The CW has ended months of speculated surrounding the future of their flagship series announcing All American has been renewed for season 7.
Fans of the college drama series All American can now breathe a sign of relief. The CW recently announced that their flagship drama, All American, has been renewed for a seventh season. Executive Producer, showrunner and writer, Jamie Turner, took to Instagram to share the news writing, “Our 7th spin around the block.”
This announcement comes after announcing they would be adding two more episodes to the now 15-episode sixth season. When the additional episodes were ordered, fans wondered whether it was to wrap up storylines before bringing the series to an end. Now, some have speculated it was to indeed bring storylines to an end before making changes to the cast.
All American continues to be a top performing series for the CW, averaging 761,00 viewers according to a report from Deadline. It ranks third among the CW’s eight drama series and first in their demographic. Although their viewership has decreased since Season 5, it remains the CW’s most-watched series across its linear and digital platforms.
The 13-episode renewal comes as a number of Black shows have been canceled, including Power Book II: Ghost, Rap Sh!t, Swagger, Grown-ish, and The Wonder Years. Through its universal stories, and being Black without being “too Black”, All American has avoided getting the axe despite the CW’s focus on sports and licensing cheaper programming from Canada.
All American also have favorable deals with Netflix and Warner Bros. that make it financially feasible to continue.
Unfortunately, the spinoff, All American: Homecoming suffered a different fate. After months of speculation surrounding the future of the show, it was announced this week that the series will be canceled after Season 3.
Kevin Bourne is SHIFTER’s Toronto-based editor and Senior Entertainment Reporter focusing on Black music and film & TV. He was named one of 310 international voters for the 81st Golden Globe Awards by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and a Tomatometer-Approved Critic by Rotten Tomatoes.
