Our comprehensive coverage of the TV network upfront presentations this week in New York concludes with a look at CW's plans for the 2012-13 season. View all upfronts coverage here
In a nutshell
Thursday, the CW became the fifth and final broadcast network to reveal its fall plans. Some highlights:
- With the exception of The Vampire Diaries, every one of the CW's seven returning programs will air either on a new night or at a new time (or both).
- Bubble shows Hart of Dixie, Nikita, 90210, and Gossip Girl all survived to live another year, though the upcoming season of Gossip Girl will be its last.
- The network has canceled Secret Circle and Ringer. Those shows, along with the previously axed H8R and the just-concluded One Tree Hill, will not return next season.
- The CW's fall season will begin later this year—in October, rather than the usual September.
- Among the network's five new programs (all dramas) for the upcoming season are a prequel to Sex and the City (The Carrie Diaries) and a drama featuring comic book hero Green Arrow (Arrow). However, the CW passed on an ambitious, Hunger Games-esque drama pilot called The Selection.
- The CW will once again be entirely comedy-free next season.
Below, we take a closer look at the CW's projected schedule, followed by descriptions for each of the network's new programs.
The CW's primetime schedule
New programs are indicated in bold in the schedule below. All times are ET/PT unless otherwise indicated.
| 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MON | 90210 | Gossip Girl * | ||
| TUE | Hart of Dixie | Emily Owens, M.D. | ||
| WED | Arrow | Supernatural | ||
| THU | The Vampire Diaries | Beauty and the Beast | ||
| FRI | America's Next Top Model | Nikita | ||
The CW's new programs
First-year series on CW's schedule during the 2012-13 season include:
ArrowArrow
Part of the network's supernatural action-themed Wednesday lineup, Arrow stars Stephen Amell (Hung) as the DC Comics hero Green Arrow in a dark, "harder-edged" modern retelling of the billionaire-turned-crimefighter tale. The series comes from Greg Berlanti (No Ordinary Family) and Marc Guggenheim (TV's Eli Stone, writer for DC and Marvel), with David Nutter (Supernatural, Game of Thrones) directing.
Beauty & The BeastBeauty & The Beast
This spring, both ABC and the CW had competing Beauty & The Beast projects in development, but only the latter network gave theirs the green light. This one, a remake of the CBS series of the same name, is basically a crime procedural set in present-day New York. Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) stars at the beauty, who doubles as a homicide detective, while Jay Ryan (Terra Nova) is the beast, a once-handsome doctor who now turns ghastly but super powerful when enraged. The new show will follow hit Vampire Diaries on the network's new creature-themed Thursday lineup.
The Carrie DiariesThe Carrie Diaries
Based on Candace Bushnell's novel, The Carrie Diaries is a prequel to HBO's long-running comedy Sex and the City that centers on a young Carrie Bradshaw as a high school student in 1980s New York City. Unlike the HBO show, this one will be an hour-long drama, however. AnnaSophia Robb (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Soul Surfer) stars as the young Carrie. The series will air on Mondays at 9p beginning in January.
CultCult
Created by TV sci-fi veteran Rockne S. O'Bannon (Farscape), this midseason drama (day/time tbd) centers on an investigative reporter who begins researching a popular TV show about cults (also called Cult) that itself may be inspiring some cult-like behavior, and could be related to the mysterious disappearance of his own brother. Matt Davis (The Vampire Diaries), Jessica Lucas (Melrose Place) and Robert Knepper (Prison Break) star.
Emily Owens, M.D.Emily Owens, M.D.
Are other TV hospital dramas too adult for you? The second half of the CW's new medical-themed Tuesday night lineup is Emily Owens, M.D., which centers on a first-year intern at a Denver hospital who finds that life as a grown-up at her new job isn't all that different from high school (where, as a nerd, she didn't quite fit in). Meryl Streep's daughter Mamie Gummer (Off the Map) stars as Emily, while Justin Hartley (Smallville) co-stars as her med-school crush-turned-co-worker.
