“Nancy Drew”– which was canceled in October after four seasons — aired its series finale this week. One of the show’s producers shared some choice words for CW management about the way the cancellation was handled.
While acknowledging that the reaction to the mystery drama’s finale has been “mostly positive,” Larry Teng blasted the network for not giving the production team enough of a heads up about the show ending to craft a proper conclusion for the fans.
“Imagine if you watched that finale without us knowing it would be the last episode of #NancyDrew ever. Because that’s what almost happened,” he wrote on X Thursday. “Kennedy was in line to shoot [ABC pilot] ‘The Good Lawyer.’ 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. And it was then, he said to us ‘Oh, we’re not picking you up the show is too expensive’,” Teng continued. “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.”
Teng called the move a “f–king sh–y way of telling us we were getting canceled,” adding that the “Nancy Drew” audience “deserved the most proper ending possible.”
He went on to thank CBS Studios for calling and praised the show’s writers for “pulling it together at the end,” but said the way the decision was handled was “so glib.”
“No consideration for letting [creators Noga Landau and Melinda Hsu Taylor] give you a proper goodbye. No closure. No consideration for the fandom who support and watch this show,” he added. “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 f–king disrespect. I’m glad y’all enjoyed the finale. You deserved that. Long live our #Drewds and the #DrewCrew.”
The decision to cancel “Nancy Drew” came as the network faces a creative overhaul following Nexstar’s acquisition of The CW and the exit of its chairman and CEO Mark Pedretti. A spokesperson for The CW did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.