Nancy Drew executive producer Larry Teng took to social media to reflect on The CW series’ cancellation, saying that the series finale almost didn’t come together due to The CW.
In a series of posts on Twitter following the last episode of the mystery drama series, Teng thanked fans for their warm reception to the series finale, before saying it almost didn’t happen.
Nancy Drew producer says the network did not plan to notify them of cancellation
While it was reported that Nancy Drew would finish up its run last year, according to Teng, the folks behind the series only found out that the show would not be getting renewed thanks to a sheer coincidence in which CBS Studios reached out to the company for an unrelated matter.
“[Kennedy McMann] was in line to shoot The Good Lawyer,” said Teng. “And like any good agent would do, Kennedy’s rep asked our Studio what our future schedule for Nancy Drew was going to look like. Our Studio wanted to try and make it work for Kennedy so she could do both. And so CBS Studios made a call to The CW. Right around the time we were in prep on Episode 410. And asked the president of the new CW when we would find out about a pickup so we could make scheduling decisions.”
Teng went on to say that it was only then that The CW told them that the show wouldn’t be getting picked up for a fifth season due to the show being too expensive. At the time, Teng says that there were only four episodes left to film, and writers had already begun breaking the finale.
“And it was then, he said to us ‘Oh, we’re not picking you up…the show is too expensive.” Had our Studio not made that call, who knows if we would’ve ever been told. At that point in the season there were only four episodes left to shoot and the writers were already breaking the finale.”
The producer went on to heavily criticize The CW for the way it handled the cancellation. Along with calling it “sh****” to do, he said that there was no consideration for creators Noga Landau and Melinda Hsu Taylor, and no consideration for the fandom. He ended things by saying that “they suck,” and that while they have a right to make a profit, it was “just plain f—— disrespect” to not let them know in advance.
“What a fucking shitty way of telling us we were getting canceled,” he continued. “Thank God the Studio called. Because you all deserved the most proper ending possible. That’s why I praise the writers for pulling it together at the end. It was so glib. No consideration for letting [Noga Landau and Melinda Hsu Taylor] give you a proper goodbye. No closure. No consideration for the fandom who support and watch this show. I’ve been pissed at the upper brass of this new CW since November. They suck. They have every right to turn a profit… which means canceling shows. But to have clearly known in advance and not tell us until a random call 3/4 into our season is just plain fucking disrespect. I’m glad y’all enjoyed the finale. You deserved that. Long live our #Drewds and the #DrewCrew.”
