cheesy cheap ways, i will say i enjoyed all the lead characters Actors but that's one or 2 per show everyone else was meh.

[@snakesnoteyes]

@@RobEcu123 everyone whines about how suddenly things happen in 10 episode runs, but you can’t really do the leg work for subtle and gradual over the course of a 10 episode season the way can in a longer run. That’s not quality over quantity that’s zero patience and short attention span. Also, there should always be some tv that people don’t have to directly pay for via subscription, poor people should have tv too. The DC shows generally started off pretty alright.

[@vinnieg007]

My problem with CW's DC universe is once Arrow which is edgy and dark was a hit, they tried doing everything as edgy and dark. I did like the first season of The Flash, but stuff happened.

[@LadyPhoenix62]

Supernatural was the only show that I watched from the CW and that was only because I started with it on the WB. It was a show that attracted many age groups. I was in my 40’s when it started as were many of the original viewers. But the other CW shows seemed geared solely to teens/20’s. None of it appealed to me at all so, once SPN was done, I said goodbye to the CW.

[@TajmirTheRandomFan]

When it launched, they cancelled every single show that were for the WB, not only that, they did Carry Kids'WB on, till 2008, it would've been much better if they should've made something in order to stay afloat

[@Renoistic]

I enjoyed most of the Arrow-verse for two-three seasons but they lost a lot of steam very quickly and never recovered. Season 1 of the Flash was a lot of fun, Arrow was a nice timewaster and Legends a guilty pleasure. But they really should have canceled most of these shows before people soured on them due to their steep decline.

[@jegerm6752]

@@paulsoldner9500 i actually thought the first season of Legends of Tomorrow was terrible. I started enjoying it once the writers made it a comedy sometime in season 2.

[@Hugelag]

I mainly remember The CW for the cartoons they used to air on Saturday mornings. I'm sad how it ended up.

[@Armorhunterash]

Yeah, it's sad ya can't get free action cartoons on TV like the ones aired on kids WB nowadays, now it's all about streaming services or premium cable.

[@thomasraines1396]

I remember watching those.

[@Dave102693]

@@Armorhunterash because it’s easier to make money back from premium services.

[@Myr642]

Nancy Drew is a genuinely good show, and I hope it gets more recognition at some point. There’s a season two arc that totally caught me off guard and I can’t remember the last time a cw show caught me off guard (in a good way)

[@janellelives5158]

Yes Nancy Drew is an amazing show. I was surprised to love it so much because many CW shows are bad. The show did a good job of introducing supernatural mysteries in season 2 & 3. Overall show is able to maintain some really interesting and memorable plot lines. One of my favorite “filler” episodes was when Nancy & Co couldn’t speak the name of a Norse creature, or else they would die. They had to keep erasing their memories. There was some really cool camera work that happened during that episode. I need to finish watching season 3. I’m so happy the show got renewed.

[@ahmetkurum4114]

I'm hoping Superman & Lois to be template to the future of that continuity. It was a breath of fresh air and definitely the best one of the best Supermen we've ever seen, on the big or the small screen.

[@ahmetkurum4114]

@ilikebacon Do you care? Because I don't.

[@ahmetkurum4114]

@ilikebacon Well, the way I see it it's a soft reboot. I'm not saying I didn't like it before, I'm saying I like the direction that show takes the overall universe and I hope they keep going in that direction. It's cool if you don't see it that way. Mine's just an opinion of some rando on the internet.

[@bbrbbr-on2gd]

@ilikebacon Technically it takes place on an alternate Earth. The last episode seemed to imply this. General Lane talking about "League's of heroes" from alternate Earths and the fact that it also seems that Superman is the only hero on this Earth.

[@ahmetkurum4114]

@ilikebacon Well, like I said, if we get something roughly at the quality of Superman and Lois I'm wiiling to look past it.

[@jaggin7561]

They did? Good! I'm definitely watching now.

[@unamed1142]

It makes me strangely happy that someone else acknowledges The 100. I love that show

[@lwrncschmchr]

How could you completely ignore Jane the Virgin, one of the biggest hits the network ever had?

