CW’s 2012-13 schedule
Could this be the season The CW finally folds its tent and goes home?
The CW announced its new 2012-13 lineup Thursday during their upfront presentation in New York. CW has seven returning series and four new series – once again, all are dramas (CW has not aired any comedy since the 2008-09 season.)
Six of those returning dramas have new time periods – and instead of launching the new shows in September, CW is debuting the shows in October in hopes of avoiding repeats later on in the season.
A relocated 90210 leads off Monday night, followed by the final thirteen episode season of Gossip Girl. In January (assumingly) is midseason entry The Carrie Diaries, a prequel to Sex in the City, featuring a preteen Carrie.
Tuesday is medical drama night with Hart of Dixie followed by new drama Emily Owens, M.D. Wednesday night has previous Friday occupant Supernatural move to Wednesday to be paired up with new action drama Green Arrow, based on the popular DC comics book.
Thursday features The Vampire Diaries followed by the reboot of 1980’s cult favorite Beauty and The Beast, the CBS show that bolted both Linda Hamilton and Ron Pearlman into action film stardom.
Friday has a relocated and revamped America’s Next Top Model, with new judges and now an online component where fans (if any left) can vote for their favorites. Friday closes it with season three of Nikita.
In addition to Carrie, Cult is also slated for midseason.
As mentioned in a post last week, Ringer and The Secret Circle were canceled.
Thought: Yours truly isn’t really impressed with most of the schedule – however, I do like the pairing of Supernatural and The Green Arrow on Wednesdays – and best of all, CW isn’t shoving these more male-skewing shows on Friday on a network whose target is females 18-34, like they did Nikita (which is unfortunate.)
But outside of Wednesday, Vampire Diaries, and Nikita, the rest of the schedule is a joke. 90210, Gossip Girl, and America’s Next Top Model should not be returning at all.
Carrie Diaries? Ironically, Darren Star (the person behind Sex and The City and the original Beverly Hills, 90210), isn’t involved with this. Hey, you know those Star Wars prequels? Or Star Trek: Enterprise? How did those work out?
It’s a medical drama fest on Tuesday with Hart of Dixie and the new Emily Owens M.D. Pass.
Vampire Diaries‘ ratings are down from last year, but still does well in the core female demo. But what the hell CW is rebooting Beauty and the Beast for? Wow, another stupid move.
The CW needs to broaden its reach beyond the female 18-34 demo for audience growth. They’re stepping a foot in the right direction with Arrow, but it may be too little, too late, regardless of what clueless message board posters say. And with Sinclair Broadcasting recently coming out saying they were no longer “bullish” on CW (and My Network TV affiliates) – and Tribune’s uncertain future after it emerges from bankruptcy in June, the fat lady may finally sing for The CW.