The CW Shifts ‘In the Dark’ & ‘Stargirl’ Premiere Dates, Summons ‘Whose Line’ In COVID 19-Related Scheduling Changes As ‘Supernatural’ & ‘Legacies’ Bow Out

Nellie Andreeva
·5 min read

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The CW has become the first network to make primetime scheduling changes in response to the seasons of most of its series getting cut short by the coronavirus-imposed mass production shutdowns.

As confirmed by Supernatural executive producer Andrew Dabb on Monday, this week’s Episode 13 of the show’s final season was the last “for awhile.” Starting next Monday, March 30, the CW will air Whose Line Is It Anyway original episodes (at 8 PM) and repeats (at 8:30 PM) in Supernatural‘s time slot.

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Tonight, March 26, will be the final original episode this spring for sophomore Legacies, its 16th for the season. For various reasons, that is the number of episodes The Vampire Diaries offshoot had wrapped filming before the shutdown. To fill the scheduling hole Legacy‘s departure will leave, the CW is bringing in earlier than previously planned Season 2 of In the Dark.

It will launch on Thursday, April 16 at 9 PM, following an original episode of Katy Keene. (In the Dark was originally slated to return May 28, airing in the Thursday 9 PM time period.)

Additionally, the CW is moving up the network premiere of DC’s Stargirl by week, to Tuesday, May 19 at 8 PM. (Stargirl was supposed to preview on May 12 at 9 PM, behind an original episode of The Flash, before taking over The Flash’s Tuesday 8 PM slot on May 26.) It will now succeed The Flash, which will have wrapped its abbreviated season by May 12.

To stagger The Flash‘s remaining original episodes, the CW already moved in to replace an original episode with a repeat. It is a strategy the network is expected to use for its other series whose production was impacted by the shutdown, like Supergirl, Batwoman, Nancy Drew and Charmed.

For all series except for Supernatural, the current plan is for all filmed episodes to be delivered and aired this spring, with post-production expected to be completed.

Supernatural, which shoots in Vancouver, had filmed through Episode 18 when production was suspended but the show for many years has been using a Vancouver postproduction/VFX company that has shut down during the pandemic. “Our visual effects and sound departments have closed because of the outbreak. So, right now, the episodes can’t be finished,” Dabb said, assuring fans that the remaining episodes will be produced. “It’s not a matter of ‘if’, it’s a matter of ‘when’,” he wrote.

The early exit this season allows the CW to have a meaningful final chapter of Supernatural consisting of 7 episodes, which is normal-size cable/streaming season. That is easier to schedule, market and consume than 2 leftover episodes.

Here are the new CW spring premiere dates:

THURSDAY, APRIL 16

8:00-9:00pm KATY KEENE (Original Episode)

9:00-10:00pm IN THE DARK (Season Premiere)

TUESDAY, MAY 19

8:00-9:00pm DC’S STARGIRL (The CW Premiere)

9:00-10:00pm DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW (Original Episode)

In season two of In the Dark, Murphy (Perry Mattfeld) is a messy twenty-something who struggles on a daily basis to balance her random hook ups, her hangovers, and her drug front. She’s also blind. Murphy lives with her supportive best friend, Jess (Brooke Markham), and along with their anal-retentive boss (and sometimes friend), Felix (Morgan Krantz), they run Guiding Hope, a school for guide dogs. But solving the murder of her best friend, Tyson, lands Murphy deep in the world of Chicago’s underground heroin trade when she is forced to turn Guiding Hope into a front for drug kingpin Nia Bailey (guest star Nicki Micheaux). In addition to steering clear of Dean (Rich Sommer), Murphy and Guiding Hope encounter a new problem when the increase in revenue piques the interest of an IRS Agent (Theodore Bhat). With the help of Darnell (Keston John), Murphy tries to wrestle herself and everyone she cares about from Nia’s grasp, but ultimately plunges them into far deeper trouble than they bargained for.

In the Dark is from CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television, in association with Red Hour Films, with executive producers Corinne Kingsbury, Ben Stiller, Jackie Cohn, Nicholas Weinstock, Michael Showalter and Emily Fox (Pilot only).

The new DC Universe drama series DC’s Stargirl follows high school sophomore Courtney Whitmore (series star Brec Bassinger) as she inspires an unlikely group of young heroes to stop the villains of the past. This new drama reimagines Stargirl and the very first superhero team, the Justice Society of America, in an unpredictable series. The series focuses on the character that started creator Geoff Johns’ career as a comic book writer when he created her in 1999, lovingly inspired by his late sister who was killed in a 1996 plane crash.

Geoff Johns executive produces DC’s Stargirl with Melissa Carter, who serves as co-showrunner, as well as Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Greg Beeman. Based on the characters from DC created by Geoff Johns, DC’s Stargirl is produced by Berlanti Productions and Mad Ghost Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. DC’s Stargirl stars Bassinger, Luke Wilson, Amy Smart, Trae Romano, Cameron Gellman, Yvette Monreal, Anjelika Washington, Meg DeLacy, Neil Jackson, Jake Austin Walker, Christopher James Baker and Hunter Sansone.

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