The CW already had very few shows on the bubble with upfronts looming next week and now the network has one fewer.
As was fully expected, The CW has picked up “iZombie” for Season 2, joining a daunting number of shows already renewed for next year. With so much inventory, The CW is not announcing an episode order or return timetable for the DC Comics adaptation.
“iZombie” joins “The 100,” “Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Jane the Virgin,” “Supernatural,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “The Originals,” “Reign” and even “Beauty and the Beast” on The CW's extended slate for the 2015-2016 season.
Since The CW only has 10 hours of weekly programming space and since the network is also expected to pick up a currently-untitled “Arrow”/”Flash” spinoff and since The CW's fall is likely to include a few things like the ending of an “America's Next Top Model” cycle and possibly “Whose Line Is It Anyway,” simple math says that a handful of these pickups will be for Spring 2016 or possibly even all the way to Summer 2016.
Developed by Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright, “iZombie” stars Rose McIver as newly minted zombie coroner. The supporting cast includes Rahul Kohli, Robert Buckley, Malcolm Goodwin and David Anders.
The most recent “iZombie” episode drew 1.62 million viewers and a 0.6 rating among adults 18-49 in Live+Same Day Finals, which isn't spectacular retention out of a strong “Flash” lead-in, but it's more than enough to earn a second shot for the well-reviewed spring series.
With “iZombie” safe, The CW's Bubble includes only the as-good-as-retired “Hart of Dixie” and the as-good-as-cancelled “The Messengers.”
[Editorial Aside: I've been really enjoying “iZombie” these past few weeks. McIver is a treat and they're slowly weaving the supporting characters in more effectively. I'm not sure there has been a single week that I've cared about the procedural mystery, but the dialogue has been smart and funny and charming. There's a darned good series here that's in the process of evolving and I'm glad it'll get that chance.]
Check out the full BubbleWatch gallery, updated as we go along.