7 Worst CW Shows of All Time, Ranked

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Since it began in 2006, The CW has been the platform for countless TV shows. Created by combining The WB and UPN, the network once featured a wide variety of popular series across all genres. It’s where many successful comic book adaptations found a home on television, and it also launched one of the most popular shows of recent years, Supernatural.

The CW network has given us some fantastic and groundbreaking shows, but not everything it aired was a hit. Several series, even during the network’s most popular times, simply didn’t live up to expectations. Here are seven of the worst shows The CW produced – some you might have even forgotten existed.

7) Cult

The CW’s Cult is often considered one of the network’s strangest and least successful shows. It only lasted one season in 2013, and followed journalist Jeff (played by Matthew Davis) as he looked into a series of disappearances linked to a fictional TV show within the show, also called “Cult.” The cast also included Jessica Lucas, Alona Tal, and Robert Knepper.

The show Cult had a troubled beginning that likely contributed to its short run. Originally intended for The WB with Matt Bomer as the star, the project was put on hold when The WB merged with UPN to become The CW. Almost ten years later, it was revived with a new lead, Davis. However, the show itself was difficult to understand. It aimed to be a complex mystery with recurring clues, but it didn’t quite come together, proving confusing for viewers and leading to its quick cancellation.

6) Katy Keene

Created by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Katy Keene was a spin-off of the hit show Riverdale. Taking place five years after the events of Riverdale, the series followed a group of young, ambitious artists pursuing their dreams in New York City. Lucy Hale starred as Katy Keene, an up-and-coming fashion designer, and the cast also included Ashleigh Murray, Camille Hyde, Jonny Beauchamp, Julia Chan, Lucien Laviscount, Zane Holtz, and Katherine LaNasa. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled after its first season.

Despite receiving positive reviews, Katy Keene struggled to attract a large audience, especially when compared to Riverdale. Riverdale was known for its dark and dramatic storylines, while Katy Keene felt overly cheerful and stuck in the past. The characters didn’t feel believable together, and many of the plots seemed forced. While the show had some appeal and seemed to be improving towards the end – finishing on a dramatic cliffhanger – ultimately, it wasn’t successful.

5) Tom Swift

Spinning off from The CW’s Nancy Drew, Tom Swift featured Tian Richards as the brilliant, young billionaire inventor Tom Swift. His life takes a dramatic turn when his father vanishes, leading him into a web of mysteries and conspiracies as he searches for the truth. The show also starred Marquise Vilson, Albert Mwangi, April Parker Jones, and Ashleigh Murray.

The series failed to attract viewers or positive reviews. Critics found it uninspired and slow to start, while audiences strongly disliked it, with some comparing it unfavorably to a combination of Iron Man and Dynasty. Ultimately, the show was cancelled after only one season due to low viewership.

4) The Messengers

I always thought The CW took some big swings with its shows, and The Messengers was definitely one of them! It started in 2014 and the premise was so wild: five strangers all seemingly died in a blast from something that fell from the sky, but then they came back to life! They quickly realized they were connected by some kind of biblical prophecy and that they’d been given supernatural powers. Basically, they were humanity’s last hope to prevent the Rapture. The cast was great too – Shantel VanSanten, J.D. Pardo, Joel Courtney, John Fletcher, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Jessika Van, and even Winston Duke were all in it!

The show started with a promising idea, but ultimately failed due to a weak plot and inconsistent acting. It didn’t deliver on the grand scale it initially suggested, and was quickly cancelled after only three episodes. Despite this, the network still broadcast the entire first season.

3) Gotham Knights

Gotham Knights was a troubled series for The CW, initially considered one of their weakest. However, looking back, it might have been better than people thought and simply needed more time to develop. The show offered a fresh take on the Batman universe, following Turner Hayes, Bruce Wayne’s adopted son, who teams up with runaways Harper and Cullen Row, and a criminal named Duela after they’re falsely accused of Batman’s murder. They’re later joined by Turner’s classmate, Stephanie Brown, and Carrie Kelley, who is revealed to be Batman’s sidekick, Robin.

The show was ambitious, offering a fresh and distinctive interpretation of Gotham City and the Batman mythos. It bravely explored the Court of Owls storyline and questioned common tropes found in DC Comics adaptations. Despite this, critics disliked the series, and viewers struggled with the introduction of a new main character, Turner, and the absence of Batman himself. Just as the show began to find its footing and build momentum, it was unfortunately cancelled.

2) Dynasty

The CW’s Dynasty, a revival of the 1980s soap opera, surprisingly lasted four seasons – making it the only show here to get renewed after its first year. However, despite its longevity, it wasn’t a particularly good show. It felt overly dramatic and artificial, lacking the appeal of the original Dynasty. Even when it tried to be outrageous, it often fell flat, and it wasn’t even enjoyable as a guilty pleasure or as visually appealing as its predecessor.

1) Life Sentence

The series Life Sentence stars Lucy Hale as Stella Abbott, a young woman whose cancer unexpectedly goes into remission. The show follows Stella as she navigates life after believing she was dying, and deals with the consequences of past choices made under that assumption. It also explores how Stella’s illness affected her family, and how they adjust to her recovery while confronting their own actions taken during her perceived final days.

The show Life Sentence started with a compelling idea, but instead of exploring the complex and weighty themes it presented, it opted for a consistently cheerful and superficial tone. It felt lacking in depth and, unfortunately, seemed to be aiming for the style of shows that used to air on The WB, a network that was already off the air – and it missed the mark completely. The series was cancelled after only a few episodes of its first season.

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2026-01-12 04:11