Upfronts; The CW

Last but not least (except for ratings) is The CW, which has become the traditional cap to network upfronts. Hey, whatever gets you out to JFK or Newark on time.

Who Stays? Who Goes?

No surprises here, as the notable cuts - 90210, Gossip Girl, Cult and Emily Owens M.D. were either expected to end or were dropped from the schedule early on. Supernatural is back for a ninth season - no word on it being a final season. Nikita, though, will be back at some point to wrap things up over six episodes.


What's Coming?

Monday - Hart of Dixie and Beauty and the Beast move to Monday, the younger female option to Dancing With the Stars and Castle on ABC.

Tuesday - Opens with The Originals, which follows the original vampire family as its patriarch tries to uncover a plot to destroy him that may involve other family members. It's a spin-off of Vampire Diaries, as you might imagine. It's followed by a relocated Supernatural.

Wednesday - Arrow stays here to open the night, followed by The Tomorrow People, an adaptation of a British show about genetically-advanced teens who develop powers like telekinesis, transportation, and so on. Sounds like a younger version of Heroes, but hopefully without the dopey and melodramatic opening voice overs.

Thursday - Starts with The Vampire Diaries and ends with Reign, which follows a teenaged Mary, Queen of Scots, as she travels with her ladies in waiting to France to see the prince she's been arranged to marry. I never quite thought of The CW as a home for period drama, but a little Tudors-lite bodice ripping may be a nice change of pace.

Friday - The Carrie Diaries move here and gets paired with America's Next Top Model. I'm less surprised by the pairing than the night, but looking at the numbers The Carrie Diaries never quite caught on, so Friday it is, though I'd imagine the target demo for the show will be at the mall (time to count the DVR viewers!).

No specific date is given for the 20th cycle of ANTM, but I'm seeing summer 2013 everywhere, so I'm assuming it'll run into the fall. Same judges, etc. as the last time, but the models will include men for the first time. It's a nice wrinkle, though I wonder if they should have interspersed regular and themed cycles to goose ratings and not create an expectation for themed cycles (this being the fourth one in a row).

Kicking around for mid-season are Star Crossed (a teen-centered aliens openly live on Earth drama that's reminiscent of Alien Nation and District 9), The 100 (a group of juvenile delinquents is sent from a space station to repopulate a nuclear disaster-ravaged Earth), and The CW's annual horrific attempt at a reality show, Famous in 12 (an everyday family has 12 weeks to become famous, or at least CW-level famous). 

The Verdict?

I suppose The CW has met their goal of bringing in new programming that will appeal to its desired demo of younger females. How wrong can you go with more vampires and young princesses? Friday is worrisome, but Friday is the one night where having slightly lower ratings is expected. I don't think any of the new shows will be the next Gossip Girl, but I don't think they'll be the next Emily Owens, either.