[@EddieNgatia]

That show was utter garbage. Simple as that. I'm so happy it ended long ago. CW dying as well is a god send

[@guillemmartinez9958]

@@EddieNgatia you have no idea what you're talking about. Jane the Virgin was and still is peak comedy TV and they had a great run and great formula

[@harrylane4]

@@EddieNgatia Jane the Virgin was great

[@Dave102693]

Nikita did it for me

[@mariedit9935]

It was a great show that handled comedy, drama and mystery very well

[@dogberry99]

I will always be thankful to the CW for giving us four seasons of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

[@r66fplaysgames]

One thing that you didn't mention is that the CW benefited from the switchover from analog to digital TV in 2009. The WB & UPN, from what I remember, had 60 to 67% over-the-air coverage &, in some cases, were relegated to clearance in the overnight hours on ABC, NBC, CBS & Fox affiliates in smaller markets. The CW, on the other hand, had over 90% over-the-air coverage & was able to be seen in big TV markets, usually on main channels, & small TV markets, usually on subchannels.

[@setofreakinkaiba8553]

I absolutely loved Smallville and Supernatural. The worst and best of those shows made up some awesome memories for me.

[@raegleek88]

We shouldn't sleep on One Tree Hill. That show was pretty good. CW will always a special place in my heart with Everybody Hates Chris, Crazy Ex Girlfriend, The Carrie Diaries, Dirty Hype (yes I'm serious), and Black Lighting.

[@Trekapedia]

I feel like what helped the network early on was having a kids lineup and when they ended that, it hurt the channel. Then shows like Smallville and Supernatural ended, not canceled but I guess I would say retired, and The CW lost a bit of its identity. Those two shows were the face of The WB for a long time and when Smallville ended, besides Supernatural still being around, they didn’t have any clear successor for Smallville. Ty for the content and I love the videos you do @captainmidnight. If I could suggest a video, maybe one about the demise of TNT? I know it’s still going but I feel like when they lost shows like MonsterVision and WCW it killed the channel. Thanks again and keep the fantastic work coming please.

[@Rikki1616161616]

CW had so many my favorite shows so it's sad it's dying out

[@civivva4501]

The TVD neck snap was legendary. I really enjoyed that show for the first few seasons.

[@colealbinder2025]

I would LOVE to see you do a video on Buffy and/or Angel, maybe also one on the rise and fall of Joss Whedon.

[@am1453]

Would love to see a video on the angel/Buffy/Joss stuff! Great video man!

[@kaitisblonde]

reign was such a good show i wish they had more shows like that

[@angelaholmes8888]

I love that show 💖

[@GamerSlyRatchet1]

I’m glad this wasn’t just another boring CW bashing video. Not that I don’t agree with a lot of those criticisms, but they do get old. I also appreciated the shout-out to Legends of Tomorrow. A shame it’s not getting a chance to conclude.

[@marcodipietro813]

CXG was such a good show and the fact it got 4 seasons was. Amazing

[@marcodipietro813]

thank you CW

[@russellhunter363]

Fun fact: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was originally going to be a half-hour show on Showtime. That probably would've been a disaster.

[@abandonedfragmentofhope5415]

So much more character development came about because the show became an hour long show on The CW.

[@Hulkzilla0]

Smallville was the best! For that, and a handful of other shows, I can never give CW too much grief.

[@SogekingFirebirdStar]

The CW has become a plague that rots everything it touches. Riverdale never should have been a thing to begin with. People love to talk about how ridiculous the show has gotten but really, it was mind-numbingly over the top from the start. The Archie characters deserved so much better.

[@Antwannnn]

Nah season 1 was cool

[@SogekingFirebirdStar]

@@Antwannnn Season One had, "I'm weird. I'm a weirdo..." It was already a train wreck and it only got worse from then on.

[@jfcfanfic]

Well, I do like it for just one single reason...it made it possible for Sabrina to be made. Loved that show even though I hated how it was cancelled.

[@Dave102693]

@@jfcfanfic ….on Netflix

[@bikebudha01]

The thing is, the CW could learn A LOT from the show "The Boys". There is actually very little special effects in the boys. But that is more than made up for with great writing, great stories, and great acting. Imagine if they had written any of the DC shows as well as The Boys. They'd be on top of the pile right now.

