Even though most The CW's lineup is on its midseason break, the network has just handed out early renewals to seven TV shows ahead of their return later this month. Arrow, The Flash, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Jane The Virgin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Supernatural will all be back with a new season for the 2017/2018 schedule.

CW president Mark Pedowitz made the announcement and echoed his sentiment from last year that the early pick-up will allow the creative teams to plan ahead.

“Over the past several seasons, The CW has built a schedule of proven performers, from our lineup of DC superheroes, to critically acclaimed comedies, to sci-fi dramas. Early pickups of these seven series now allow our producers to plan ahead for next season, and gives us a solid base to build on for next season, with original scripted series to roll out all year long.”

While it comes as no surprise that the DC slate and the unstoppable Supernatural are all coming back for more, the renewal of critical darling Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is unexpected considering its low ratings. The darkly tinged musical comedy from Rachel Bloom & Aline Brosh McKenna is addictive viewing and utterly hilarious, but the second season has struggled to find a bigger audience.

Mark Pedowitz defended the decision to renew the series and was keen to point out that the "numbers" had little influence on why they're sticking with it.

"When you have great critical work and a critically acclaimed and [award-]nominated show like [Crazy Ex-Girlfriend], it deserves to be picked up. It has nothing to do with numbers. It has everything to do with [how] Crazy Ex, Jane the Virgin and the DC franchises have helped alter the perception of what The CW has become."

We'll have to wait until May to find out if iZombie, The Originals and The 100 will be renewed, but it looks like it could be the end of the road for No Tomorrow and Frequency. Both shows failed to secure a full season last year and were suspiciously absent from the mass renewal list. Frequency has a slightly better chance due to its solid performance on demand and a modest fanbase in Europe thanks to Netflix.