The CW had a double dose of series finales this week when the network aired Nancy Drew and Riverdale for the last time. While fans knew Riverdale was ending not long after Season 7 was announced, the same can’t be said for Nancy Drew. The mystery drama got the cancellation news at the end of 2022, and now producer Larry Teng is slamming the network for how it handled it.
Teng, who also directed the pilot episode of the CW mystery series, took to Twitter with a fiery passion to give his followers the real tea with the finale. Although the series finale of Nancy Drew properly wrapped up stories and even gave fans the Nace relationship they deserve, it really was only because of one call that wasn’t even prompted by The CW. The producer explained that with lead Kennedy McMann booking the Good Doctor spinoff, The Good Lawyer, her rep wanted to know what Nancy’s future schedule looked like.
CBS Studios, which produces Nancy Drew, called The CW around the time that prep had begun on Season 4, Episode 10, and Season 4 only had 13 episodes. Teng said they called the president of The CW to figure out when they would find out about a pickup so they could make scheduling decisions, and that was when they got the horrible news:
And it was then, he said to us, ‘Oh, we’re not picking you up… the show is too expensive.’ Had our Studio not make that call, who knows if we would’ve ever been told. At that point in the season there were only four episodes left to shoot and the writers were already breaking the finale. What a fucking shitty way of telling us we were getting canceled. Thank God the Studio called. Because you all deserved the most proper ending possible. That’s why I praise the writers for pulling it together at the end. It was so glib. No consideration for letting Noga and Melinda give you a proper goodbye. No closure. No consideration for the fandom who support and watch this show. I’ve been pissed at the upper brass of this new CW since November. They suck. They have every right to turn a profit… Which means canceling shows. But to have clearly known in advance and not tell us until a random call ¾ into our season is just plain fucking disrespect.
Larry Teng also mentioned that there was more to the conversation with The CW president, but he didn’t explain. With Nexstar as the new owners of the network, The CW has seen a big rebranding in the last couple of years. The biggest of those changes has been that a lot of scripted originals have been cut. Although Nancy survived last year’s “Red Wedding” of cancellations, it wasn't so lucky later on in the year. Despite the show giving fans some closure, it is pretty sad to hear how little they were told when scripts had already been written for most of the season.
The CW has been harsh lately when it comes to pickups and cancellations. The network axed all three of its freshman series earlier this year and only renewed four scripted originals. This is a big change from how it used to be since The CW, at one point, would renew close to all of its series for the following broadcast season. At least Larry Teng and the crew at Nancy Drew found out about the cancellation before it was too late, even if it wasn’t prompted by the network.
Nancy Drew is officially done, and the mysteries of Horseshoe Bay are no longer being solved, at least for now. The series did get a better ending than most CW shows that face cancellation, but it's still sad. The show may be over, but there are three seasons to watch with a Max subscription, and it’s very likely that Season 4 will be coming to the streamer very soon.
