Live-Action Powerpuff Girls Series No Longer in Development at Warner Bros. TV
Nearly two months after The CW scrapped it, the live-action Powerpuff Girls series is officially dead. According to TVLine, Warner Bros. TV is no longer developing the series. In May, it was reported that The CW wad returned the series — along with proposed Arrowverse spinoff Justice U, Archie Comics-inspired Jack Chang, and the female-led Zorro reboot — to their respective studios, with the studios then having the option to go forward and develop them for other networks or platforms. This update means that, at least for Powerpuff, that return to the studio was the end of the line.
Powerpuff would have caught up with Blossom (Agents of SHIELD's Chloe Bennet, who later departed the show), Bubbles (Descendants' Dove Cameron), and Buttercup (Broadway actress Yana Perrault), who used to be America's pint-sized superheroes but now are disillusioned twentysomethings who resent having lost their childhood to crime-fighting. Will they agree to reunite now that the world needs them more than ever? A pilot was filmed before being retooled off-cycle.
"The reason you do pilots is because, sometimes things miss, and this was just a miss," former The CW president Mark Pedowitz previously explained in 2021. "We believe in the cast completely. We believe in Diablo [Cody] and Heather [Regnier], the writers. We believe in the auspices of Greg Berlanti and Warner [Bros. TV] studios."
"In this case, the pilot didn't work," Pedowitz continued. "But because we see there's enough elements in there, we wanted to give it another shot. So that's why we didn't want to go forward with what we had. Tonally, it might've felt a little too campy. It didn't feel as rooted in reality as it might've felt. But again, you learn things when you test things out. And so, in this case, we felt, let's take a step back and go back to the drawing board."
The CW Renewed Superman & Lois for Season 4, and Cancelled Gotham Knights
Last month, The CW made some additional programming changes, cancelling Gotham Knights after just one season and announcing that Superman & Lois had been renewed for Season 4, but that news didn't come without caveats. The series will return for a shortened, 10-episode season and it's also been reported that there will be budget cuts as well, including a reduction of the total number of series regulars.
What Will The CW's Programming Look Like Going Forward?
There have been several changes when it comes to The CW's programming following its acquisition by media giant Nexstar last year. The network released its fall 2023-2024 schedule last month, revealing several acquired series — including Son of a Critch, Run the Burbs, Children Ruin Everything, and Sullivan's Crossing — as well as the debut of 61st Street, a series that was previously cancelled by AMC. Additionally, it was recently announced that The CW has picked up the first three seasons of The Chosen, a series about the life of Jesus, which will premiere on the network on Sunday, July 16th, and air through Christmas Eve.
"The Chosen is based on the biggest IP of all time and is truly a one-of-a-kind series that tells this historically significant story in a captivating, dramatic and premium way," said Brad Schwartz, The CW's President of Entertainment, in a statement. "This show has already connected deeply with viewers around the world, and The CW will expand its audience even further."