Major CW Show In Limbo, Unclear If New Seasons Will Continue to Air in US

Multiple CW shows remain in danger of cancellation, including Canadian co-production Wild Cards.

The series is coming up on its second season finale, which has been pushed back a week, and still no word on a third season. That is, on The CW.

TVLine reports that CBC Television in Canada has renewed Wild Cards for Seasons 3 and 4. Although more seasons are coming, The CW has yet to reveal whether the show is sticking around. The network still has to make decisions on a few of its shows, including All American, which is the last remaining scripted original. The series has about a 50/50 chance, but as for Wild Cards, it’s unknown which way The CW is leaning.

Wild Cards follows Vanessa Morgan’s Max, a con artist who solves crimes with demoted detective Cole Ellis (Giacomo Gianniotti). Season 2 of the procedural, which was The CW’s number 1 new scripted series in 2024, premiered in February, “with Max and Ellis tackling new cases while exploring the complexities of their partnership and connection.”

As previously mentioned, news of the double renewal in Canada and silence on The CW’s part comes ahead of Wild Cards’ second season finale. The episode was initially supposed to air this week, but since the network broadcast Cuomo Town Hall: The First 100 Days, it got pushed back. The Season 2 finale will now air on Wednesday, May 7, which bumps the third season premiere of Sullivan’s Crossing to Wednesday, May 14. Whether The CW will make a decision about Wild Cards’ future before then is unknown, but news could come any day now.

While speaking to PopCulture.com in January 2024 ahead of the show’s premiere, Gianniotti shared his take on The CW’s overhaul and how Wild Cards is ushering in a new era, saying “the network’s in a state of transition.” He continued, “There’s still some things from the previous CW that are still taking place, and then there’s new things like Wild Cards that are coming in to bridge that gap and introduce the new way that The CW wants to be seen, which is raising that demographic age and having shows that are more pitched towards adults, rather than teens and just more fun and light.”

“I think the world is in a dark place right now,” Gianniotti said. “There’s a shortage of atrocities all over the world happening, and crazy headlines that make you sad. So having a show that lifts you out of that, that’s lighthearted, that isn’t going to bring your day down, I think, is important. I think that’s what people are looking for, to watch now and at the end of their day, something that’s going to lift them up.”

It’s likely The CW will make a decision in a matter of days, but at the very least, fans know that Wild Cards is coming back. Even if it is in a different country. The Season 2 finale of Wild Cards airs on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.