The CW's 'iZombie' Renewed for Second Season
By Lesley Goldberg
With little room on its schedule, The CW got into the upfront fray Wednesday.
The network has handed out a second-season renewal to comics adaptation iZombie, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Scheduling and an episode count have still to be determined.
Another of The CW’s genre series, the DC Comics adaptation from Warner Bros. Television and Veronica Mars duo Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggeiro marked the network’s largest attempt to date at a more procedural-type drama.
Starring Rose McIver as a girl who finds her life transformed after zombies crash a party and she wakes up in a body bag the next morning, Warner Bros. Television’s iZombie debuted to solid reviews and 2.3 million total viewers. The drama has been a sturdy midseason performer for the younger-skewing network following breakout hit The Flash, pulling 1.9 million total viewers.
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The renewal comes as network president Mark Pedowitz continues to court Thomas — who also created a Veronica Mars spinoff for its digital platform — and as the exec looks to create a younger-skewing procedural.
The news comes as The CW has little room on its schedule after handing out early renewals to The 100, Arrow, Beauty and the Beast, Masters of Illusion, The Originals, Reign, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, The Flash and Jane the Virgin.
Still to be determined are the fates of veteran Hart of Dixie (which ended its four-season run and is not expected to continue) and midseason entry The Messengers, which was DOA. The CW presents ts schedule to Madison Avenue on May 14 in New York.
The renwal marks the latest win for DC Comics, which earlier Wednesday also scored a series pickup at CBS for its Supergirl take.
Keep up with all the renewals, cancellations and new series orders with THR’s handy Scorecard.
