The CW Is Planning Tribute Specials for Supernatural and Arrow

The CW will air tribute specials honoring both Supernatural and Arrow in the respective shows' [...]

The CW will air tribute specials honoring both Supernatural and Arrow in the respective shows' final seasons, according to network head Mark Pedowitz. The episodes will follow in the same general format as the tribute episode aired during Jane the Virgin's final season earlier this year. The CW has toyed with these sorts of specials in the past, with Arrow getting a "Year One" special in 2013 that recapped the show's first season. Legends of Tomorrow also earned a sort of introductory special before the series debuted, which was titled "Their Time Is Now."

With both Supernatural and Arrow coming to an end in 2020, the next year of The CW's broadcast calendar will look radically different than it has in years, so the opportunity to celebrate this iteration of The CW seems a little hard to resist. We had previously reported on the Arrow special, but the Supernatural special is new information.

"We thought that the tribute special that appeared on Jane the Virgin this year was well-done," CW chief Mark Pedowitz told reporters at the TCA. "We're planning tribute specials for Arrow, as well as Supernatural."

Supernatural, the longest-running series on The CW, returns this fall for its fifteenth and final season, the Winchesters square off against Chuck -- the guy who is basically God to you and me. At the end of season 14, they learned that Chuck -- and reality -- wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and when they confronted Him about it, He doubled down, creating a zombie apocalypse that will represent part of the challenge of Supernatural's final season.

Arrow returns to The CW this fall for its eighth and final season, a ten-episode run that will bring the story of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), Felicity Smoak (Emily Beat Rickards, who exited the series at the end of last season), John Diggle (David Ramsey), and the rest of Team Arrow to a close (unless, of course, there is a spinoff planned). The series' end will coincide with The CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" mega-event, which will run for five episodes over December 2019 and January 2020, featuring episodes from Arrow, The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and Batwoman. That seems particularly meaningful since in Arrow's season seven finale, The Monitor arrived to tell Oliver and Felicity that Oliver would need to join him — and that he would not survive the experience of helping The Monitor defend the multiverse in the Crisis.

The final season of Supernatural will premiere on October 10 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW. The following week, Arrow premieres on October 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Additional reporting by Scott Huver.

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