[@mstevens94]

The Boys is an excellent take on the superhero genre that we seldom see, that maybe the people who have superpowers let such powers go to their heads and become more of a villain than the expected hero. However, it truly brings a realistic take on human behavior with superpower abilities.

[@abandonedfragmentofhope5415]

The guy that made Supernatural developed The Boys.

[@alonsoarana5307]

Should've also mentioned the airing of Saturday morning cartoons that granted, none were CW productions, but they added to the network so much. I mean, what a world for me it was to go to bed after watching Supernatural on a Friday night and then wake up and watch episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's

[@TheDan14]

i'm shocked to hear you weren't all in on the arrowverse as i just watched a video of you fondly remembering the blue sky usa shows this morning, and i feel they fill a very similar niche. also, just have to shout out the amazing/hilarious Jane the Virgin, especially Jaime Camil as rosmelio

[@Laura-pb7mz]

Whoa, my suggestion was made into a video! Pretty cool.

[@toddsmitts]

If you look at the first season of "Riverdale", it's very clearly set up as a Netflix series. It has an overall story arc over 13 episodes, with some episodic subplots. Season 2, however, is what happens when you turn a Netflix series into a network series. It's 22 episodes long, which dragged out its overall story and required a great deal of filler, which characters breaking up and getting back together. It was kind of a mess. I stuck with it through the season but kind of lost interest early in Season 3, and from what I've seen, it's only become even more of a mess. Perhaps if the CW had stuck with the season 1 model, it would've worked better.

[@jonathancooper4914]

The 100 changed my life forever, though its drawbacks, poor writing decisions and showrunner (and there are many) still leave a dirty taste in my mouth. The casting was so good. The CW really don’t deserve actors as good as that.

[@bensneb360]

Oh my god, someone else finally remembers Reaper. We’ll you’ve definitely earned a like today Captain Midnight

[@lucascaylor597]

I work in broadcasting and I must say you are the very finest KZbinr to cover the weird and fascinating world of TV. You do your homework SO WELL, and you treat subject matter and your audience with an astonishing level of dignity. I really enjoy your stuff. Also, on the topic of this vid- have you ever read Season Finale? It's a tremendous book about the WB/UPN story.

[@captainmidnight]

I have not! I'll have to track it down, though. That sounds fascinating.

[@Kevin-be9iy]

I’ll always be thankful for CW for the first few seasons of arrow and flash, back then they were so fun but sadly their writers just became horrible

[@sebastianrivera6976]

What you said about the Vampire Diaries is so true. The intensity that show had on those earlier seasons was shocking to me and it had some truly inspired moments. At its best is far better than True Blood and Twilight. The Originals also is the closest thing we ever get to a *good* World of Darkness show too and I enjoyed the "Buffy meets X-Men"style show that Legacies was. RIP to that universe

[@AS-fi7hc]

I glad you talked about the 100. I never really hear about it anymore but season 2 absolutely DEVASTATED me when I was a teenager (in a good way)

[@zacharykopelman1223]

I don't appreciate CW shows much at all, always thought they had bad writing, acting and production but this concept of channels having a specific style of show that you also did with USA network is a good one and it would be nice to see it for Showtime and its library which had its hits and misses

[@Comicbroe405]

If you want to watch CW show with actually good production, acting & writing check Superman & Lois.

[@mijanhoque1740]

It’s best show was definitely Supernatural

[@AwareWolfOnWheels]

That's a low bar.

[@mijanhoque1740]

@@AwareWolfOnWheels Mate it’s CW not HBO so the bars already low. A lot of their shows start good but turn to trash, Supernatural atleast has been consistently entertaining.

[@TurboDoggy]

Already know this is gonna be a good one!

[@grammerincorrect]

There's an interesting theory about the writers room of SPN. Because two terrible writers (worst rated episodes by a lot) were continually used despite that because one of them is married to the EP Robert Singer, who eventually was basically a showrunner alongside the official showrunner, which caused many great writers to leave over the years, and they are very responsible for the badly received finale. This kind of bad decision making seems to be really common at the CW, over keeping good people who make good stuff

[@MelchVagquest]

Thanks for mentioning, Reaper! That was one of my favorite shows that ended abruptly

[@reizak8966]

I love low-budget shows because they usually have to focus on good writing and great characters. Unfortunately, some of the CW shows just focus on familiar brands and terrible plot twists. Superman & Lois is fantastic, but it's also funded by HBO and not directly tied to the Arrowverse. The first season of the Flash was great, but later seasons are just unwatchable. I can forgive the low budget effects, but not bad writing.

