It’s that time of year! It’s when I start getting questions about The CW and how in the world they’re going fill just ten hours of programming with a slate of mostly shaky at best selections (yes, exclude Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries). In other words, it’s time for the annual “Be the CW scheduling executive” game. Considering Dawn Ostroff is on her way out, you have a scapegoat now should you fail. Oh wait, she always was!
Last year surprisingly was a load of fun. Sure, it ended up that Supernatural was moved out of Thursday to Friday, something we all saw coming a mile away, but hey, we had fun debating it! We also figured that 90210 and Gossip Girl was the dream pairing and it came true, meaning that I only needed to avoid my CW station on Monday, not Monday and Tuesday! Also, we were biting our nails over whether or not One Tree Hill would return. Oh yeah, that anticipation was rough.
This year, the picture is even murkier! Here are the variables:
- There are two shows going out, Life Unexpected and Smallville, opening at minimum two new slots.
- America’s Next Top Model, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Gossip Girl, and 90210 are considered sure things. Rumors are swirling that Supernatural might move from it’s current slot though. Sure, the leading candidate is Fridays at 8pm instead of 9pm, but hey, we’ve gotta make the game fun.
- One Tree Hill is considered a wild card. It has the ratings, but rumors have swirled that the actors and producers don’t want to do the show anymore. Do you bring it back for a 13 episode swan song or deep six it now?
- Here’s the latest intel about the pilots underway right now (courtesy of Nellie Andreeva at Deadline.com):
With Smallville ending, Life Unexpected gone and both freshmen Nikita and Hellcats on the bubble, the CW would probably pick up 2-3 new series.
Word is CW brass like the young attorney-angel pairing in HEAVENLY and another duo, the fashion-loving young female cops in COOPER & STONE.
Zombie drama AWAKENING has had a lot of fans since the script stage, while, despite not delivered yet, witch tale THE SECRET CIRCLE is riding high on the strength of its showrunner Kevin Williamson.
HART OF DIXIE: I hear there have been issues with the medical drama starring Rachel Bilson. First, while gorgeous on screen, I hear Bilson is not particularly believable as a doctor (she delivers a baby in the pilot no less!).
DANNI LOWINSKI: Early bird did not catch the worm in this case as I hear this pilot ordered early on is not looking good.
(http://www.deadline.com/2011/04/primetime-pilot-panic-early-buzz-edition/)
- Want to really put some over-thinking into this game? Ratings for Gossip Girl and 90210 have really nosedived this year. Rumors are that the cast of Gossip Girl are eager to move on after their contracts are up and 90210 just lost it’s showrunner. So, if you’re picking from pilots, do you pick try to plan for something that could replace them after another year? Especially if there are two pilots among the list you just can’t pass up? Plus, you think the new boss is going to favor Dawn’s failing teen soaps? We all know soaps aren’t doing so hot right now.
- Okay, here’s a bold prediction. Will the CW exist? Considering none of their shows have been renewed and there’s nothing but radio silence (okay crickets chirping) on the search for a replacement, you think TPTB will just give up? Personally, I don’t think that’ll happen next season, but it’s entirely possible a couple years down the road. So, pilots you pick now are important !
- So how would you fix The CW’s midseason problem? Could any of these potential new series combined with the old ones do that?
I’ll give you my analysis to start off with:
Mondays:
8:00 Gossip Girl
9:00 90210
These two are perfect together! Their sinking in the ratings is directly proportional! They’re definitely meant to go down in trashy harmony (yes, you’re allowed to call me a pompous bitch for that). Mondays stays in tact because, well, do you really think anything would attract you to this network on Monday? It’s busy enough.
One possibility is Hellcats and/or One Tree Hill are renewed for 13 episodes only and worked in with rotation with these two. After all, they repeat terribly.
Wednesdays:
8:00 America’s Next Top Model
9:00 Hellcats (13 episodes), One Tree Hill (13 episodes)
or Cooper and Stone
Of course, if they do the 13 episodes thing on Mondays, what does go here? Nikita is the polar opposite of the ANTM demographic. It’s my guess, another pilot will be tried (and will likely fail, which helps if Hellcats and One Tree Hill are on the bench). Although, maybe Awakenings will work. Tyra Banks is practically a zombie herself, so the pairing might fit. (I kid, I kid)
Thursdays:
8:00 The Vampire Diaries
9:00 The Secret Circle
Unless Kevin Williamson’s pilot of The Secret Circle comes back a total stinker, how can this not be the pairing? Same author, same genre, same executive producer.
