Everwood: Cancelled or Renewed?

Like many of the shows on the UPN and the WB, the recently-announced network merger has left Everwood fans hanging. With only half as much airtime to fill, execs at the new CW network have some tough choices to make. Shows like Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls and Smallville seem like a shoe-in for return but a show like Everwood has a less than certain fate.

The first CW schedule won’t be released for quite awhile but the future doesn’t look promising for the drama series for a couple reasons. Everwood hasn’t shown great numbers and has been off the air for months. The latter is in part due to the fact that reruns of the show typically don’t do well in the ratings. In addition, Everwood creator Greg Berlanti recently signed a three-year production deal with competing studio Disney. Though he’ll be busy with other projects, Berlanti reportedly expressed hope that the show will see a fifth season.

Fortunately for viewers, Executive Producer Rina Mimoun isn’t taking chances. It’s been said that she’s preparing two alternate scripts for this season’s final show — a season finale and a series finale — so that show fans won’t be left hanging if the show doesn’t return.

The Treat Williams drama is scheduled to return to the WB airwaves on March 27, 2006 with the remaining new episodes of the 2005-06 season.