Late May brought some sad news for fans of The CW series, Walker. While it took a while for the final word to come down (so much so that sets were being broken down without the cast and crew knowing for sure whether or not they’d become one of the shows canceled and ending in 2024) the Jared Padalecki-starring series did get the ax after Season 4, and recently aired its (unplanned) series finale with a surprise CW icon for a guest star and a bit of a cliffhanger. Now, Padalecki has opened up about why his history with Gilmore Girls and Supernatural led him to think Walker wouldn’t be canceled.
Why Did Walker’s Jared Padalecki Think ‘Stupid Me’ About Believing His CW Series Wouldn’t Be Canceled?
The 2024 TV schedule has seen a lot of beloved shows get canceled over the past several weeks, and, unfortunately, by the time Jared Padalecki and the other good people at Walker were finally notified of their status, the Season 4 finale had already been shot and had to become the series finale. Most fans know that the actor has spent most of his career on The WB/CW, as he began by playing Rory’s first boyfriend, Dean, on Gilmore Girls, and then went straight into Supernatural, where he portrayed Sam Winchester for a whopping 15 seasons.
He recently explained to TV Line that it was his time with those two series that led him to think Walker (which he also executive produced) would get a chance to continue into at least Season 5. As he said:
With my experience on Gilmore Girls and Supernatural, we found ourselves in a similar situation, like around Seasons 3 and/or 4, where we were on the bubble, or there was a network change, or the head of the network changed, or there was a strike, or et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So we didn’t know if we’d make it, and in both cases, the network believed in us and let us go as long as we wanted, and now, they’re like two of the top 10 most watched shows on Netflix, worldwide, every year. So I kind of, stupid me, I was hoping and assuming the same might happen…
It might seem odd that a professional actor with 24 years of experience that were largely spent on only three different TV shows would be so hopeful that his latest drama wouldn’t be canceled, but just think about those details I just listed when it comes to Padalecki’s career. Guys? The man started working on Gilmore Girls at 17, and in nearly a quarter of a century has never been unemployed for any significant length of time, especially without knowing what’s coming next. That’s basically a bonafide miracle for someone in a creative field like acting/making amazing television for adoring fans, particularly for someone who’s still so young.
While his talent and hard work have certainly gone a very long way toward his success, so has luck. As he noted, both of his previous series had periods where the chances of survival seemed rather slim, but they were saved and shown so much confidence by network higher ups that those popular dramas were able to end when and how the creative talents behind them wanted. I imagine that’s something that almost never happens to one actor twice, in a row, on two very different TV shows, so of course Padalecki was incredibly hopeful and assumed that Walker would live for at least another season.
The actor did mention, however, that among all that hope he was still vaguely aware things might not work out, but he continued to find solid reasons why the worst simply couldn’t come to pass. He continued:
I knew there was a chance. There’s always a chance that the show’s not going to go, but I was like, ‘Well, we’re still the most watched. We’re not expensive.’ So I didn’t know what to expect, and I haven’t yet had time to have closure with Walker.
There was a cancelation bloodbath at the network in 2023, after a new parent company took over, which led to most of the scripted originals being axed in favor of international series, reality shows and reruns like The Conners, so it would seem that Walker (which was one of the most-watched shows there) still had an uphill battle. While it’s sad to see it go, and it’ll likely take some time for the long-time TV star to process what happened, at least he had quite a ride and we can revisit his reboot with a Max subscription whenever we want.