Nikita has to get out of the 9pm slot. Even though the overall ratings are somewhat decent, Nikita loses half of The Vampire Diaries lead in with 18-34 women and .5 or more in 18-49 and 18-34 and often 50 percent in viewers. These shows are clearly not compatible. This is exactly why Supernatural was bounced out of the timeslot last year. Which brings us to…
Tuesdays:
8:00 ?
9:00 ?
It’s the wild card night. Or if you’re a Big Bang Theory fan, call it “Anything Can Happen” night!
And…
Fridays!
8:00 Supernatural or other show
or
9:00 Supernatural or other show
Tuesdays and Fridays need to be discussed together. Believe it or not, Fridays has been The CW’s big success story this season. Smallville and Supernatural have always been the perfect pairing and from a demo perspective, their ratings are identical. Plus they’ve consistently strong every week. However, no matter how much we wish for that Justice League spinoff, Smallville has run it’s course. So, what show could you possibly pair with Supernatural on Fridays?
Nikita is a leading candidate because its ratings across the board match Supernatural’s (Okay, Nikita has actually been slightly less but they attract the same audiences). However, do you burn a second year show off on a Friday? You can on The CW, since that isn’t the death night that it is on other networks. The CW often competes!
Awakenings is supposedly a good pairing (Heavenly’s description sounds right, but it probably doesn’t have the darkness Supernatural does), but tell me, you want to try a new series on Fridays? I know it’s a strong night for The CW, but wow, that’s a bold move. Only established series have proven to gain an audience on that night on any network. However, the rule is if you want to premiere a series, it’s best to pair it with an established veteran. Supernatural as a lead in (yes 8 pm) would give it a boost, but then again, the Vampire Diaries didn’t use Supernatural as a lead in and did fine.
I’ve heard the arguments. Why not move Supernatural with one of the new pilots (Awakenings) to Tuesdays? The biggest risk is Supernatural is a proven winner on Fridays. The CW desperately needs that stability in the schedule. Plus, after the next season, Supernatural’s life span goes year to year (a common problem for all aging shows). Why establish it on Tuesdays if it doesn’t make it past season seven? Fridays does seem to be the best fit.
I also don’t see Nikita working with any of the pilots, except maybe Heavenly (don’t know much about it). So, what the hell do you do with Nikita? Fridays at 9pm with Supernatural at 8pm? Tuesdays at 9pm, with an odd pairing of One Tree Hill and/or Hellcats? Pair it with something new (Heavenly or Cooper and Stone)? Don’t renew it at all?
It does seem like The CW could end up with three Sci-Fi/Fantasy nights. Of course, they could also claim poverty and pair Supernatural on Fridays with an America’s Next Top Model repeat.
So what’s my prediction on Tuesdays and Fridays? I don’t know! I don’t think The CW can afford to pick up four new series. So I say Heavenly bites it, Nikita gets paired on Tuesdays with Cooper and Stone, and Supernatural tent poles Awakenings on Friday (if that’s the case, I think Supernatural stays at 9 pm). Opinion subject to change as more intel and over-thinking sets in.
Okay, prospective scheduling executives. What schedule would you build out of this mess? There’s a rule, you can’t use any series that isn’t listed above. I know that upsets you bitter Veronica Mars fans, but this mess is murky enough!
{jcomments on}
While I like your schedule, from a ratings standpoint I don’t see Hellcats and Nikita coming back… However; like you stated I don’t see them picking up more than 2-3 shows and like you said 90210 and GG will be back despite the lack luster ratings.
