The CW purge continues with the cancellation of Stargirl
Geoff Johns' Stargirl, starring Brec Bassinger, Luke Wilson, and Joel McHale, is the latest victim of the CW's new programming strategy
Aux News Stargirl
Another one bites the dust. Stargirl is the next CW series on the chopping block, according to a new report from Deadline. The show, which starred Brec Bassinger, Luke Wilson, and Joel McHale, began its life on the now-defunct DC Universe streaming service while also airing on the broadcast network. Per the outlet, the writers were given early indication that the third season would be its last in order to craft a proper ending.
“Stargirl has always held a special place in my heart for many reasons. With all the brewing changes at the network, we were aware this was possibly the last season, so we wrote with that in mind and have delivered what I believe to be the best season of Stargirl yet, with complete creative closure,” series creator and comic book writer Geoff Johns said in a statement.
“The cast and crew are extraordinary, and I’d like to thank them for helping me bring this series to life. Brec embodied Courtney in every way possible—with grace, strength and humor—exceeding my wildest expectations,” the statement continues. “I am grateful to WBTV and The CW for giving us a home to tell this story and to honor my beloved late sister, and I’m beyond thankful to the press and fans who have always championed us for three amazing seasons. Most series never get this far. We couldn’t be more proud of our show and the fan community it’s built!”
“Getting to play Stargirl and be a part of the DC Universe has been the greatest honor, and I am so grateful for every moment of it,” Bassinger said in her own statement. “I would like to thank our fearless leader Geoff Johns, along with WBTV, The CW, the cast and crew of Stargirl, and of course, the fans. Thank you. This show will forever live in my heart.”
The decision to cancel the superhero series reportedly came from executives of Nexstar, the company which recently acquired the floundering network. They’ve been making good on their promise to clean house and make way for programming targeted at older viewers with the recent cancellations of Stargirl and Nancy Drew, as well as wrapping up long-running series including Riverdale and The Flash. Superman & Lois is now the last Arrowverse-adjacent series still on the air, but that show—along with Kung Fu, All American, and its spinoff—is likely on thin ice. Prepare for this season to be an official goodbye to the glory days.
41 Comments
I didn’t watch it, because I just don’t care what teens are up to, but I do wish DC content to be good and to flourish, so that’s a shame.
It’s actually a lot less ‘teen dramaey’ than most of the CW shows.
It’s more “let’s get the bad guys!” than who’s sleeping with who, since no one is sleeping with anyone. I am not into teen shows, but this isn’t like the others with the drama. It’s not Riverdale.
You missed out. I have no patience for teen angst, but this show was fun, witty, and sincere, and did it all without falling into the “Only teenagers know what’s up” trap so many other shows and movies (and books) do. Luke Wilson in particular did great work.
I just gave it a chance since I gave every D/CW show a chance and… i was SHOCKED at how good it actually was. Didn’t realize it was gonna be more of a team show from the start but it’s basically the Junior JSA, which ended up not being as dumb as it sounds. Not as good as Superman and Lois, but def better than the Flash (and Titans).
Personally think it’s better than Superman and Lois because the villains have been better. With Superman and Lois, most of the appeal is watching the non-superhero stuff for me. Hoechlin as a super-powered dad is the fun part of that show.
That sucks. I hope they keep Brec on as Stargirl somehow, she does a really good job of it.
I’m hearing that she filmed a guest spot on Titans. So that’s something, I guess.
Well I was planning on putting myself through the torment of a new Titans season anyhow, just to see if Dick actually goddamn learns something for once in his life, so at least I’ll have a Stargirl guest spot to look forward to.
Yeah Titans has been a huge disappointment so far. Although it was worth it to get Doom Patrol.
The first DP season was great but holy Christ if the characters are dealing with the same problems for yet another season I don’t know if I’ll be able to take it…
Hopefully she can get a guest spot on a good show at some point.
I can’t imagine how the ray of sunshine that is Courtney Whitmore (& Brec Bassinger) affects the dark & dour universe of the Titans.
If we’re lucky, Gunn is looking at who did a good job in the various roles over the years and will keep their numbers handy. I cannot imagine that we’re never going to see the JSA again.
Good. The CW was out of control and needed to be stopped.
Ahhh, that sucks. I was really enjoying this season.
I expected it to get the boot, but it stinks nonetheless. I think it’s really well done for what it is, and has some surprisingly good fight choreography.
No surprise given the network sale and other cancelations but this really sucks. The show was great, I loved seeing The Shade on screen, and Brec was fantastic as Stargirl. Hopefully HBO Max picks this up or something
This whole thing makes no sense. They found out it’s a lot of older people watching CW so they want to make programs that appeal to older people. But older people were watching the CW because they liked what was on there.
It’s not a CW thing.
It’s a “Warner Brothers/Discovery is burning down the house because Discovery bought WB with a leveraged buyout and now has massive debt to pay off ASAP, even if it hurts the core product as a result (which it is).”
