CW stays the course for fall

Only three new shows for next season – just one for fall

The CW unveiled its 2015-16 schedule on Thursday at the upfronts and there’s not much change – unless you count a few shows moving around the schedule.

Only ten hours are programmed a week in primetime – and with network brass satisfied with most shows, they decided to bring on only one show for fall – and the lucky winner is Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which features a woman (Robot Chicken’s Rachel Bloom, who stars in and created the series) who gives up a successful law career in New York and heads out to California to find love. The new show is being paired on Monday with Jane the Virgin.

But the most anticipated new show on The CW comes in midseason – is DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow, which has a time traveler assembling both heroes and villains to stop a threat that puts the planet a stake. Another midseason entry is Containment, which sees the entire city of Atlanta quarantined while officials find a cure.

As for fall, here’s how the schedule shakes out: Tuesdays has The Flash paired with iZombie; Wednesdays has Arrow followed by veteran Supernatural; Thursdays has Vampire Diaries paired with the show it spun-off from, The Originals; and Fridays has Reign hooked up with CW’s lone reality show, the long-running America’s Next Top Model.

For the complete 2015-16 schedule with program descriptions, click here. 

Analysis: There is no doubt CW is generating the biggest buzz of the upfronts with Legends Of Tomorrow. It’s a smart move holding the series until January or so. The show is described as a Flash/Arrow spinoff and will play in their universe. As for the lone new show on the fall schedule (Ex-Girlfriend), the concept of dropping a successful career to head out west to find love is kind of corny. But the scenario could create some interesting – and humorous television (watch the trailer here.)

The rest of the schedule remains unchanged, with the exception of Reign and The Originals moving to new nights. Pairing Originals and Diaries is a smart idea, though renewing Reign doesn’t seem to be. Overall, a positive schedule for CW in 2015-16 – more than I can say for the rest of the broadcast networks.