The Top 10 Least Favorable CW Shows Ever Created (And 10 Of The Best) According To Rotten Tomatoes
When we look at CW shows, there are always a few key elements involved: beautiful people, gorgeous scenery, and dramatic storytelling. The CW has given us heartthrobs and style icons, but, largely owing to its reliance on appealing to a younger demographic, a lot of good shows can get missed, while a lot of mediocre or even terrible shows receive the green light. A network that thrives on soapy melodramas alongside sci-fi action series, there have been quite a few hits and misses over the years, once the CW came to be, after UPN and the WB effectively merged in 2006.
While the hits have been massive - think Riverdale, The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, and Jane the Virgin, there have also been many, many more left on the trash heap of TV. In fact, you might not even remember these first 10 series - not because they were from so long ago, but because they never lasted more than a season! Websites like RottenTomatoes.com are held up as one of the most trustworthy insider of reviews, offering users a look at what critics are saying as well as what audiences think - and believe us, the two don't always agree!
There's nothing wrong with a little bad TV every now and then, but when the TV is THIS bad, maybe you should stick to the second half of this list instead.
20 The Beautiful Life: TBL (2009), 21%
One of the most notorious CW show failures in history, it shouldn't surprise anyone that The Beautiful Life: TBL only earned a meager 21% rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Even worse, 0% of audiences on the sit said they enjoyed it!
The 2009 soapy drama tried to combine what has made so many other CW shows successful: beautiful people, couture clothing, and lots of backstabbing but, alas, it wasn't enough to keep the show afloat - it was canceled after airing only two episodes!
The show was really about as surface as the name might have you think and, unfortunately for audiences (and cast members), the limited storylines didn't delve any deeper. Described by critics on the site as “A hopelessly trashy melodrama for hopelessly trashy people” (Glenn Garvin, Chicago Tribune), “It's kind of like a garment that looks stylish and expensive but, in reality, isn't very well made. It might sell… but it probably won't last” (Kari Coop, Common Sense Media), and “Little more than a title in search of an actual show” (Brian Lowry, Variety).
Showing all of us that, for a watchable show you need more than “silly dialogue and shallow characters” (even if those characters are good-looking), The Beautiful Life has earned the distinct dishonor of being one of the absolute worst CW offerings ever!
19 Valor (2017 - 2018), 22%
A more recent addition to the CW lineup, Valor came out in 2017 and managed to air its full 13 episodes before being canceled by the network in January. Following a young, beautiful U.S. Army officer on a top secret mission in Somalia that, naturally goes awry, amid secrets, suspicions, and lies, love and betrayal quickly develop as well, showing audiences that, even in war zones, you just can't say no to a pretty face!
Unfortunately, like all the other rotten shows on this list, beautiful people couldn't save a show that was “thin on acting and thinner on production values”. Actually, when it came to the critical reception, the writers didn't hold back, calling Valor “overblown, badly cast, horribly filmed and my candidate for the Worst new Show of Fall 2017” (Mark A. Perigard, Boston Herald), “Terrible. Not just the worst of the three military-themed shows, but the worst new show period” (Scott D. Pierce, Salt Lake Tribune), and a show where “Every line of dialogue might have been cut and pasted directly from another similar show, like newspaper letters in a ransom note. The characters are no more than the sum of their clichés” (Dana Schwartz, Entertainment Weekly).
18 Significant Mother (2015), 25%
A good rule of thumb: if you're going to attempt to make a hit show, don't use a pun for your title. Not only is it lazy and unfunny, but it makes audiences and critics cringe whenever they have to speak or write the title you've chosen. Case in point: Significant Mother, a show that the CW aired for nine episodes beginning in August 2015 before axing it completely. (Another good rule of thumb? The network wont' have high hopes for your sitcom if they're premiering it in the summer, a season when reality TV draws its biggest ratings.)
Significant Mother was what it sounded like: A premise built on the idea that a guy's roommate starts dating his newly-separated mom. Naturally, hijinks ensue.
The show was never meant to be something high-brow, but even the whole “cougar” joke began to wear a little thin and, really, who were we supposed to be cheering on?
The roommate and mom, in their May-December romance, or the protagonist and roommate as best buds? Without much direction and a reliance on “crude gags” to keep it afloat, Significant Mother earned its 25% rating, from critics who called it a “high-concept but low-funny sitcom” (Tom Conroy, Media Life), “inherently unhip” (Molly Eichel, AV Club), and “largely predictable” (Rob Owen, Pittsburg Post-Gazette).