[@edahiguajardo9015]

Supernatural and Smallville will always have a huge place on my heart

[@daquandavis5498]

First 4 seasons of The 100 are peak CW imo. By far my favorite show from that network

[@seananderson7153]

Thanks for a refreshingly balanced examination of the CW. ✨💎✨

[@jamesbounds]

I've watched a lot of CW shows over the years including Vampire Diaries, The Originals, 90210, Gossip Girl, the first few seasons of Riverdale and most of the Arroverse shows. I also enjoyed the underrated zombie show iZombie as well.

[@Tsukiakari-qb3tk]

i also loved iZombie though i think once it moved away from being a zombie solving crimes, it stopped being very good.

[@jamesbounds]

@@Tsukiakari-qb3tk Yeah the first three seasons were the best ones.

[@Tsukiakari-qb3tk]

@@jamesbounds agreed!

[@Dhruv-qw7jf]

It still doesn't explain why The CW went on to produce a show like Superman & Lois which not only has good writing, but also much better VFX and just a bigger budget in general, than the other CW shows.

[@russellhunter363]

I think that show partially has HBOMax money funding it. Because it looks way better than a typical CW show.

[@CosmicRay111]

Enjoyed this, thanks.

[@themoviecritic1092]

CW had Everybody Hates Chris first??? Well, you learn something new everyday. That show is one of the best

[@jbanks979]

I think more than any one modern creative decision, it’s the 30 years of changed to the television market finally being felt in the financial bottom line. When UPN and WB launched in the mid 90’s, they were meant to be broadcast over the airwaves networks. As in, compete with abc, cbs, nbc, and fox, when nearly all of the money in television was spent on shows for just four networks. They launched when the internet was in its infancy, There were about 40 cable channels, video games were not online reality tv was just “the real world” and the only way to record a show was using a VCR. They survived by making quirky genre shows that would otherwise be overlooked by a network tv audience. Seasons were still 20-25 episodes long It’s rare any quality show lasts longer than 10 episodes now. Nearly everything has gone to streaming, it’s rare to find content being made first and foremost for cable even. To still survive with such a legacy model of tv production into 2022 was impressive in itself.

[@NigelThrashner]

I didn’t watch Crazy Ex-girlfriend at first because I thought it would be wildly sexist, but when I did, I found it wasn’t! It was amaze-balls and I LOVE it 😍. Such an amazing journey, good for anyone who needs to learn how to focus on themselves and take care of they mental health.

[@cf87]

Agree. A lot of their original IP is actually pretty good. I am huge Supernatural fan, and while I can admit the show really started to decline around season 8, it picked up at S10-12. But for a long time, that show was solid. The 100, even iZombie had its moments.

[@SAMTELLIS4]

Thanks for the videos

[@eomoran]

Something which it sounds like you’ve overlooked is that the CW always made its money on deals like Netflix. It didn’t make much money through ads on their own channel but through ad revenues genereated by syndicating it out to other networks. This model was groundbreaking as it allowed a studio to be getting effectively multiple prime time slots revenue per day as a result

[@jonnyleeconway]

It’s also worth mentioning I think that there are talks of Warner Bros Discovery wanting to sell the network, could be a reason they are canceling shows

[@scarlettsky5302]

I was an avid fan of CW starting with One Tree Hill, then Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, the 100, Heart of Dixie...I even enjoyed some shows that got cancelled after 1 season like Secret Circle and Star-crossed. It was the staple network of my teen years and I can't help but feel nostalgic for its glory days

[@Dave102693]

I loved Nikita more than most of the CW shows…even more than the Arrowverse or SPN.

[@someidiotproductions248]

I know it was just mentioned in passing... but my favorite show of all time Babylon 5 got a mention. This always makes he happy, and it's ironic you mentioned it seeing as the CW may be the home for its reboot.

[@ProjektTaku]

For me, I wish the arrowverse would've take inspiration from the netflix-marvel shows. 13 episodes, less soap opera drama, interesting stories and good writing and characters.

