The Walker Texas Ranger reboot is getting the boot after four seasons.
Bad news for fans of Walker, the Walker, Texas Ranger reboot starring former C&I cover star Jared Padalecki. The CW network announced Tuesday that the show — one of the few remaining scripted dramatic series on the network’s schedule — had been canceled after a four-season run.
“We want to thank the entire cast, crew, writers, directors and producers of Walker for their hard work and dedication over four incredible seasons,” the network said in a statement. “We also want to give a special thanks to star and executive producer Jared Padalecki, who has been a member of The CW family for over 20 years” — counting his time with the long-running Supernatural — “and was integral to some of the biggest hits on the network.”
On Instagram, Padelecki wrote in part: “It has been a unique honor to be a part of the cast and crew (and fandom!) that helped Walker tell the stories that we told. I will forever smile on the years I got to spend with the cast and crew and studio and network and fandom that made this all possible.”
The showbiz trade paper Variety noted: “The move to cancel the show is not surprising, as it was one of the few remaining original series that predated Nexstar taking over The CW. The network’s new owners have largely done away with original scripted series, opting instead to focus on low-cost foreign imports and co-productions as well as sports and unscripted series.”
And even though Walker was one of the most-watched shows on the network, “sources say the cost of the show compared to other recent CW series made it too costly a proposition to continue.”
For the record: Walker is more of an update than a remake of Walker, Texas Ranger, the 1993-2001 CBS series starring Chuck Norris in the title role of a Lone Star State lawman who spoke softly and carried a big kick. As Padalecki explained to C&I during a break in Season 1 location filming in Austin: “My Walker, the Cordell Walker that I play, has nothing in common with Chuck Norris’ Walker — other than the name. And so our show is a reimagining more than a remake. And it’s very timely. It exists in our current moments, in our current state of political dichotomy and awareness of racial inequality. And it has a socially conscious way of asking, ‘Hey, is everything working the way it should be?’ From the top down and from the bottom up. And so, while we’re similar in name, I suppose this rose smells in a completely different way.”
At the height of its popularity on CW, Walker spawned a spinoff series, a Western prequel titled Walker: Independence and set in 1880s Texas. Unfortunately, it lasted only for a single season of 13 episodes.
