Wayward Sisters Cancellation Explained by The CW President

Despite receiving a successful backdoor pilot in this season of Supernatural, the long-awaited spinoff, Wayward Sisters, will not be moving forward at The CW. The verdict – to the disappointment of fans – arrived on May 11, a day that was filled with bad news for several other television shows. While the reason behind the move was not initially revealed, we now know why the highly-touted spinoff project got the axe.

At The CW’s Upfront presentation today, network president Mark Pedowitz finally divulged the reason why Wayward Sisters won’t get to carry on, explaining to the audience (via TV Line):

“We are big fans of the characters and the women who played those characters… We hope they continue on as guest stars on Supernatural… But we did not feel creatively that the show was where we wanted it to be. And we felt we had a better shot with [Originals spinoff] Legacies.”

So, there you have it, folks. The CW’s upcoming new The Vampire Diaries/The Originals spinoff series Legacies (which just today received a series order,) is apparently to blame, making Wayward Sisters a casualty of an unfortunate zero-sum dynamic of spinoff shows for the 2018-2019 television season. (Just kidding. Of course, there was more to it than, that.)

However, a petition to save Wayward Sisters has been gaining a lot of momentum. Now, just under a week after the bad news first hit, the petition has collected over 72,000 signatures; well on its way to its initial hurdle of 75,000. While the occasions in which petitions have changed the course of cancellation have been few and far between, it’s doubtful that Pedowitz’s seemingly-set-in-stone explanation will dampen the spirits of those fans.

Here’s what Wayward Sisters creator/executive producer Andrew Dabb had to say on Twitter, just after news first broke of the cancellation:

“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. I want to thank everyone involved in this entire process, from our fantastic crew, to our amazing cast, and, most of all you. Your passion for this idea fueled us, and we wanted so much to make this happen for you. I’m so sorry we couldn’t.”

The show was to be shepherded by Supernatural showrunners Andrew Daab and Robert Singer who were to be joined by franchise-familiar executive producers in Phil Sgricca and Robert Berens. Wayward Sisters is now the second failed spinoff of Supernatural after previously attempted monster-family-centric Supernatural: Bloodlines. 

Back in June 2017, THR first reported that The CW would take another stab with its proverbial angel blade to develop a Supernatural spinoff series. This spinoff was to be titled Wayward Sisters in a nod to Kansas’s 1976 hit “Carry on Wayward Son,” which Supernatural regularly plays during the prologue recaps for season finale episodes. Kim Rhodes was to star as her long-running Supernatural character in Sioux Falls sheriff Jody Mills, joined by young female cohorts, each tragically orphaned in attacks by monsters.

Wayward Sisters aired a well-received backdoor pilot on its show Supernatural on January 18, 2018. That first sampling revealed what would have been a stationary series, primarily set in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where protagonist Jody Mills (Kim Rhodes) serves as sheriff. Wayward Sisters, by planting roots in its Sioux Falls setting, would have offered the Supernatural universe a chance to be more community-centric than the road-trippin’ Supernatural.

Dabb assured Supernatural fans on Twitter that the character of Jody Mills would live on. 

On Supernatural, Jody Mills – introduced in season five when struck by a zombie-related tragedy that claimed her husband and son – ended up adopting a duo of teens. Claire Novak (Kathryn Love Newton) was introduced in season four (first played by Sydney Imbeau) as the daughter of angel Castiel’s bodily vessel. Annie “Alex” Jones (Katherine Ramdeen) was introduced in season nine in tragic circumstances, trafficked as bait for vampire victims before the Winchesters intervened. 

That all sounds like it would make a cool spinoff series. We should call The C… oh, wait.