17 Life Sentence (2018), 37%
The most recent entry to our list, the Lucy Hale-helmed sitcom Life Sentence just graced our screen this year - or cursed it, as the case may be, since it has already earned a paltry 37% from Rotten Tomatoes!
It sounds like a unique premise, where a woman (Hale) who was diagnosed with terminal cancer learns that she's actually going to live, but now she has to deal with all the decisions she made when she thought she was at death's door. Unfortunately, while the premise sounded unique, apparently the execution was more than a little off. Rather than deal with any dramatic ramifications, we have Lucy Hale bouncing around sweetly with an “off-putting preciousness” (Ed Bark, Uncle Barky) in a show that chooses the least satisfying of routes to give our protagonist a happy ending. Matt Roush of TV Insider had even harsher words, writing, “This all might make a passable movie, perhaps on Lifetime. But as a series, its cloying tone had me thinking I'd rather die than subject myself to these flimsy complications on a weekly basis.” Hey, sweet can be done well (look at the monstrous success of the TV show This Is Us), but when it veers into saccharine, well, it gets a 37% rating!
16 Cult (2013), 38%
We could spend this entry trying to tell you what CW's 2013 show Cult was about but, frankly, we're not entirely sure. There was a bit of meta-narrative going on, as a show-within-a-show, freakish devotees of said TV show (also called Cult, of course), and pretty people again, but that's about it. And, as it turns out, we weren't alone!
While some shows have done very well with convoluted plots that have spawned discussion groups and fandoms for years (the hit show Lost) is what first comes to mind, Cult failed to have the same, well, cult-like devotion.
Instead, critics everywhere complained about the ambitious goals of the show that never delivered, confusing plotlines that folded in on themselves and other aspects that were “thuddingly dumb”!
Robert Bianco of USA Today wrote that the story, while it had promise, required a cast skilled enough to carry it. Instead, according to Blanco, it seemed that CW had only set “youth” and “beauty” as its prime casting parameters, which is what really did the show in. After 13 episodes, Cult didn't have a following, let alone much of a fanbase, and was quickly canceled.
15 The Tomorrow People (2013 - 2014), 43%
With so many major Hollywood films dipping into the past to reboot or revamp a past success, why not try the same with a TV show? It's worked so well before, right? Actually, in the mixed bag that saw successes out of shows like Arrested Development and Fuller House, there have also been spectacular failures, like 2011's Charlie's Angels and 2008's Knight Rider. Unfortunately for 2013's show The Tomorrow People - based on a 1970s cult TV series - it fell in with the latter.
As with many popular and successful CW series, The Tomorrow People had gorgeous stars and a sci-fi bent, with the Tomorrow People being a race of genetically advanced humans who had the powers of telekinesis, teleportation, and telepathy. Pretty cool right? Apparently not, since, according to Jessica Johnson, writing for Time Out Chicago, “There's nu humor or sense of enjoyment in this world and it drags everything down.” Sure, Robbie Amell and his crew are being hunted but come on, you guys have amazing superpowers! Live a little! Too bad for the show, CW didn't have enough faith in keeping The Tomorrow People past its expiration date, which came after a full 22-episode season.
14 The Messengers (2015), 44%
With a photo like that, how could The Messengers have possibly failed?! Naturally, this 2015 CW show - which got the standard 13-episode order - was another one with a fantasy slant, this time seeing five individuals who had died and, rather than go to heaven, return with mystical abilities (and, apparently, wings).
Another show that left critics and audiences confused about its premise, The Messengers apparently captured enough interest to make it a full season, but, as the critics on Rotten Tomatoes pointed out…
“It's like a dress that looks amazing on the rack but doesn't quite fit when worn by an actual human being.” (Brian Moylan, The Guardian)
It seems that critics of fantastical CW shows are in agreement that, if your plot seems convoluted or confusing, make an effort on the storytelling to make sense of what it is you're saying. Relying on gorgeous actors and flimsy dialogue only does a disservice to the whole show, and its something the network has been guilty of time and time again. Sure, The Messengers fared better with critics than the previous entries on this list, garnering eight “Fresh” reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but that didn't stop the show from being quickly shot down.
13 The Secret Circle (2011 - 2012), 46%
Another supernatural show from the writer of the successful CW show The Vampire Diaries, The Secret Circle didn't do quite as well as its blood-sucking predecessor, managing to eke out a 22-episode season from 2011 to 2012 before falling apart.
