The Librarians, which started as a series of three TV movies starring Noah Wyle for TNT in 2004, is heading home, twenty years later.
“It all started with a phone call I had with Sam Linsky at TNT.
He said they were all really jealous about the show,” showrunner Dean Devlin, who also runs Electric Entertainment, which makes the series, told Deadline.
I had a phenomenal conversation with the people at The CW, it took a little gymnastics, but they were really supportive.
He is given a new team to help him clean up the mess he made, forming a new team of Librarians.
While The CW had not previously contemplated selling The Librarians: The Next Chapter, it allows them to move into a new stage of business.
“The CW is incredibly proud to have worked alongside Dean Devlin and the entire team at Electric Entertainment to create an extraordinary continuation of The Librarians franchise,” Brad Schwartz, President of Entertainment at The CW, said.
It’s a first for CW Studios and we cannot wait for fans to experience this incredible next chapter.” The early renewal at TNT is also a boon for Electric Entertainment.
After three TV films featuring Noah Wyle for TNT in 2004, The Librarians is returning home after twenty years.
The CW, which had originally approved the spinoff series around May 2023, would now air it on TNT, it was revealed earlier this morning. The Librarians: The Next Chapter was a four-season spinoff of the series that ran through 2018.
According to Deadline, the show has also received a two-season order, comprising a first season of 12 episodes that have already been filmed and are in post-production, as well as a second season. In 2025, the first season will air.
A number of factors contributed to the move’s surprise, chief among them the Warner Bros. Following a brief hiatus, the Discovery Network announced its return to original scripted series.
“My conversation with TNT’s Sam Linsky over the phone was the beginning of it all. As I mentioned earlier, it was quite strange to be working on The Librarians without collaborating with someone who has been with the show since its inception in 2004. The showrunner Dean Devlin, who also oversees Electric Entertainment, the company that produces the series, told Deadline, “He said they were all really jealous about the show.”. He then called about five or six weeks ago and asked if there was any chance of moving the show from The CW to us. I said, ‘I don’t know, but that seems kind of amazing if that could happen,’ to which he replied. The CW staff and I had an amazing conversation; it required some acrobatics on their part, but they were incredibly encouraging. They knew it was a fantastic opportunity to bring the show home. “.
Callum McGowan portrays a Librarian from the past who time traveled to the present and is now stuck here in The Librarians: The Next Chapter, which chronicles the adventures of the keepers of a magical repository housing the most potent and dangerous supernatural artifacts in the world. Unknowingly releasing magic across the continent, he returns to his castle, which is now a museum. He forms a new team of librarians to assist him in tidying up the mess he caused.
Along with Caroline Loncq, who will guest star alongside Christian Kane, who will play Jacob Stone once more, Jessica Green, Olivia Morris, and Bluey Robinson also star.
It is an unusual arrangement because networks, like The CW, are generally reluctant to cede the rights to a show that they have approved and paid for, especially if that content is going to a competitor broadcaster.
Devlin described the agreement as “amazing.”. “The CW proved to be an excellent collaborator. We needed to find a way to pay back the costs and give them a share of the profits. They looked after us. We made an effort to tend to them. I believe that everyone is pleased with the arrangement,” he continued.
The CW enters the studio industry for the first time with this move. Ever since Nexstar bought Warner Bros. the majority of the business. as well as CBS, which has been actively exploring new business models. As a result of this agreement, The CW Studios is established, a structure that will allow it to produce its own projects, including collaborations with Canadian broadcasters on programs like Wild Cards.
The Librarians: The Next Chapter is a business that The CW can now enter into, even though they had not previously considered selling it.
“Brad Schwartz, President of Entertainment at The CW, said, “The CW is immensely proud to have collaborated with Dean Devlin and the entire team at Electric Entertainment to create an amazing continuation of The Librarians series.”. We’re overjoyed that TNT, the original network of the series, thinks highly of it and finds great value in introducing it to their viewership. We are thrilled for fans to witness this amazing next chapter, which is a first for CW Studios. “.
Electric Entertainment is also benefiting from the early TNT renewal. “At a certain point, contracts expire.”. “We know you need to get back in production pretty soon,” they said, expressing their love and desire for the show, according to Devlin.
Finding a streaming partner for the program is the next task for Devlin and his group.
“We’re just going to start buying right now. We were told to “Shut up” whenever we discussed what to do about streaming and AVOD since this move was obviously so massive that it took up all of our thoughts. However, we’re going to start speaking with streamers as our next step,” he continued.
The third season of Devlin’s Electric Entertainment is presently in production. Other shows produced by the company include The Ark, which has aired on Syfy for two seasons, and Leverage: Redemption on Amazon Freevee, a spinoff of another show that aired on TNT.
There’s a “very interesting window right now for linear television,” he stated.
“The world of streaming is in such disarray right now. A significant portion of the audience, in my opinion, simply says, “I want to turn on the TV when I get home.”. “I don’t want to spend forty minutes arguing with my wife over what to watch,” he remarked. Though there are always doomsday predictions and a general decline in cable subscriptions, I have a slightly different perspective. I believe that we didn’t support linear in the way we ought to have because there was such an emphasis on streaming. People are going to be shocked by the outcomes, in my opinion, as we are just now beginning to. “.
Along with Noah Wyle, Rachel Olschan-Wilson of Electric Entertainment, and Marc Roskin, Devlin serves as the executive producer of the show.
