The CW's Hit 8-Part Sports Drama Officially Marks The End Of An Era

The CW was once the top place to be on network TV for original teen dramas and superhero action, but that era is on the verge of ending this summer. All American, the high school football drama that brought Taye Diggs to the network, will wrap at the conclusion of the upcoming eighth season. The series finale won’t just mark the end of a show, which was strong enough to launch a spinoff at its height. The finale will also be end of The CW’s last original series.

All American is the last show standing from what was arguably The CW’s final golden era. The drama, which premiered in 2018, overlapped with fan-favorite projects like Riverdale, The 100, Legacies, Walker, and every Arrowverse TV show. With eight seasons, it will also go down as one of the network’s longest running shows. Only Supernatural and The Flash lasted for longer, while All American will tie with Arrow and The Vampire Diaries. Shows like Smallville and One Tree Hill spent most of their runs on The WB before the switch to The CW.

While the CW does still offer a few scripted shows, they’re not fully owned by the network like All American. The good news is that the network is giving the drama the sendoff that it deserves, starting with a two-hour season 8 premiere event on July 13. Viewers don’t have to be football fans to enjoy All American, and there’s still enough time to check out the first seven seasons, which are available streaming on Netflix now.

Why The CW No Longer Has Original Programming

Bachelor and bachelorette parties in All American season 6

On the long list of The CW’s original series that have ended over the years, it’s no coincidence that a slew of them were cancelled in 2022 and 2023. The network, which had been co-owned at a loss by Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, was purchased by Nexstar Media Group in late 2022. The change was a long time coming, after the $1 billion streaming deal with Netflix lapsed in 2019, and the co-owners shifted content to their own streaming platforms.

The change also led to an overhaul. Perry Sook, Nexstar’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented at the time that the plan was to apply “strict financial standards to operating The CW,” and that the acquisition would enable Nexstar “to leverage our operational experience to improve the Network’s performance.” Part of the approach was to change the lineup into a combination of scripted and unscripted content that would appeal to a larger audience, as opposed to holding on to The CW’s traditional younger demographic. The goal was for The CW to become profitable under Nexstar leadership by 2025.

In the long run, that approach translated to reducing overhead costs by cutting down on homegrown content. According to The Hollywood Reporter in 2023, cancelling original shows eliminated the costly licensing fees that were being paid to CBS Studios and Warner Bros. for the originals. Now, as of 2026, Nexstar’s cost-cutting has resulted in a lineup almost entirely made up of unscripted series, co-productions (like Sullivan’s Crossing and Sherlock & Daughter), sports programming, and acquired shows (including Citytv’s Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent and ABC’s The Conners). Original programming, like All American, was just too pricy for Nexstar’s business model.

All American Is The CW’s Last Big Success (For Now)

Taye Diggs as Billy Baker in All American season 5

All American has been a hig for The CW, and outlasted all the other original scripted programming by nearly two full years. The drama was helped in the very beginning by recruiting Taye Diggs, a Private Practice star, to a lead role. The CW earned a reputation for launching young and largely unknown actors into the limelight, so the shows often benefited by including at least one star who was already widely known.

All American Season 8 Release Date & Time Jump Details Officially Confirmed

It’s the end of an era for The CW, as All American season 8 announces its premiere date and a special retrospective to celebrate the sports drama.

Casting a well-known actor worked for The Flash with Jesse L. Martin, Legends of Tomorrow with Victor Garber, and Riverdale with Luke Perry, and certainly didn’t hurt All American with Diggs. The success of All American even extended beyond The CW. The drama was reportedly enough of a hit on streaming that Warner Bros. wanted the show to continue as part of the deal with Nexstar.

It remains to be seen if The CW will ever be a home for scripted originals again, or if that era is truly over for good with the end of All American. The network was never profitable when co-owned by Paramount and Warner Bros., and was instead used as a platform for originals that would do well in foreign markets and on streaming services. Nexstar’s goal has been to turn a profit on The CW, so a return to original programming is unlikely for the foreseeable future.