Created by Kevin Williamson, who has been at the helm of massively successful teen shows like Dawson's Creek and The Vampire Diaries, Williamson has also had some major misses, like the forgotten CW show Hidden Palms. Unfortunately for him, The Secret Circle fell into the latter category, rating only 46% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics describing it as “essentially One Tree Hill, only with witchcraft” (Brian Lowry, Variety), “rushed and chintzy” (Mike Hale, The New York Times), and full of “dull, carbon-copy high school characters” (Robert Bianco, USA Today).
The thing is, with sagas like the Harry Potter series or even the cult classic Charmed (due to be rebooted by the CW this year), magic and witchcraft had already been done before - and way better, with more interesting characters and storylines. As it turned out, it would have taken a lot more than a magic spell to keep The Secret Circle on the air!
12 Ringer (2011 - 2012), 50%
Sarah Michelle Gellar, she of Buffy fame, which was unequivocally beloved by audiences and critics alike, had a rough go of things afterwards when it came to TV. After seven seasons of Buffy, which began on the WB before the network became the CW, Gellar was up in Ringer, which lasted one season, and The Crazy Ones, alongside the late Robin Williams - which, again, was only on the air for one season.
So, what exactly was wrong with Ringer? The 2011 show was enjoyed by 80% of Rotten Tomatoes users but managed to just scrape in at 50% fresh. If this show was produce at a grocery store, you'd definitely put it back!
Gellar was tasked with playing dual roles as twin sisters, but it seemed that critics couldn't stop comparing her - and her new show - to her past as Buffy Summers.
Rob Own of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described Ringer as, “Where Buffy was smart and sophisticated, Ringer is lame and hokey,” and Curt Wagner of RedEye wrote, ”Even though we get twice as much Sarah in Ringer, she isn't half as interesting as Buffy was.” The victim of her own successful past, it seems that no one - even those who get paid to review new material - can stop conflating the actress with her character!
11 Dynasty (2017 - 2018), 53%
Another rebooted show, this time from the popular 1980s soapy drama of the same name, we have 2017's Dynasty, a show you can find on Netflix airing alongside the CW. By all accounts, Dynasty should be doing what the network does best: Throw together beautiful people in beautiful clothes living in beautiful places and add a dose of drama, betrayal, and enough sultry appeal to make things interesting.
However, while the original Dynasty took place in the decade of excess, when it was almost voyeuristic to look in on the lifestyles of the exceedingly wealthy, that kind of interest just isn't generated anymore when we have access to inside looks all the time, via social media, reality TV, and other shows with higher budgets.
Coming in just over the halfway mark and earning 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, critics seemed to agree that it was “fun, there's no question”, but that it was “trying too hard."
Despite attempts to name-drop current family dynasties like the Kardashians, came across as “dated”. It is the best of the worst when it comes to CW shows (at least currently), but still would never qualify as must-see - or must-stream - TV.
10 The Vampire Diaries (2009 - 2017), 84%
Where The Secret Circle failed, The Vampire Diaries succeeded, lasting an impressive eight seasons, making it one of the longest-running shows on this list! Even in its first season, when showrunners, writers, and cast members are just finding their footing with the material.
'The Vampire Diaries' still managed to garner 68% on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning that its lowest-performing season still outranked the other ten shows already mentioned!
Coming into the world when pop culture was still enamored with Twilight and all things vampire, The Vampire Diaries could have felt like overkill but, instead, the show, from its very first season, was called “a well-crafted, interestingly developed series” that “delivers better-than-average entertainment, boasting a soundtrack that oozes cool and a talented cast that can really get its brood on.”
Sure, the core cast of Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, and Paul Wellesley are, without a doubt, CW-grade eye candy but, luckily for viewers, had the acting skills to intrigue and make the material they were working with actually work! Even after the vampire furor had long since died down, The Vampire Diaries kept chugging away before finally ending in 2015.
9 Riverdale (2017 - 2018), 87%
On paper, Riverdale sounds like a bit of a gamble. The beloved Archie Comics had already been made into a live-action version before, with little success, but the creators behind this CW series decided to put a darker spin on their freckle-faced, redheaded lead and his adoring companions, Betty and Veronica. In fact, with the literally two-dimensional characters of the comics, the show's creators were able to envision more well-rounded people with actual personalities, and it's really them.
