‘Kung Fu’ and ‘The Winchesters’ Canceled by The CW

Two more shows will be missing from The CW’s fall line-up in the 2023/2024 season.

The network has canceled Kung Fu after three seasons and axed the Supernatural prequel spinoff series The Winchesters after one season.

For The Winchesters, Deadline reports, “Warner Bros. Television has been preparing to look for a new home, and plans to be aggressive in its efforts.” At the same time, Deadline shares that “Warner Bros. Television quietly explored other options for” Kung Fu “but was not able to find a new home for it.”

This news comes on the heels of the Walker prequel spinoff series Walker: Independence‘s cancellation on Tuesday. The day after the news broke, series executive producer Jared Padalecki exclusively told TV Line, “We are aggressively looking for a place that Walker: Independence can land.” 

“As we reimagine the new CW, we had to make some tough programming decisions,” the network said in a statement, per TV Line.

“We thank our partners at Warner Bros. and the casts and creative teams of Kung Fu and The Winchesters for all their hard work, creativity, and dedication.”

Kung Fu, which debuted in 2021, follows a young Chinese American woman named Nicky Shen, who drops out of college and goes on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China during a quarter-life crisis.

“But when she returns to San Francisco, she finds her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption. Nicky will rely on her family and friends, as well as her martial arts skills and Shaolin values, to protect her community and bring the criminals to justice,” per the show’s synopsis.

The series stars Olivia Liang as Nicky, Kheng Hua Tan as Nicky’s mom Mei-Li, Tzi Ma as Nicky’s father Jin, Shannon Dang as Nicky’s sister Althea, Jon Prasida as Nicky’s brother Ryan, Eddie Liu as Henry Yan.

The cast also includes Gavin Stenhouse as Evan Hartley, Vanessa Kai as Pei-Ling Zhang, Yvonne Chapman as Zhilan Zhang, Tony Chung as Dennis Soong, and JB Tadena as Sebastian. Christina M. Kim created Kung Fu and served as showrunner and executive producer alongside co-showrunner Robert Berens.

TV Line reports that Kung Fu Season 3 Episode 13, “Beginning,” which aired on March 8, now serves as the show’s series finale.

The Winchesters, which premiered in October, tells the story of Sam and Dean’s parents, John and Mary, from the perspective of Dean as narrator. The series is described as “the epic, untold love story of how John Winchester met Mary Campbell and put it all on the line to not only save their love, but the entire world.”

The series stars Meg Donnelly as Mary Campbell, Drake Rodger as John Winchester, Jonathan “JoJo” Fleites as Carlos Cervantez, Nida Khurshid as Latika Dar, Demetria McKinney as Ada Monroe, Bianca Kajlich as Millie Winchester, and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester/Narrator.

Ackles also executive-produced with Daneel Ackles and showrunner Robbie Thompson.

The only TV shows from The CW’s line-up to receive renewals are All American for Season 6, as reported in January, and Walker for Season 4, as reported earlier this week. As previously reported, returning shows Nancy Drew and Riverdale will conclude their runs after four and seven seasons, respectively, in August.

This news leaves the fates of Superman & Lois, All American: Homecoming, and the freshman series Gotham Knights still undecided. 

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The Winchesters and Kung Fu are streaming now on The CW and HBO Max.

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