The CW cut two of its most recent series from broadcast after only airing two episodes of each: “Down to Earth with Zac Efron” and James and Oliver Phelps’ “Fantastic Friends,” TheWrap has confirmed.
Originally, the two shows were supposed to debut on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. throughout the summer. They have since been replaced by encore episodes of “Penn and Teller: Fool Us” and back-to-back episodes of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” Remaining episodes of both series are available to stream on the CW app and on cwtv.com.
Neither of the series emerged as big ratings wins for The CW. During its brief time on the air, “Down to Earth” averaged 0.269 million views and earned a 0.04 in the 18 to 49 demo, putting it behind summer series such as “The Chosen,” “Nancy Drew,” “Riverdale” and “Son of a Critch.” “Fantastic Friends” performed even worse, only seeing an average of 0.160 million viewers over the course of its two aired episodes.
“Down to Earth with Zac Efron” is a Netflix original that first premiered in 2020. Each episode follows Efron as he travels around the world, learning new lessons about green energy and how to live sustainably. There are currently two seasons of the series available to stream, and its brief run on The CW marked its broadcast debut.
As for “Fantastic Friends,” the adventure travel series from “Harry Potter” alums James and Oliver Phelps first premiered on Bell Media’s Crave in Canada. It also premiered on HBO Max, now known as Max, in Europe, Middle East and Africa. The series follows the Phelps twins as they travel to different destinations and meet up with one of their famous friends, who then become their tour guide.
As surprising as these pulls may be, they offer a glimpse into The CW’s strategy moving forward. The network has been outspoken about scaling back on expensive and risky original content and investing more heavily in genres it’s rarely touched before such as reality TV, international acquisitions and live sports. It’s been repeatedly stressed that the ultimate goal is to make the network profitable by 2025. The quick acquisitions and subsequent removals of both “Down to Earth” and “Fantastic Friends” continues a cutthroat trend for the network as it continues to prioritize profitability in the wake of Nexstar’s acquisition.
