Jared Padalecki announced the end of his show, Walker, in an emotional social media post weeks before the season 4 finale.
“Howdy y’all. It is with a heavy heart that I share this news with you. #Walker will not be airing on #CW for a fifth season,” the actor, 41, captioned an Instagram post on Tuesday, May 21. “It’s a tough piece of news to be sure, but we are SO thankful for the #WalkerFamily that has been built, both on set and off.”
Padalecki shared the message alongside a photo of a cowboy hat and coaster featuring a “W,” presumably representing the Walker family.
“After four seasons together, we have felt the love and support from the entire #WalkerFamily, and we will be forever grateful,” he continued. “Too often, we get to be the ones receiving the praise and gratitude and flattery and, all too often, we miss the opportunity to put it back where it belongs…WITH THE FANS!”
Padalecki went on to compare a feeling of “home” to his relationship with the show’s fans.
“Our gratitude and love for the entire #WalkerFamily will live forever. It has been a unique honor to be a part of the cast and crew (and fandom!) that helped #Walker tell the stories that we told,” his statement concluded. “I will forever smile on the years I got to spend with the cast and crew and studio and network and fandom that made this all possible. Til we ride again.”
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Walker — a reboot of the 1990s drama Walker, Texas Ranger — premiered on The CW in January 2021 with Padalecki in the titular role as Cordell Walker. The Supernatural alum also served as the show’s executive producer. (Padalecki also produced the show’s short-lived spinoff series Walker: Independence, which lasted for one season from October 2022 to March 2023.)
Throughout its four-season run, Walker primarily followed the title character’s return home after a two-year undercover assignment investigating the death of his wife, Emily Walker, who was played by Padalecki’s real-life wife, Genevieve Padalecki.
Ahead of the Walker season 4 premiere last month, Padalecki discussed the show’s “universal” viewership — and how proud that makes him.
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“I grew up watching Walker, Texas Ranger with Sir Chuck Norris, himself so that was a part of my childhood. For those who’ve seen the original and seen ours, this is obviously a very different show,” he told Collider in an April interview. “I’m certainly a fan of action movies and action shows and action books and action stories, but I found myself, after 15 years on Supernatural, which was very much based in family as well, wanting something that anybody of any age could watch.”
He added, “More often than not, I love that I’ve had parents come up to me and talk about how Walker, though the situation is different because he’s a widower, is going through life and trying to figure out his kids while they’re changing, and he has to go to work because he has a job. There’s something universal about that struggle and that experience that seems to have really communicated and landed with people, no matter what their job is and what their family situation is.”