Plus the moody atmosphere of the entire show - that has been the driving force behind its 87% rating.
With Riverdale, the CW hit on a few fronts that have made the show so popular: It's got the steamy teen melodrama that the network thrives on, but it also has a nostalgic appeal that interest older audiences and fans of the comic. Now, viewers don't necessarily have to be divided on if they're a Betty or a Veronica because, finally, both female characters get to be actual people who are awesome in very different ways! Heck, even the parents in Riverdale have some bite!
Critics described the show as “a smart teen drama” full of “likeable, layered characters” that is “weird, campy, beautiful, and delightful”!
8 The 100 (2014 - 2018), 90%
As far as CW shows, few have gotten the response that The 100 has, in terms of fan devotion and vocal admiration, especially for their portrayal of a queer relationship. In fact, the show actually received a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes for its second, fourth, and fifth seasons! The lowest-ranked season of the show was, naturally, the first, but even that was moderately impressive, with 73% and a critical consensus that “the suspenseful atmosphere helps make The 100 a rare high-concept guilty pleasure.”
In the first season, the show introduces us to the 100 young people that are sent down to earth decades after the planet was destroyed in nuclear war, with the subsequent seasons showing us how they manage. The 100 could have made the mistakes so many post-apocalyptic shows have, with characters slowly moving from one place to the next, encountering the same obstacles before eventually succeeding and moving onwards (ahem, The Walking Dead), but, after five seasons, it seems that this CW show is no less “fresh” than it was when it began! Described as “smart and nuanced” in its portrayal of loss, grief, and trauma, this is one CW show that has survived against the odds.
7 The Flash (2014 - 2018), 92%
The first of a few superhero offerings from the CW, The Flash has made a nice home for itself as a member of the DC universe, while Marvel's superheroes dominate the big screen. Surprisingly, The Flash earned an incredibly impressive 97% “certified fresh” rating in its very first season, before jumping to a perfect 100 in its sophomore year! It seems that, unlike so many CW shows, which have been criticized for being gloomy, moody, and overall dreary, The Flash chose to have fun with its material, making for a “light-hearted oasis for fans just looking to have a good time”.
Arguably, much of what makes superhero flicks and TV shows worth watching for the comic book novice is the humor and clever writing and, more importantly, sense of fun! Clearly, The Flash has these in spades, which accounts for its 92% rating.
Unlike other CW shows, which have also been skewered for their lower budgets, giving the audience a taste of how the network really feels, The Flash is one that “sports a great cast, visually well-designed sets and effects, and the pace and atmosphere reflect the deft hands of directors and crew.”
6 Supernatural (2005 - 2018), 92%
The longest-running CW show on this list, Supernatural has been on the network since 2005, amassing an impressive 13 seasons! Most of the time, those seasons have been rated a perfect 100%, despite the fact that some viewers (this writer included) checked out a few seasons ago, when the threat of death and the apocalypse were continually kept at bay or triumphed over by those wily Winchester brothers.
Rather than focus on love triangles and backstabbing, having the protagonists as two pretty-boy brothers who happen to bed a bevy of beauties along their cross-country travels still managed to check all the boxes, and this time, the backstabbing seemed to be kept to the family, with literal life-or-death being the stakes. It was this that critics seemed to enjoy - as well as the supernatural beasties - with Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media writing, “So many true-to-life issues surface in this series that astute viewers will see it's much more than pretty-boy drama”.
While Supernatural has evolved from its monster-of-the-week theme that colored its first few seasons, it still manages to keep enough viewers - and critics - intrigued, that it's been renewed for its 14th season!
5 Arrow (2012 - 2018), 93%
While Robbie Amell didn't fare too well on the CW with his flop The Tomorrow People, brother Stephen Amell did much better, starring in the hit show Arrow - another offering from DC Comics - for six seasons!
In regards to reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, Arrow has amassed a near-perfect score throughout its run, beginning with an 86% “certified fresh” first season, before having perfect 100s for the next three seasons!
There was a gradual decline in seasons 5 and 6, which earned 93% and 80%, respectively.
Sounding a bit to the uninformed viewer (i.e. this writer) like a Batman riff, Arrow follows billionaire Oliver Queen who, like Batman, does not have superpowers, but is still undoubtedly a hero, trying to stop the criminal underworld that ravages his city. However, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? The show received glowing reviews upon its debut, and was called “the best new show from the CW” (Ellen Gray, Philadelphia Daily News), “a very slick piece of work” (Matt Roush, TV Guide), and “the most successful new drama on the broadcast networks this season” (Carina Adly MacKenzie, zap2it.com).