My Schedule:
Monday:
8pm: Nikita
9pm: Supernatural
(they need to move their shows around, if they plan on competing)
Tuesday:
8pm: OTH
9pm: Copper and Stone
Wednesday:
8pm: ANTM
9pm: Heavenly
Thursday:
8pm: VD
9pm: Secret Circle or Awakening
(I am not a big fan of either of these concepts, but either on could work out of VD)
Friday’s:
8pm: 90210
9pm: GG
(My reason is they are already tanking they could be used for a Friday Burn off)
Now honestly I don’t see them making that many moves; but they just can’t keep the schedule the same they will die a slow painful death…
Also could the CW pull a 7th heaven on Smallville if their pilots turn out like crap?
Any word on renewals yet, I would hope we heard something by now…
I’ll play! I don’t like SPN paired with Nikita. Just doesn’t seem to work content-wise even if it does demo wise.
I like Mondays the same as you …just to get those shows out of the mix and to keep all soaps on one day
Tuesdays: Total sci-fi night
8:00 The Secret Circle or Awakening
9:00 SPN
SPN always did well on Tuesdays, and I think the fan base would follow easily. I like the idea of a Sci-fi Tuesday and CW needs to start getting the idea out there that the soaps are leaving. Also it would be away from Fringe. I love to pair it with a witches/ zombies tales.
Wednesday:
8:00 Heavenly
9:00 Nikita (if cancelled) then Cooper and Stone
I would prefer two new shows but if Nikita isn’t cancelled I’d put it 9:00. Not doing well on Thursday can’t do any worse on Wednesday and maybe if Heavenly works, viewers would stick around for the next show. Attorneys and assassins/cops work
Thursday:
TVD
Awakening/Secret Circle
Vamps and witches/zombies work well too
Friday: the dead shows
8:00 America’s Next Top Model
9:00 Hellcats (13 episodes), One Tree Hill (13 episodes)
or Cooper and Stone if Nikita is renewed
Hate to waste a new show on Fridays and after ANTM but might work. I personally think they should cancel Nikita. Plot is very old.
OK, here we go! There’s no question in my mind that Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, America’s Next Top Model, Gossip Girl and 90210 are renewed for next year.
That’s 5 out of 10 slots. We have 3 bubble shows: One Tree Hill, Hellcats and Nikita. (Nikita & Hellcats because of ratings — if 1st year shows are so low already where do the ratings go in year 2?? OTH because of age, negotiations, etc.)
And as per the Deadline article, sounds like there are 4 pilots still in contention for pick-up: Secret Circle, Cooper & Stone, Heavenly and Awakening. It will be interesting to hear more about these – its hard to handicap without a lot of info.
So a total of 7 shows are in the mix for 5 available slots on the schedule.
It costs money to launch new shows and it costs money to promote schedule changes. I think that the CW will want to use its available promotion $ on launching new shows, not so much on schedule shifts. (I could be wrong about that – they might want to get TVD out from under Idol on Thursdays, but where to put it? Against Glee on Tuesdays? That’s kind of a frying pan/fire situation.)
Also, I’m kind of assuming that the CW won’t be doing much in midseason like this year but I think it would be possible that OTH would come back for a 13 episode finale starting in midseason and then they could use it to plug a hole in the schedule if one of the pilots tank.
Monday — stays the same
90210
Gossip Girl
Tuesday — If the Secret Circle is strong, it could be a self starter like TVD — a lot of factors go into figuring out whether the CW can afford to launch a whole new night on Tuesdays – if the pilots are good, I think they might try, if not we’ll see OTH and/or Hellcats back.
Secret Circle
Heavenly
Wednesday — fashion theme and the CW gets a procedural
ANTM
Cooper & Stone
Thursday there will be a new show after TVD –possibly Secret Circle or Heavenly
TVD
Awakening
Friday –Nikita did pretty well in repeats on Wed at 8, they won’t launch a new show on Fridays and I really doubt that they move SPN (and spend $ promoting the move)
Nikita
Supernatural
Well, there’s step one in my scheduling done!! The five shows I said for sure would be renewed today were renewed!!!
I’M SO HAPPY THAT SUPERNATURAL GOT SEASON SEVEN!!!!!!
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/04/28/mark-pedowitz-named-new-president-of-the-cw
So Mark is now President. What’s going to happen, I wonder?
Sorry, I meant to announce that earlier on this site and ugh, you know.