This may be a CW thing. These shows not getting picked up by HBOMax is part of the clusterfuck to which you refer, but I believe the new owners canceled this.https://www.avclub.com/is-this-the-end-of-the-cw-as-we-know-it-1849478735?_ga=2.106869827.1730251757.1667223509-1488648406.1652714420
It’s absolutely also a CW thing because they are no longer in the WBDiscovery portfolio and don’t want to pay for the show. WBD could obviously save it and air it on Max if they wanted, but nothing could have stopped CW from ordering more episodes if they were willing to pay for the show.
But older people were watching the CW because they liked what was on there.Not necessarily. It’s the overall demographics of who watches a local channel that’s a CW network affiliate — not the demos who watch specific CW network series (such as Stargirl). There’s been a mismatch: Most of the shows that these local channels air (that are not CW series) draw in older viewers.
Eh, the DC Comics CW shows were all nearing the end of their run regardless of the WB merger or the CW sale. But Stargirl was always in a weird space since it was developed for the DC Universe streamer, but moved to the CW when HBO Max launched. Stargirl was probably too teeny for the premium HBO, but notably less teeny than the rest of the CW. It began life with fewer episodes per season but a higher production budget than The Flash and Arrow, I think it’s more surprising it even got a 3rd season. Meanwhile, the much more “adult” (not so Teen) TITANS and bonkers Doom Patrol got absorbed by HBO Max.
NOOOOOOO!By far the best show on CW. this and Nancy Drew. Both now canceled. Prior to the Discovery+ fuckery, I had high hopes this would migrate to HBOMax.
That sucks. An ignorant part of my brain really thought stargirl was safe from cancellation but the tv gods are cruel. At least we get to see her one last time on Titans on hbo max. The Arrowverse has truly come to an end especially with flash kicking the bucket early next year. It had one hell of a run
Funny about the older viewers comment, considering the only people I know who watch this are my parents who are pushing 70.
So like are they gonna put any “shows” on their newly acquired CW channels? Will it just be nonstop archival Benny Hill Show episodes? Or six primetime hours a day of actors looking sad because their shows were cancelled?
I’d watch the latter. Just have it on like the Yule Log.
They’re banking on the innovative new show old Starsky & Hutches.
You’ve basically described the last 6 years worth of plot for all the Arrow-verse DC shows.
Legends of Tomorrow was a low-key vaudeville variety show and it was GREAT
Stargirl is a legit good show that balances a lot of different characters and storylines well. Legends of Tomorrow is the only CW superhero show that is of similar caliber IMO as the rest have been uneven (I like Superman and Lois but think its a notch below personally).This sucks. This is a show that probably could have kept up quality stories for 5-6 seasons.
Nancy Drew has been out since the 30s if they want an older audience then why did they cancel it.
Dang. It’s not a surprise, the writing was on the wall, but it’s still a disappointment.
I’m just…sad. Between losing Legends, and Nancy Drew, and this…all of my favorites, gone.
The best part was Sportsmaster and his crazy family. I love them so much.
It’s going to be pretty amusing when the older adults the channel want to curate for, end up not tuning in any longer due to the cancellation of all their favorite “teen” shows.I was watching Heartbreak High yesterday, and was thinking about why I am still attracted to stories about teens, in shows like Heartbreak High and Degrassi. I believe that as a 50+ year old, it can feel like high school was still just yesterday. That many adults never really feel grown up (yes, we as adults have to behave like adults, but the urges we had as kids are still there. We, hopefully, just are mature enough to make better decisions). The reality that high school (as a microcosm of society) never really ends, it just goes on in the bigger world.
To echo some of the “the old people are already watching” observations, Stargirl specifically as a show also engages in a retro aesthetic. Blue Valley is intentionally cultivated as the classic suburban American town, with the idea that where better for evil to hide or plot. In fact, part of the overall plans for the “villains” is this idea of perpetuating a specific kind of nostalgic Americana whether people want it or not. The JSA itself is the kind of wholesome league throw back that the later, grittier versions of comics have rejected. And the weird thing is that it all works. A lot hinges on Bassinger really great balance of an earnestness that does go too far towards cloying. You understand how redemption of villains has to be an option in her world view.
Plus, they murdered a bunch of teenagers in that first season. They were not afraid to create real stakes with a body count.
My favorite aspect of the show though is how every villain seems to genuinely like and respect Stargirl’s mom (Amy Smart). Normally, you have secret identities to protect your loved ones, but everyone eventually knows all the identities, so it bypasses a lot of the tedium that bogged down the other Arrowverse shows in middle and early seasons. Instead, there is a just a parade of villains stopping by Barbara’s office on a regular basis and they are all just big fans of her and oddly protective.
There’s a reason this season’s subtitle is “Frenemies”.