Joel McHale Weighs in on ‘Stargirl’ Cancellation

Joel McHale is speaking out about the cancellation of DC’s Stargirl on The CW, which officially ended towards the end of 2023. The series, which initially started on the DC Universe streaming service, lasted for three seasons and told the tale of Brec Bassinger’s Courtney Whitmore, an unsuspecting teen who comes across the Cosmic Staff once belonging to hero Starman, and it chooses her to take up the mantle, and she recruits her own team to help take down the villains in her town.

The CW announced the cancellation of DC’s Stargirl last October. McHale, who portrayed Sylvester Pemberton/Starman, spoke with TVLine about the unfortunate cancellation, thanking creator Geoff Johns for giving the series a proper ending before it was too late.

“Oh, my gosh…… Well, first of all, thank you [Stargirl creator] Geoff Johns,” McHale shared. “I had so much fun, and I am very sad that that show ended, but Geoff knew that with the sale [of The CW] that it could not come back, so he ended it properly.”

The end of DC’s Stargirl came with a very satisfying conclusion, where the young heroes grew into an amazing and well-known team, likely making their predecessors very happy, and it still kept the door open for more stories as well. It is a disappointment that fans won’t be able to get to see more, but Joel McHale is hopeful that, if anything, fans will still be able to watch Brec Bassinger continue to take over TV.

“That show took me into their nice big happy family, and I felt so loved there,” McHale expressed. “And Brec Bassinger, she’s a star, she’ll be just fine. She’s going to get another 12 shows if she wants because her poise at that age is pretty remarkable. If I were her, I would probably lose my mind, but she handled it like a complete pro.”

While it is still upsetting that DC’s Stargirl is no more since there was so much potential, it is nice that the show had a proper ending. Many shows these days have been making their season finales like series finales in case of a cancellation so fans can still have proper closure while also making it so there’s potential story there if a renewal happens. In the case of DC’s Stargirl, Geoff Johns knew that it couldn’t come back and wrapped it up pretty nicely.

DC’s Stargirl may be over, but the series is currently streaming on Max, so there are plenty of chances to watch it as much as possible. Meanwhile, Joel McHale is keeping plenty busy on the TV side, with the second season of , which is currently airing on Fox, and the upcoming second season of , also on Fox. Not to mention the highly-anticipated , which unfortunately got delayed due to the writers’ strike. Either way, fans are keeping fed post-Stargirl, and the work doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.