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Amid calls for The CW‘s cancelled Winchesters to be saved, the network has come to a different series’ rescue: AMC‘s previously shelved 61st Street. [pmc_inline_gallery]
The drama series, starring Courtney B. Vance and Aunjanue Ellis, previously aired its first season on AMC last spring. Season 2, though, was scrapped at the network before it could air, as part of a cost-cutting measure (despite the fact that all episodes had already been filmed).
The CW will now be home to both seasons of 61st Street: Season 1 will air this fall, and Season 2 will debut sometime in 2024.
“61st Street is a gripping, star-studded premium drama led by a powerhouse performance from Courtney B. Vance and featuring an incredibly talented ensemble cast and creatively brilliant team of producers,” said Brad Schwartz, The CW’s president of entertainment, in a statement. “We are proud The CW is now the broadcast home of 61st Street and cannot wait to introduce this series to a whole new audience.”
“There was a lot of love and hard work that went into making 61st Street,” Vance added. “I’m thrilled that The CW has enthusiastically given all 16 episodes of 61st Street a network home. With The CW, I’m confident that we will engage a universe of viewers who will celebrate the series with us. My cast, crew and I can’t wait!”
61st Street centers on the corrupt Chicago criminal justice system, as police and prosecutors investigate a deadly drug bust that threatens to unravel the police department’s code of silence. Mark O’Brien, Holt McCallany, Tosin Cole, Andrene Ward-Hammond and Bentley Green also star.
Heading into the 2023-24 TV season, only two of The CW’s original scripted series — All American and Walker — have earned pickups for additional seasons. Meanwhile, Walker Independence, Kung Fu and The Winchesters have been cancelled at the network thus far.
It’s quite clear, the new owners of The CW have NO IDEA about what the brand of the network has been and they are just reaching and grabbing anything and everything they can.
It’s sad watching the “little network that could” turn into the little network that shouldn’t.
Well, this is a great grab :-)
right. From Fboy Island to we focus on over age 55 with mature Canadian imports. They are all over the place.
Ryan, maybe that’s because broadcast no longer appeals to the youngins…they’re doing what they need to do to survive?
Except that they also claim that the old CW network only appealed to 55 and over year olds-the audience they claim they’re trying to appeal to in the first place. This is a total contradiction, makes no sense whatsoever and I have no idea why people aren’t constantly calling them on it.
And this isn’t a noble act of saving a beloved show or anything. I read that the contracts for the show’s cast members have already expired so that the odds of the current CW management making the effort required to get a third season-well, I think we can all agree that they’re not too great. The only reason that they’re doing this is that they don’t have to pay creative people anything which is their great plan for saving money-leech off other people’s work and never spend a dime on any creative types themselves. It seems to be a major problem that Hollywood executives have these days, obviously, but this is the worst case of it I’ve seen yet.
And,as far as these being the moves of brilliant business people who are doing this because it’s the only thing that intelligent business people would do, it is never a good idea to tick off the existing client base. You do everything you can to expand it but you don’t spit in the eyes of the people who are already buying the product. You do that, you wind up with failures like New Coke…
This was a limited series that was never intended to have a season 3. They shot the two seasons straight through for that reason.
So it’s even more about being cheap and not risking having to pay for a third season than I thought it was…
Their brand is “whatever will earn us more money than it cost us.” They’re looking for undervalued bargains and easy wins.
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If you’ve seen the movie Moneyball, it’s essentially that, but with TV instead of baseball. I hate it too, but it might work. We’ll see.
Isn’t that how business works? You need to make more than you spend. I understand that a lot of people are upset that their shows are being cancelled but it’s really no different than any other network. If you’re losing money on a product you no longer support that product.
Fans can’t seem to grip those facts. If x costs more then y to make, why stick with x? I understand your show is gone but to be fair, if the audience isn’t there and they get the same thing cheaper with about the same audience, you need a good reason to give to keep the first show. And a core group of fans sometimes isn’t enough or worth time time to appease.
Ultimately, it’s about finding a balance between running a business and creating joy.
Are you trying to maximize profits, or just earn enough to keep producing art/entertainment that makes you proud and your viewers happy?
Ideally, you can do both at the same time, but that isn’t always the case.