Mark Pedowitz is a very interesting choice. He’s tight with Bruce Rosenblum, president of Warner Brothers, so in the CBS/Warner Brothers power struggle now Warner Brothers gives the upper hand. As you may or may not recall, Dawn Ostroff was hand picked by Les Moonves, president of CBS, himself and was one of his favorite pets.
How will this change the network? For one, he’ll run a much tighter ship business wise. With Warner Brothers being favored, the bottom line is really going to mean a lot more. Pedowitz is accomplished in this regard. How does this affect a tiny netlet already coasting on fumes? Not sure, but I have a hunch they are going to try and aim higher. They need to make broader programming decisions yet appeal to the younger demographic. This netlet cannot afford any failures.
What about the existing shows? If they’re making money for Warner Brothers and CBS, they stay. That’s all there is to it! I think Mark Pedowitz has a huge incentive to make this network successful. If he does, that’ll boost him in the Warner Brothers organization. They have some potential high level shifts coming down the pike, so there’s room there.
So, in other words, I see a lot of promise in this choice, especially if it gives Warner Brothers control.
As soon as I saw that about MP’s ties to Warner Brothers I thought that would be a good thing for Supernatural – oh, and for the CW, of course. (which to me is pretty much one and the same!)
I always thought that CBS tinkered too much. How is that not a conflict of interest to have Nancy Tellum overseeing scheduling for both? Certainly the CW never derived any benefit I could see from being a sister network to CBS — unless you count them airing Moonlight, and I don’t, since all it did was PO the Moonlight fans when the CW didn’t pick it up.
The article on Deadline was very interesting – apparently Dawn is President of Entertainment and she had a co-honcho (that I never heard of) MP is going to be President and the co-honcho will answer to MP IF he stays. And the marketing genius that gave us “Catch VD” as a slogan for The Vampire Diaries is leaving also. I have high hopes for this change-up — both for Supernatural’s longevity and for some programming choices that I hope to find more interesting than retreads of 90’s shows I never watched.
P.S. One Tree Hill and Nikita are straight up WB productions. Hellcats is a hybrid of CBS Studios and WB – wonder if that will make a difference for renewal?
Also Secret Circle, Awakening and Hart of Dixie are WB pilots.
Tighter ship, eh? Well, I’ve no idea what CW was doing with their budget but some of their attempts did seem quite wasteful.
So, here’s a qn: IF CW is running out of money, how would it survive? I don’t think WB or CBS will pump in any additional money, right? Also, they’re better off axing most or all of their reality TV series asap, apart from the ones already renewed. They’d better not cut the budgets for Supernatural or maybe TVD, though. However, I sometimes wonder whether it’s got to do with sets or say, cars, on certain shows. If they stopped doing shows that are fashioned around rich kids, that could cut a lot of money. 😛
Okay, I’m going to tinker with my line up based on Deadline’s latest Primetime Pilot Panic article:
Monday
90210
Gossip Girl
Tuesday
OTH
Heavenly
Wednesday
ANTM
Cooper & Stone OR Hart of Dixie
(one or the other of these Pilots will be picked up, not both)
Thursday
TVD
Secret Circle OR Awakening
(one or the other of these Pilots will be picked up, not both)
Friday
Nikita
Supernatural
WOW – here’s a twist!! The CW just picked up SMG’s pilot Ringer!! Wow – didn’t see THAT coming!!!
I wonder if Ringer will anchor a night?
Yes, I predict Tuesdays with Nikita. They seem like a perfect pairing. I love this bold move. The CW needs more!
As long as they don’t pair SPN with Nikita. That just doesn’t work for me.
I know nothing about Ringer. I heard they were picking up 4 pilots, wonder what the other 3 will be.
The 4 pilots wasn’t a given. It was rumor. They still might pick up 4 pilots and Ringer. There’s doubt about Ringer now, but I don’t buy it. It seems ABC Studios was a partner in the show and pulled out when The CW picked it up instead of CBS. It’s my guess Pedowitz knew that would happen ahead of time and probably has a backup plan. We’ll see!
I would guess that either CBS will go it alone or Warner Bros will take over for ABC. I can’t see the CW having a show produced by anybody other than CBS & WB, at least for another year.