The CW President On ‘Supergirl’ Expectations, Nina Dobrev’s Return to ‘The Vampire Diaries’, ‘Supernatural’

The CW is celebrating its 10th anniversary next month and network president Mark Pedowitz expressed his additional happiness over the TCA Award given to Crazy-Ex Girlfriend star/co-creator Rachel Bloom this past weekend as well as the network’s five Emmy nominations.

That said, he also lamented the lack of Emmy recognition for other shows and talent on the network. “I’m disappointed for Rachel and Gina [Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin] and the cast and Jennie [Snyder Urman, Jane‘s creator] and Aline [Brosh McKenna, Crazy co-creator] for not getting the recognition they truly deserve for this season.”

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Turning focus to the fall slate and Supergirl flying over from CBS, The CW now has a fourth DC series alongside Arrow, The Flash and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Could there be more? “We weren’t expecting to have four this season,” Pedowitz explained. “At this time there are no real discussions about any other superhero characters. The one thing about the Arrow-verse and for [exec producer Greg] Berlanti, that gives us stuff, we get to see all these characters. If someone pops, then you reexamine the situation but at this time there are no discussions for anything else.”

However, the network did announce the addition of a new DC animated series, Freedom Fighters: The Ray that will premiere on The CW’s digital channel, CW Seed, in 2017. While there’s no casting yet for the lead character, Pedowitz revealed we could see The Ray character in the live-action DC shows. “That is the intention to basically build out these animated shows into the Arrow-verse and be able to introduce them in any of the four shows.” It was also announced during the session that CW Seed would be adding episodes of past series Girlfriends, Everybody Hates Chris and The Game later this year.

With Supergirl‘s rating drop-off during its first season on CBS, Pedowitz shared his expectations for the series when it kicks off its second season on The CW in October. “There’s no question it probably will not do as well as it did on CBS, even at the end (of the first season). But whatever it does it will probably be either our number one or two show this season so that’s where my expectations are.”

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With the recent Comic-Con announcement of The Vampire Diaries coming to an end after the upcoming eighth season, there’s big hope that original cast member Nina Dobrev will be returning. “There are discussions going on with Nina,” said Pedowitz. “We’d love to have Nina back. She was great for The CW. She was integral for The Vampire Diaries. These are discussions that go on. Hopefully she’ll be back but should it not work out, Julie [Plec, executive producer] has planned a really great series finale that will satisfy fans.” Pedowitz acknowledged the shared mythology but said that he’s hopeful that spinoff The Originals will live on once TVD goes off the air.

Of the long-running series Supernatural, Pedowitz was not prepared to talk about the series coming to an end anytime soon. “Jared [Padalecki] and Jensen [Ackles], I believe, at least they seem, they’re very happy. I’m thrilled with the creative direction of the show,” he said. “If the ratings hold, the show could outlast my tenure in this chair.” Pedowitz is also “thrilled” that Rick Springfield is coming for an arc on the show in the new season.