Amidst all the TV cancellations in 2024, the CW had a lot of shows on the chopping block, perhaps second only to sister network CBS. Some big names exited the CW this year, including Walker's emotional cancelation, among myriad others. Now, just as the 2024 fall TV schedule is gearing up, you’d think it might be some time for some good news, but unfortunately that’s not the case. In fact, now the CW has pulled another show off the schedule.
The Librarians: The Next Chapter had been set by the network to premiere on October 24th. It was originally going to be airing opposite Superman & Lois in what could have been a fun little night of fantasy. Instead, a press announcement from the network announced new series The Wranglers will premiere in the slot instead.
This is a gigantic bummer. I’m a huge fan of the original The Librarians, a movie series and subsequent TNT TV series starring Noah Wyle that ran from 2014-2018. This new version kind of sounds like it will be a cross between Wyle’s show's premise and other network series Sleepy Hollow. By that I mean it will involve a librarian from the past coming into the future and having to fix things he mucks up. Though, unlike Hollow, there will be no procedural crime-solving and no Tom Mison, with Callum McGowan taking the lead role in The Next Chapter.
Regardless, combining the general premise of a fish-out-of-water story led by a character from the past with the franchise I already know and love was super intriguing to me when this was announced. I was really pumped for this show. And I'm concerned about why it's getting shifted, as it seems like a more natural fit to air opposite Superman & Lois than The Wranglers.
Weirdly, The Wranglers isn’t even scripted fare. It’s an eight-episode docuseries about cowgirls and cowboys living and working at Montana’s Circle Bar Dude Ranch. The move comes a little over half a year after the CW bought the rights to air Hallmark’s previous release Ride, about a family working to save their Colorado ranch. It’s also coming as Yellowstone and other western projects mark a resurgence of the genre on TV and streaming.
All of this is to say it may make sense for the CW to have signed on for another western series, but why it’s coming in place of The Librarians: The Next Chapter is a question the network did not answer. I’m still hoping at this point The Librarians spinoff is coming and will simply hit the schedule in another slot at a later date. But me guessing when that will maybe, hopefully happen would be about as likely as me pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
