One of the glaring gaps in The CW’s midseason schedule has been filled, by way of a premiere date for The Flash‘s ninth and final season. Barry Allen & Co. will be back on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 8/7c, where The Flash will lead into Kung Fu‘s midseason premiere at 9 p.m. As previously announced, Season 9 will consist of 13 episodes.
The CW on Monday announced that its Grant Gustin-led DC Comics superhero drama from Warner Bros. TV and Greg Berlanti Productions will conclude with a 13-episode final run. The conclusion of one of the network’s most-watched shows will air in 2023 as part of its midseason roster. Production on the final season will begin next month.
“I think any time you hire anyone who is a minority of any kind you have to be prepared to protect them. Because in the real world, we are not protected,” the actress said when reflecting making her debut on The CW series.
The Flash is holding onto its leading lady, now that original cast member Candice Patton has inked a deal to continue on as intrepid journalist Iris West-Allen for Season 9. Patton has been with what is now the longest-running Arrowverse series since its October 2014 launch. But this spring, after leading man Grant Gustin closed his own deal that paved the way for the CW series’ Season 9 renewal, she indicated on her Instagram account that her own future with the show was in flux.
The CW has handed early renewals to a large portion of its scripted schedule: All American, The Flash, Kung Fu, Nancy Drew, Riverdale, Superman & Lois and Walker. Traditionally, the youth-skewing network hands out early renewals, sometimes as early as January, to the majority of its slate — a boon for its owners CBS and Warner Bros. However, this year, the broadcaster’s future is up in the air with local affiliate group Nexstar circling and Deadline understands that a new majority owner will likely have a say in some of its renewal decisions.
Exclusives
A team member working on the CW series The Flash in Vancouver has tested positive for Covid-19. The asymptomatic diagnosis was confirmed through the rigorous testing protocols implemented by The Flash studio Warner Bros. TV for all of its production employees. Out of an abundance of caution, production on The Flash has been temporarily suspended and contact tracing has been initiated.
Actor Hartley Sawyer has been fired from The Flash after a host of his tweets containing misogynist and racist references were surfaced in the past week. The tweets, all from before he joined The CW series, make references to sexual assault and contain racist and homophobic language.
The CW on Thursday went on something of a renewal tear, picking up additional seasons of 10 current series — aka nearly its entire lineup. The list of shows confirmed to return for the 2019-20 TV season includes The Flash, Arrow, Riverdale, Supernatural, Supergirl, Black Lightning and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Freshman entries Charmed and Legacies also scored renewals, as did (wait for it) perpetual cellar-dweller Dynasty.
The Flash and Supergirl producers Warner Bros. Television has cut all ties with Andrew Kreisberg following sexual harassment claims from multiple women involving the showrunner.
Warner Bros. TV Group has launched an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior by Andrew Kreisberg, an executive producer on The CW shows Arrow, Supergirl The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Kreisberg, who has been suspended by the studio, has engaged in a pattern of alleged sexual harassment and inappropriate physical contact over a period of years, according to 15 women and four men who have worked with him.
‘The Flash’ Returns Down On The CW
The Flash opened its fourth season on The CW on Tuesday, down in both key measures from the Season 3 premiere. Airing at 8 p.m., it averaged a 1.0 rating in adults 18-49 and 2.8 million total viewers. That’s down approximately 20% in the demo and 10% in total viewers compared to the Season 3 premiere (1.3, 3.2 million).
On Monday night, the title hero on The Flash will leap across networks, racing from his CW series to appear on CBS’s Supergirl.
The long-rumored crossover between CW’s The Flash and CBS’s Supergirl is officially a go, with Grant Gustin set to play speedster Barry Allen on an episode of the CBS superhero drama. Gustin will appear in the Supergirl episode set to air on Monday, March 28.
Brandon Routh, Wentworth Miller, Caity Lotz, Victor Garber would star in the superhero drama. Arrow creators Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim are behind the project
The CW’s new drama Flash, already the second-most-watched series debut in the network’s history in the Live+Same Day ratings, has leapfrogged over flagship The Vampire Diaries to rank as the most watched CW series premiere ever. The superhero drama did it with the help of a healthy 33% Live+3 boost, which lifted its premiere audience to 6.42 million.
CW’s ‘The Flash’ Gets Off To A Fast Start
The new drama, a spinoff of the network’s hit Arrow, had the CW’s best premiere numbers for any new program in five years. Flash averaged a 1.8 adults 18-49 rating, rising from a 1.7 in its first half hour to a 1.9 in its second, always a good sign. It became the third-best series premiere ever on the CW in both total viewers and 18-49s. In its 8 p.m. timeslot, Flash finished ahead of ABC and Fox. In fact, it nearly matched their combined 1.9 rating, which reflects both how impressive Flash’s bow is and how much those two networks are struggling at 8.
Greg Berlanti’s Arrow has found a formula for success for the CW and now he’s working on another superhero show, about the Flash.
