The CW will air three seasons of a show about Jesus Christ
By Dan Selcke
Over the past few years, The CW has spent its time brutally canceling pretty much all of its scripted series as the network pivots under new owner Nexstar. And now, if it wants to make new scripted series, it can’t on account of the Hollywood writers strike. What’s a network in search of a new identity to do?
Simple: find Jesus. The A.V. Club reports that The CW will air the first three seasons of The Chosen, a crowd-funded series about the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Executive Brad Schwartz said The Chosen was “based on the biggest IP of all time,” which…is it offensive to call Christianity an “IP”? It feels dicey. Let’s move on.
The Chosen is not a brand new show. It was created by filmmaker Dallas Jenkins, the son of Jerry B. Jenkins, one of the authors behind the Christian book series Left Behind. Dallas Jenkins was inspired to make The Chosen after “binge-watching some shows” and thinking, “There’s never actually been a multi-season show about the life of Christ,” as he told Fox News.
The Chosen will air on The CW
Jenkins crowd-funding the first season of the show, which stars Jonathan Roumie as Jesus. It was initially released by VidAngel, a company best known for allowing people to strip the sex, violence and profanity out of Hollywood movies. It picked up steam during the pandemic, and episodes are now available to watch on Netflix, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video and elsewhere.
There are seven seasons of The Chosen planned with three released so far. The CW will start airing episodes on Sunday, July 16, with the third season finale airing on Christmas Day.
This feels like a pretty savvy move on The CW’s part, especially given that work on new scripted shows is at a standstill right now. I can see it turning into an event.
dark. Next. What would happen in Game of Thrones season 9?
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels