Jensen Ackles starts “Save The Winchesters” campaign after CW cancels show

Jensen Ackles has launched a “Save The Winchesters” campaign after CW canceled the show. 

The Supernatural fandom was delighted when The CW ordered a prequel for Eric Kripke’s long-running fantasy drama series. This is especially true since The Winchesters is executive produced by Dean Winchester star Jensen Ackles, and his wife Danneel Ackles, who portrayed Anael on Supernatural. 

The show centers on Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean’s parents, John and Mary, played by Drake Rodger and Meg Donnelly, respectively. Ever since The Winchesters Season 1 dropped last October, fans were hoping it would enjoy the same success as Supernatural, which ran for a whopping 15 seasons.

Although its ratings might have been enough to get a renewal in the past, The CW is under new ownership by Nexstar Media, where it’s taken a new approach in the aim to boost profitability. As such, a number of shows have been on the chopping block, including The Winchesters and Kung Fu.

Jensen Ackles starts “Save The Winchesters” campaign

Jensen Ackles has started a “Save The Winchesters” campaign in a bid to find the prequel series a new home and have it renewed for a second season.

Taking to Twitter, he shared a video in which the cast calls on fans for their help to keep the show going. “The way to do that is to hashtag SaveTheWinchesters,” says Rodger. Jojo Fleites, who portrays Carlos Cervantez, adds: “Please, use #SaveTheWinchesters on any social media platform, whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.”

Although fandom campaigns have been ambitious in the past, sadly they don’t often find success. However, it could very well be a different story with The Winchesters, after Deadline learned that the show’s studio Warner Bros. Television aims to start looking for a new network and has “plans to be aggressive in its efforts.”

Fans have been busy getting the ball rolling, with hundreds of new posts sharing the hashtag. One wrote: “Y’all messed with the WRONG fandom. You cancel OUR show? On a Thursday no less? Nah.”

Another said: “They’re family. and we don’t let family behind. We’ll not stop fighting. We’ll find them a new home. LET’S KEEP DOING THIS COME ON!” And a third added: “The Supernatural fandom is still alive and strong almost 3 years after the show ended, after being loyally engaged FOR 15 YEARS. The Winchesters has a HUGE LEGACY to support it and any smart network considering to pick it up should know that.”

Why was The Winchesters canceled?

The cancellation of The Winchesters and Kung Fu comes amid The CW’s new focus under Nexstar Media, part of which involves moving away from teen dramas after the discovery that much of its viewers are in their 50s. 

Nexstar president and chief operating officer Tom Carter said in a statement shared by TVLine last year: “As many of you are aware, The CW is currently the lowest-rated broadcast network, which we believe largely reflects the fact that its programming is targeted for an 18-to-34 audience demographic, while the average age of the CW broadcast viewer is 58 years.”

Carter went on to say that “over time, we’ll be taking a different approach to our CW programming strategy,” adding that the new focus is on “cost-effective unscripted programming” and “high-quality syndicated programming.”

With this in mind, it’s not all that surprising that The Winchesters got axed, but that doesn’t mean it can’t find a new home elsewhere. 

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