[@kbraven7007]

That and the Disney Plus shows, where they focus on the stories or do it like Loki and Wandavision where they were mystery themed.

[@ProjektTaku]

@@kbraven7007 yeah. The disney+ shows are basically extended movies and work really well as that, I just think that 13 episodes is a good average, with some 6 episode miniseries mixed in.

[@THESCUMMBAR]

After Crisis On Infinite Earths, I felt they should have started wrapping up the Arrowverse. It was already feeling a bit thin...

[@Dave102693]

Crisis is what killed it

[@chriscannon8144]

3:12 OOOOhhh!!! Future Buffyverse video? Can’t wait, please don’t forget you said that and make that happen! 😋

[@jamaalsjourney]

You're reaching Emplemon levels of documentation. Damn this is good. I always thought of Dave Chappelle messing with the logo. Wasn't it WB?

[@FTTPRO]

the CW needs to be the first dedicated KZbin Channel. Where new and previous og shows are uploaded in full, with ads. there's no reason to revert back to broadcast. they can aquire some of the best content creators and host their content as a CW Show. why are these companies run by bricks?

[@Dave102693]

That can work.

[@ExeErdna]

Bricks are cheap thats why

[@FTTPRO]

@@ExeErdna 🤣🤣🤣

[@Asummersdaydreamer14]

The first 2-3 seasons of Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Jane the Virgin, and The Flash were my shit even though the writing never was amazing. If the cast is likable enough with good chemistry in the relationships that matter, this is the type of junk food tv I will stick with until it becomes too rote or uninspired with the storylines.

[@mickey_dbeh6105]

I will miss the days of Reign, Supernatural, TO, TVD, The Circle/Ringer *cancelled after S1, The 100. I feel so betrayed by their recent quality. I'll also never forgive what they did to Legacies. I'm so scared for the Supernatural prequel

[@moonlightrider24]

Ayyyee thought this channel deserved a vid, about both its good and bad

[@wwCs49]

was so frustrating how the arrowverse writing fell off a cliff. arrow and flash went from two of my favorite shows to unwatchable garbage (sorry folks, flash and green arrow can't stop the bad guys this week cuz their useless teammates are sad!)

[@SigmaRho2922]

The WB/UPN merger created The CW back in 2006, but UPN had a second replacement network named MyNetworkTV which is owned by Fox. That network got downsized in late 2009 but has been owned by Fox since its start, and it was notable for airing telenovelas during its first six months of existence.

[@SigmaRho2922]

With the sale of The CW finalized to Nexstar, KTLA became the network's only flagship station; WPIX is considered a sub-key station because it is actually owned by one of Nexstar's sidecars.

[@Dave102693]

Yup. MyNetwork tried to be a telenovela network. Lmfao

[@shahanahsan05]

Superman & Lois and Stargirl are way toooo good for CW

[@elmarakovideo]

Their real home is HBOMAX. Bigger fx budgets than The Flash & Legends.

[@peregrination3643]

I didn't catch it until it was on Netflix, but I loved The 100. It had been so long since I watched something so intense. I didn't even get too bothered about how the characters were over the top to make the situation worse, or the "science" is as fast and loose as it gets. At least I felt a wide range of emotions during the ride. Also caught it on Netflix, but I liked several seasons of Supernatural. For the most part, I was off regular TV before TheCW. I was confused about what happened to WB. Never even heard of UPN.

[@heroicgangster9981]

I also think it doesn't help that the superhero shows they made weren't really advertised for kids or anyone that would buy merchandise. I admire cheap productions like tokusatsu, but like you can at least say that kids like stuff like Power Rangers from it being large episodic shows. It helps that tokusatsu is getting more high budget and has good direction

[@planescaped]

"Looks and sounds like a CW show" That's all you need to say, and it's quite telling how damning that is.

[@Flapperdame16]

Reign is my favorite CW show. I admit my 17 year old inner historian was screaming- but I loved it and always will. They dropped the ball on the pacing of the show- only introducing Mary's 3rd husband, never got to their marriage- but it was so unique to tv. It will always be a relic of my late teen years (it aired when I was ages 17-20)

[@slamminsammyjo]

I'm excited to see the changes that Discovery will bring about.