Time for the last of the upfronts. Okay, USA did its first upfronts yesterday, but didn’t really announce anything new, so let’s end with the traditional way to end the upfronts: following on from the main broadcast networks NBC, Fox, ABC and CBS, today we’re going to be looking at the ‘young female adult’-skewed The CW and what it has lined up for us for the 2012 to 2013 season.
The CW didn’t have much success last year with its new scripted shows: only Hart of Dixie survived, while Ringer and The Secret Circle both got cancelled. Meanwhile, some of its older shows are now limping alone, with Gossip Girl nearing the end, Supernatural‘s end date being eyed and Nikita looking as poor as it always did. The experiment of The LA Complex fell apart, leaving just 90210 to keep the network’s scripted dreams alive.
But CW president Mark Pedowitz promised more original programming when he joined the network, so this year, The CW is trying to give itself a shot in the arm with… more of the same. Yes, time to cash in on some past glories as well as emulate some other networks. Lined up for 2012-13 are:
- Beauty and The Beast: based on the 1980s CBS show with Linda Hamilton, but starring The CW’s Smallville‘s Kristen Kreuk as the beauty in question
- Arrow: Bourne-esque adaptation of DC’s superhero the Green Arrow, but not starring Justin Hartley who was the Green Arrow in Smallville. But that’s because of…
- Emily Owen MD: …in which a new doctor discovers that hospital is no different from high school. Co-stars… Justin Hartley
- Carrie Diaries: HBO’s Sex and the City‘s Carrie, when she was a teenager. Notably features Freema Agyeman from Doctor Who, though.
- Cult: starring one of the guys from The CW’s Vampire Diaries and one of the girls from The CW’s Melrose Place, and sees the fans of a TV show recreating the on-screen crimes.
After the jump, the run-down, trailers for the Fall shows (Carrie Diaries and Cult are mid-season – sorry) and a schedule.
Continue reading “The CW’s upfronts 2012-3 – a rundown and clips from the new shows”
