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‘Legacies’ Canceled as The CW’s ‘Vampire Diaries’ Franchise Concludes
‘Legacies’ Canceled as The CW’s ‘Vampire Diaries’ Franchise Concludes

‘Legacies’Courtesy of Chris Reel/The CW

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It’s the end of an era at The CW.

Legacies, the second spinoff to stem from The Vampire Diaries, has been canceled after a four-season run. The series, from creator Julie. Plec, was the last connective tissue to The Vampire Diaries, which at the time the flagship series launched in 2009, was The CW’s most-watched scripted series.

The Vampire Diaries, created by Plec and Kevin Williamson, ran for eight seasons and wrapped in 2017. It was followed in 2013 by The Originals, which ended its five-season run in 2018.

The news caps a difficult day for Plec as The CW’s Roswell, New Mexico and NBC’s The Endgame were also canceled Thursday. Plec, it’s worth pointing out, moved her overall deal from TVD producers Warner Bros. TV to Universal TV a few years ago. Under her UTV deal, she’s reuniting with Williamson for Peacock supernatural drama Dead Day.

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For the NBCUniversal-backed streamer, Plec also has Vampire Academy and HBO Max’s The Girls on the Bus (which landed at the streamer after Netflix and The CW passed on the Greg Berlanti-produced drama).

Legacies becomes the latest show to be canceled at The CW this season, joining Batwoman, Charmed, Dynasty, In the Dark, Legends of Tomorrow, Roswell, The 4400 and Naomi.

This is easily The CW’s biggest round of cancellations in years as the younger-focused network under Mark Pedowitz — broadcast’s longest-tenured topper — had worked for some time to stabilize and grow its roster to the point where original series were being released year-round. That changed this year with The CW’s corporate backers, CBS Studios (a pision of Paramount Global) and Warner Bros. Discovery’s Warner Bros. TV, looking to pest the network from their respective portfolios. Station group Nexstar is considered the frontrunner to buy the network.

The CW on Thursday also picked up all three of its pilots to series with orders for Gotham Knights, The Winchesters and Walker: Independence.

Keep track of all of the broadcast pilots, castings and series orders with THR’s handy scorecard. And follow along as all the bubble shows await word on their futures with our renewal guide.