Jared Padalecki Talks 'Walker' Cancelation, Slams CW's 'Easy, Cheap' Content Strategy
Jared Padalecki is sharing his “brutally honest” opinion on the cancelation of his most recent CW series Walker.
The 41-year-old actor starred as the titular character in the drama, which was announced to be ending after just four seasons last month.
As the show comes to an end and airs its series finale TONIGHT (June 26), he opened up about the show being canceled and how the network is moving forward with its content lineup.
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“I talked with the head of CBS and the head of Nexstar/CW, I talked with the other [executive producers] on Walker, and I think it was a multivariate kind of issue. My understanding is — and again, this is just what I’m told — that Nexstar is going in a different direction with The CW,” Jared shared with Variety. “I mean, they have an hour of Trivial Pursuit and an hour of Scrabble coming up. I don’t know why you wouldn’t just download the app or grab a board game and play with your friends, but they’re clearly just — what’s that great quote? It’s like, ‘If somebody tells you who they are, ask questions. If somebody shows you who they are, believe them.’”
“I feel like The CW that I was a part of last year is not The CW that I was a part of under [former chairman and CEO] Mark Pedowitz for that entire, almost 20-year stretch,” the actor continued. “They’re just changing the network around, where it’s not really going to be a TV network as much as it’s going to be, ‘Here’s something fun for an hour that you’ll never watch again, but hopefully you watch it. And it’s cheap!’ And I hate to say that, but I’m just being honest. I mean, f–k it. They can’t fire me again. I’m just being brutally honest. I think it felt to me like they were looking for really easy, cheap content that they could fill up time with.”
Jared has starred in TV show on The CW for nearly his entire career. When the network was The WB, he had a heavily recurring role as Dean Forester on Gilmore Girls, before then starring in Supernatural for 15 years. Finally, he starred in Walker for the last three years.
What’s next for Jared? Find out what popular TV show wants him to join the cast!