Supernatural fans have been furious over the CW’s decision to not pick up the spin-off Wayward Sisters, and CW chief Mark Pedowitz is finally speaking out on the network’s decision.
The idea for a Wayward Sisters spinoff had been circulating around the Supernatural fandom long before it became an official spinoff (though fans called it Wayward Daughters originally). When the network announced that they would be launching a backdoor pilot to play on the Wayward Daughters idea called Wayward Sisters, fans got really excited.
Related: The CW unconscionably passes on Wayward Sisters, makes us question logic and reality as we know it
The backdoor pilot got rave reviews from fans, and according to Deadline, the episode was steady in the show’s demographic and up in viewers. It seemed that this was a no-brainer for the CW, adding a show to a popular franchise that fans had asked for by name with great female representation that could add some much-needed racial diversity to the Supernatural universe.
So when the network opted to not pick up the show, fans were hurt and confused.
Because of this, it’s unsurprising that CW chief Mark Pedowitz’s call with the press prior to the CW upfronts kicked off with a question about the Wayward Sisters cancellation. Pedowitz offered an explanation for not picking up the show, explaining that in a year with a lot of great series material, it just didn’t measure up to network expectations.
“We had really great material this year,” Pedowitz explained. “We’re really excited about the five series we did pick up. We are big fans of the characters and the women who played the characters in the series [Wayward Sisters], but we did not feel creatively the show is where we wanted it to be. We felt we had a better shot with Legacies.”
Legacies is a spinoff set in the Vampire Diaries universe, and will be the second spinoff to come from that franchise after The Originals, which will end this year after five seasons.
It’s a frustrating thing to hear, echoed by a tweet sent out by Wayward Sisters co-creator Andrew Dabb just after the CW’s decision went public, stating that “some fights, sometimes, you can’t win.”
It breaks my heart to say this, but CW has chosen to pass on Wayward Sisters. We love these characters, and have spent almost two years trying to make this show a reality on the network… but there are some fights, sometimes, you can't win.
— Andrew Dabb (@andrewdabb) May 11, 2018
The CW might be confident in its choice, but the fandom is still fighting on with petitions and hashtag campaigns to urge the CW or another network to pick up the show. We can only hope that the fan pressure urges the CW to rethink its decision on Wayward Sisters.