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Lots of shows are leaving Netflix and headed to other streaming services. The recent sale of The CW to Nexstar, per The Hollywood Reporter, did little to change that as both Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery sought to bolster their own streaming services with larger libraries of content.

'The Originals' cast smiling
‘The Originals’ cast | Smallz+Raskind/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. via Getty Images

The Originals ended in 2018 after five seasons, and it features a family of vampires looking to reclaim their lost empire. The second spinoff of The Vampire Diaries, called Legacies, was canceled in April 2022 ahead of the network’s sale. 

What is the streaming fate of TVD and its two spinoffs?

Netflix couldn’t make up its mind for one show in the summer of 2022

What’s on Netflix reported that The Originals was removed from the streaming service on July 1, 2022. This was a bit before the five-year window elapsed following the end of the fifth season. Most contracts with The CW gave Netflix exclusive streaming rights for five years following the end of each series.

The move didn’t bode well for fans of The Vampire Diaries because it was slated to get the Netflix stake in the heart in September 2022.

It would make sense that The Originals would depart with the sale of the network (which was a long time coming). Plus, Netflix is trying to shore up its own original content produced by the streaming service by banking on already-proven franchises from someone else’s intellectual property.

Netflix is pinning its hopes on shows like the live-action One Piece and Avatar: The Last Airbender series. But just like when people try to kill vampires in secret tombs underneath a church in a small Virginia town, The Originals rose from the dead.

Then ‘The Originals’ was back faster than you can say ‘vervain’

Like a spell cast by Bonnie Bennett, The Originals was back on Netflix by Aug. 18, less than seven weeks after the streaming service pulled all five seasons of shows. What happened? It may have gotten renewed for another year, which follows the patterns of previous contracts.

The Vampire Diaries left Netflix in early September 2022 and moved to another streaming giant after Warner Bros, Discovery, and Paramount chose not to renew their agreements with Netflix in 2019. It makes sense because TVD ended in 2017, and 2022 is five years later.

By that math, The Originals will continue on Netflix until 2023 and Legacies will go until 2027, notes TV Line.

Where can fans get their ‘TVD’ fix now?

Related

‘The Vampire Diaries’: 1 Star Has Written for Both ‘The Originals’ and ‘Legacies’

Fans can move on over to HBO Max to watch The Vampire Diaries now. Unless of course, it goes batty and removes episodes suddenly, as it did to 200 episodes of Sesame Street alongside cutting episodes from 36 other titles, according to Variety. The streaming service claimed it was because of layoffs and corporate restructuring.

Our advice? If you love The Vampire Diaries and need to have the bloodthirsty action in your life, consider purchasing hard copies on Blu-ray. By this time next year, HBO Max might have pulled the curtain shut on other fan favorites.

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