Walker Independence 'Aggressively' Looking for New Home Following CW Cancellation, EP Jared Padalecki Says
Walker Independence may ride again.
Just one day after The CW cancelled the Walker prequel spinoff, Jared Padalecki — who serves as an executive producer on both shows — tells TVLine that efforts are underway to find the Western drama a new home for Season 2.
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“We are aggressively looking for a place that Walker Independence can land,” Padalecki says. He describes the show’s axing after just one season as “unfortunate,” but remains hopeful that it will live on at another outlet. “I think cancelled is maybe the most common word used, but I think a better way to look at it is that Walker Independence will not be on The CW next year.”
“I’m so proud of Walker Independence. It’s such a great show. I think it’s a show that’s needed,” Padalecki adds. “We absolutely are thrilled about the show, proud of the show, and we all feel like it belongs somewhere people can see it. We love the cast. We love the writing. We love the setting. We love the storylines that it’s telling. It’s storylines unlike any other ‘Western’ show on TV or streaming right now.”
In a finale interview with TVLine, showrunner Seamus Kevin Fahey also said there is a Plan B to find the show a new home if The CW does not pick up the series for Season 2.
“If The CW isn’t ready to move forward, what are the other options? So naturally, it would lead to that,” Fahey shared. “No one wants it to go away, long story short. We’re going to do what we can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“We have a lot of support at [CBS Studios]. Everyone loves the show. We’re all proud of what we did on the show,” Fahey continued.
An origin story set in the late 1800s, Independence followed Abby Walker (Arrow‘s Katherine McNamara), an affluent Bostonian whose husband was murdered before her eyes while on their journey out West. On her quest for revenge, Abby crossed paths with lovable rogue Hoyt Rawlins (Matt Barr, playing an ancestor of his Walker character, also named Hoyt Rawlins). “Abby and Hoyt’s journey takes them to Independence, Texas, where they encounter diverse, eclectic residents running from their own troubled pasts and chasing their dreams,” reads the official synopsis. The resident of Independence “struggle with the changing world around them, while becoming agents of change themselves in a town where nothing is what it seems.”
The cast also included Katie Findlay (How to Get Away With Murder), Greg Hovanessian (Another Life, When Hope Calls), Lawrence Kao (Wu Assassins), Justin Johnson Cortez and Gabriela Quezada.
The show’s Season 1 finale aired on March 2 and concluded with a cliffhanger twist that set up a bigger threat and new mystery for a potential second season. (Get more scoop on the finale and what might still be ahead in our post-mortem interview.)
Walker Independence fans, where do you hope the spinoff lands?
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