Walker renewed for season 4 by The CW, but Walker: Independence has been cancelled

In years past, The CW was a little trigger-happy with renewals, but now that Nexstar Media Group has a majority stake in the company… those days are gone. While we have seen many CW shows get the axe over the past year, some have continued, including Jared Padalecki’s reimagining of Walker, Texas Ranger. The CW announced today that Walker has been renewed for season 4 but with a decreased episode count.

Walker season 4 will consist of 13 episodes, placing it behind seasons 1 and 3, which had 18, and season 2, which had 20. “I’m so excited and grateful to continue the ‘Walker’ legacy for another season alongside our partners at CBS Studios and The CW,” Jared Padalecki said in a statement. “We can’t wait to make Season 4 bigger and better than ever and to lasso even more fans into the ‘Walker’ family. Let’s ride!” Padalecki stars as Cordell Walker, “a widower and father or two with his own moral code, who returns home to Austin, TX, after being undercover for two years, only to discover that there’s harder work to be done at home.“

In addition to Jared Padalecki, Walker also stars Ashley Reyes, Keegan Allen, Mitch Pileggi, Molly Hagan, Violet Brinson, Kale Culley, Coby Bell, Jeff Pierre, and Odette Annable. “Over the past three seasons, ‘Walker’ has become the top performing series on The CW with a passionate fanbase and a fantastic cast and creative team led by Jared Padalecki, who has now been a leading man on the network for over twenty years,” said Brad Schwartz, president of entertainment for The CW. “As we build a great big new future for The CW, we are thrilled to be staying in business with our partners at CBS Studios and we cannot wait to have ‘Walker’ back on the schedule.“

Nextar has been focusing more on unscripted programming, which doesn’t bode well for the show’s remaining scripted dramas. One of those dramas is Walker: Independence, a prequel series which takes place in the late 1800s and follows Abby Walker (Katherine McNamara), an affluent Bostonian whose husband is murdered before her eyes while on their journey out West. At the moment, there’s no word on whether Walker: Independence will be renewed as well. No sooner than I posted this that it was announced that Walker: Independence had been cancelled after one season.