Why keep trying to keep fans happy when they keep leaving their shows season after season? That’s a them problem, and not a CW problem.
True. Finding a balance is key. I remember a good bit of shows that were kept on for the fans even though it hurt the networks bottom line. But sometime bringing fan favorites back might mean cutting its production budget production. I always point to Jericho when shows returned based on fans response. Season two was a mess and it showed.
Ok…but I’m going to be watching every show TVline has reported they’ve grabbed vs the none I’m currently watching. 🤷🏻♀️
That’s probably because I’m older & broadcast no longer appeals to the demo they were going for?
Well the only two good shows are Superman and lois and walker and I wouldn’t be suprised if Gotham knights is one and done as I have been watching it the cw app and frankly I liked Naomi better then Gotham knights and I knew who the show creator was of Naomi so I knew it would be pushing a message and frankly i didn’t care as Naomi to me was a good show so I could get past the message it was pushing as if you’re a well written show that pushes a message I won’t care
Nice!! I loved season one.
I’ve seen season 2 & it’s ever better. Hope they do a season 3?
To CW, since you couldn’t be bothered to renew Walker:Independence or the Winchesters. I won’t be bothered to watch 61st Street. Didn’t watch in on AMC and don’t plan on watching it on CW.
I’m sure the show’s cast and crew and the network will be devastated. No, really. I mean it. TruSt me.
Wow, you’re not going to watch a show that you’ve never seen before, and had no intention of watching in the first place? That’ll show em!
Thank goodness the CW has finally made an intelligent programming choice! I will definitely watch this series along with another series acquisition, Spencer Sisters. Looking forward to both!
I heard this show was great, but never got to watch. Now I’m excited to. Can’t wait.
Well and also if you can’t catch it or dvr it the cw is one of the few sites in the us or there app where there is no sign in required to watch shows and they even have a caltouge of other shows that aired on other networks like forever dark matter and other shows and if you want a twisty show that only got one season and it also starred Ian graffould as this guy has the worst luck with network shows as forever was one and done on abc and the ringer was one and done on the cw and I wasn’t the target demo for the ringer but I was hooked and watched every episode on dvr to see where it was headed
Do people still watch tv by network these days? I haven’t done that in 20 years. Like, seriously. It’s okay for them to have shows of all demographics on the network. That’s a smart play actually.
Yes, believe it our not some of us hillbillies still watch network TV. Boy howdy.
Yes, approx 7 million 18-49 watched Young Sheldon this season, so there are still some of us out there…
yes, many of us do and in 20 years there will be shows still showing on media you use now that the youngsters think are fossils
Thank you for saving All America
I wonder if they can afford to pick up the final season of Snowpiercer.
Hey CW! Snowpiercer is a great show….
So many good shows have been on this network and they have no clue how to tune into their base and produce quality programming. Please CW, know your audience.
That’s the weird thing about all of this. They have a base-which is, I assume, why they wanted this network rather than some lesser-known cable network which certainly would’ve been a lot cheaper-yet, instead of building on the base and expanding from there, all they seem to want to do is tick that base off. Stations are dropping them and it doesn’t seem to bother them. They’re even ticking off their new target base- I gather they cut off the ending of one of the days of their big golf tournament because it didn’t fit the time window that they had allotted for it. They really don’t seem to have any idea what they’re doing….
Thank you CW for rescuing the compelling 61st Street! Those of us who have already seen season one will patiently wait for season two to finally air in 2024, and those who missed season one on AMC will get a second chance to see it and get hooked.
I’ve seen full season 1 & up to episode 6 on season 2. Can’t locate final 2 episodes yet. It’s out there if you know where to look.
We live in Australia. How will we be able to watch S2 of 61st St. on line?
Excellent, excellent series. I’ve watched season one & up to episode 6 on season 2. Can’t seem to locate the last 2 episodes but I’m sure it will be available soon. Keep this on air as every episode feels like I’m in it myself. So real it’s scary & sad at same time.
Great show. Nice to see how the justice system (system) works. Watched the first season and was so disappointed to note the show was being canceled. Thanks CW don’t normally watch to channel but now you have changed my mind. Can hardly wait for season 2 and 3.
Season 2 is excellent. Much deeper than season 1.