Powerless Abruptly Pulled From NBC’s Weekly Slate

NBC has unceremoniously pulled Powerless from its weekly slate, fuelling rumors that the DC spinoff series is on the verge of cancellation.

First spotted by ComicBook, the network has quietly reshuffled its slate of programming so that this week will herald a new episode of Superstore – the workplace comedy starring America Ferrera, Ben Feldman, Mark McKinney and Lauren Ash – in the same slot once occupied by Powerless. We should stress that this switcheroo doesn’t necessarily mean that NBC is ready to pull the plug on Ben Queen’s superhero sitcom, but it doesn’t exactly look good, does it? Couple this with the fact that Powerless wasn’t renewed alongside its fellow NBC series – namely The Blacklist and Shades of Blue – and it seems as though the show’s days on the air are numbered.

Patrick Schumacker, writer-producer at Warner Bros. Television and one of the many executive producers currently overseeing Powerless, took to Twitter to offer a status report. In a separate Tweet, Schumacker later clarified that the scheduling change and impending Writers Guild strike are completely unrelated.

#Powerless will not air this week or next. This, I know for sure. I can guess some other things but they're not good. Thanks for watching.

— Patrick Schumacker (@PMSchumacker) April 25, 2017

Hopefully those two will air at a TBD time.

— Patrick Schumacker (@PMSchumacker) April 25, 2017

Headed up by Vanessa Hudgens, Alan Tudyk, Danny Pudi and Ron Funches, Powerless was ordered straight to series in May of 2016, and so far nine of the show’s 11 episodes have premiered on the small screen. That still leaves two installments – namely “No Consequence Day” and “Win, Luthor, Draw” – up in the air, though we fully expect Patrick Schumacker and the Powers That Be over at Warner Bros. TV to announce a revised scheduling plan once the kinks have been ironed out, so stay tuned for more.

Despite a relatively solid pilot episode, Powerless has struggled to retain much of an audience. Critics have gone similarly cold on the series, deeming it to be generic, lousy and, ultimately, a waste of potential. As always, we’ll have more for you on this story as it develops.