The CW announced its 2015-16 schedule Thursday (May 14), which left “The 100” fans dismayed to find out the post-apocalyptic show will not return until next year. But CW president Mark Pedowitz says it was for no other reason than to get the fall schedule right, and he hopes the longer break will give “The 100” the chance to find more viewers in the meantime.
“We had to make some moves to put on some shows and make some changes,” Pedowitz tells Zap2it during a conference call. “We felt that ‘Vampire Diaries’ and ‘Originals’ is a good combination on Thursdays, we needed to shore up Thursday a little bit. We felt that ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ was a better fit on Monday. I think ‘The 100’ and ‘Jane’ might have been a little bit twisty.”
By holding “The 100” until midseason, Pedowitz says that he hopes such a critically acclaimed show will perhaps finally get the viewers to match its acclaim, a la “Breaking Bad,” the AMC hit whose buzz built so much that it saw a jump in viewers between Seasons 3 and 4 and then a steady rise in viewers throughout its final season.
“It’s a big Netflix favorite, and having the opportunity to catch up on years 1 and 2 as we begin year 3, maybe this show can get the real viewers it deserves, and maybe it’ll have that ‘Breaking Bad’ moment,” Pedowitz says.
Whether it does find new eyeballs before its Season 3 premiere remains to be seen, but fans can rest assured that Season 3 will run in its entirety in spring 2016.
“We haven’t quite figured out what the order path will be yet … whether we run 13 straight or not, we will have all 13-16 episodes we need to run as we require it,” says Pedowitz. “Yes, we will be pretty much going non-stop.”
He adds, “I am happy to have a critically acclaimed show like [‘The 100’] coming on in midseason.”
