After nearly two months since its cancellation by The CW, the live-action Powerpuff Girls series has been officially abandoned. According to TVLine, Warner Bros. TV has ceased development of the series. The live-action Powerpuff Girls series would have followed the grown-up lives of Blossom (portrayed by Chloe Bennet), Bubbles (played by Dove Cameron), and Buttercup (enacted by Yana Perrault).
In May, reports revealed that The CW had returned several series, including Powerpuff Girls, Justice U (an Arrowverse spinoff), Jack Chang (inspired by Archie Comics), and a female-led Zorro reboot, to their respective studios. This recent update indicates that the return of Powerpuff Girls to the studio marked the end of its journey, at least for now.
America’s Beloved Series Isn’t Getting A Show
The characters were once America’s beloved young superheroes but now find themselves as disillusioned individuals in their twenties, resenting the childhood they lost to fighting crime. As the world faces a dire situation, will they choose to reunite and answer the call? While a pilot was filmed, it was later modified outside of the regular television season.
“The reason you do pilots is because, sometimes things miss, and this was just a miss,” former The CW president Mark Pedowitz said in 2021. “We believe in the cast completely. We believe in Diablo [Cody] and Heather [Regnier], the writers. We believe in the auspices of Greg Berlanti and Warner [Bros. TV] studios.”
According to Pedowitz, the pilot for the live-action Powerpuff Girls series did not meet expectations. However, because there were promising elements present, the decision was made to give it another chance.
“In this case, the pilot didn’t work,” Pedowitz said. “But because we see there’s enough elements in there, we wanted to give it another shot. So that’s why we didn’t want to go forward with what we had. Tonally, it might’ve felt a little too campy. It didn’t feel as rooted in reality as it might’ve felt. But again, you learn things when you test things out. And so, in this case, we felt, let’s take a step back and go back to the drawing board.”
The CW’s Programming To Witness Major Changes
Following its acquisition by media conglomerate Nexstar in the previous year, The CW has undergone various changes in its programming. Last month, the network unveiled its fall 2023-2024 schedule, showcasing a lineup that includes a number of acquired series such as Son of a Critch, Run the Burbs, Children Ruin Everything, and Sullivan’s Crossing.
Notably, The CW has also revived 61st Street, a series that was previously canceled by AMC. In a recent announcement, it was revealed that The CW has acquired the first three seasons of The Chosen, a series depicting the life of Jesus. The show is set to premiere on Sunday, July 16th, and will run until Christmas Eve.
Source: Twitter