While a little dip in reviews is normal for a show, the fact that this CW hit spawned the Arrowverse shows it isn't likely to miss its mark.
4 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015 - 2018), 97%
A musical comedy, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend might not appeal to the masses, but it's managed to move along through four very successful seasons and achieve a near-perfect rating on Rotten Tomatoes!
Following lead Rebecca who moves to California in search of love, the latest seasons of the show have dealt with Rebecca's struggles in a way that is a “compassionate, compelling exploration of mental illness that is as honest as it is hilarious”.
While fans of the show were overjoyed to learn that the CW had renewed it for a fourth season, it is also going to be the show's final season - but not due to lackluster ratings or critical reception! Instead, in an interview with Vanity Fair, creators Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh-McKenna explained that they had “no interest in making a show that's just going to spit out copies of itself… I'm an avid TV viewers and I feel like a lot of shows peak around season four, season five, and just last way too long.” Hey, she's not wrong! When your show is described by critics as “primordial showbiz magic” and “a gift”, trying to keep something going past its prime would just do a disservice to something great.
3 Black Lightning (2018), 97%
The latest addition to CW's superhero lineup, we have this year's Black Lightning. While critics love the show - giving it a “certified fresh” rating and 97%, viewers were a little less enthused, giving it a meager 54% in terms of enjoyment on the very same site!
Following a high school principal who was once a retired superhero before deciding to take up his cape again, the 13-episode first season seems especially timely, in light of the issues of police brutality and racial divisions - which may be exactly why it hasn't exactly been embraced by audiences, who might prefer escapism when it comes to their superhero dramas, rather than realism.
Although, in all fairness, multiple outlets said that, while the show touches on current issues and tensions, it “never got to the point of being too preachy.”
That being said, Black Lightning might just have what it takes to come back next year, as “a welcome bright spot in the doldrums of January and in intriguing attempt to recharge superhero TV.” With multiple superhero sagas full of interconnecting stories across a variety of networks, it seems that Black Lightning has earned and totally deserved its high praise, but it may be a matter of time before regular audiences agree.
2 iZombie (2015 - 2018), 98%
When iZombie debuted in 2015, there were already a lot of zombie TV shows in heavy rotation. We had The Walking Dead, which had premiered in 2010, Z-Nation, which premiered in 2014, Fear the Walking Dead, which premiered the same year as iZombie, and multiple films that all gave us slightly varying versions of how the world would turn out in the wake of some deadly virus that turned us into flesh-eating members of the undead. While almost all of these shows depicted grimy, unwashed groups of people slowly dwindling as time wore on, iZombie did something, well, fresh!
Moving between both comedy and drama, the CW show had pretty young thing Rose McIver as Liv Moore, a zombie who helps solve crimes by eating the brains of the deceased to retrieve their memories. Wacky enough that it works, iZombie was the second-highest rated show on the entire network, according to Rotten Tomatoes!
While a lot of shows try too hard to be too many things at once, iZombie “flips between comedy, procedural, and drama with ease”, and, like all successful shows - CW or otherwise - it's the writing, characters, and actors that have made this show stay alive.
1 Jane the Virgin (2014 - 2018), 100%
Before the CW existed, there was the WB and UPN, the former of which offered treacly family fare like 7th Heaven. Now, we're not saying that Jane the Virgin is nearly as saccharine, but, with a family focus and a loveable protagonist, the show certainly seems to hearken back to the old network!
Absent of the usual CW go-tos of drama, betrayal, and beautiful clothing, Jane the Virgin (based on telenovela Juana la virgin) has an “unlikely charm, along with delightfully diverse writing and a knockout performance by Gina Rodriguez” who, it should be noted, won a Golden Globe for her performance after the show's first season! (Which shouldn't be a total surprise, as Oliver Sava of the AV Club wrote, “It's rare for a show to debut as fully formed as Jane the Virgin.”)
The show has been beloved by critics, who rated each of the series' four seasons full marks, and by audiences, who gave it a solid 88%.
The entire premise of the show - that a virgin becomes accidentally pregnant via artificial insemination - could have been handled poorly, or been a total joke, or something totally one-note (see: Significant Mother), and yet, it's managed to surprise and delight everyone who watches it thanks to awesome performances and writing that is just soapy enough to make sense on the CW.
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