The CW Pulls TV Show After Just 4 Episodes

The CW is making sudden changes to its schedule after one of its current shows flopped in the ratings. After just four episodes, The CW has pulled the Australian surfing drama Barons from the primetime schedule, TVLine reports. The series, which aired Down Under in 2022, starred Sean Keenan and Ben O'Toole as surfers and best friends. Separately, the two create their own surf brand and become rivals. It parallels the story of the Billabong and Quiksilver surf labels, which began in the 1970s when Australian surfers turned their personal rivalries into professional ones while also building competing surfwear companies.

Barons only started airing on The CW in late May, but it debuted to just 179,000 viewers and a 0.0 demo rating, with the audience falling each week. Its most recent episode hit 157,000, with the lowest at only 124,000 viewers. While The CW doesn't get viewers as high as the big networks, 179,000 was already pushing it when it came to viewership and the fact that it's declined since premiering was not a good sign.

Even though The CW cut Barons' run on the network short, the eight-episode season will be available to stream for free on both the CW website and The CW app. As of now, only the first four shows are available, but it's possible they will still be dropping on a weekly basis. Barons' Monday night partner, The Rising, seems to be doing OK for now, as the fellow acquired series debuted to 421,000 viewers, with its most recent episode hitting just 287,000, but it's unknown if it will suffer the same fate as Barons. 

Meanwhile, in place of Barons now on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET will be repeats of the final season of Nancy Drew, beginning next week. It's no secret that The CW has been quite selective when it comes to its shows recently, especially with the Nexstar ownership. However, much of its fall schedule will consist of acquired series, as is their summer schedule, like in recent years. There is only one season of Barons, as it was canceled after one season due to COVID restrictions.

While it's definitely a disappointment that Barons has been removed from The CW's schedule, at least it will still be on The CW app, which is better than nothing. It's unclear how long it will be on the app, though, or if it will move to a different streaming service for a permanent home. For now, fans will just have to download the app or go to The CW website to watch Barons for free.