The CW Upfronts

It’s a year of change at The CW, which has reduced the number of series it will air this upcoming season in anticipation of being sold.  Monday stays the same with the returning All American followed by its spinoff All American: Homecoming.  Tuesday is all new, with the Supernatural prequel The Winchesters leading off the night followed by Professionals, an international collaboration starring Tom Welling and Brendan Fraser.

Stargirl moves from summer to the fall to anchor Wednesday night, followed by Kung FuWalker continues to lead-off on Thursdays followed by a new spinoff, Walker Independence.  Friday and Saturday remain reality-heavy, with Penn & Teller: Fool Us followed by an hour of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and then Magic With The Stars followed by a double dose of World’s Funniest Animals.  The Sunday night offerings are Family Law, starring Jewel Staite as a highly-paid personal injury lawyer, and Coroner.

Waiting in the wings for midseason are the final seasons of Riverdale and The Flash, along with Nancy Drew, Superman & Lois, and new shows Gotham Knights, where Bruce Wayne’s son is charged with murdering Batman, and Recipe For Disaster, a reality cooking show.

Lost to the sands of time are DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, 4400, Charmed, Dynasty, In The Dark, Naomi, Roswell, New Mexico, and Legacies.

The CW Upfronts

The CW has finally decided to expand to a 7th night of programming for the first time in their existence this fall, with 3 new shows added to the schedule.  Monday gets a brand new look, with the returning All American followed by 4400, a reboot of the USA show from the mid-2000s.  Tuesday brings the new seasons of Flash and Riverdale, while Wednesday leans in to the DC multiverse with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Batwoman.

Walker lead off on Thursdays, followed by Legacies.  Friday has Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Nancy Drew.  The weekends are given over to reality programming, with Saturday’s initial offerings being 2 episodes each of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and World’s Funniest Animals.  The Sunday night offerings are Legends Of The Hidden Temple, a reboot of a Nickelodeon game show from the 90s, followed by Killer Camp, a US version of the British competition where a mix of 13 campers navigate through new deadly twists and surprises while competing to expose the “killer” among them.

Waiting in the wings for midseason are All American: Homecoming, from the producers of All American, Naomi, the latest DC adaptation from the book created by Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker, and Jamal Campbell, alongside returning seasons of Charmed, Stargirl, Dynasty, In The Dark, Kung Fu, Superman & Lois, and Roswell, New Mexico

Lost to the sands of time are Black Lightning and Supergirl.

The CW (Not-So-Quite) Upfronts

Yesterday, the CW became the first network to release their plans for the 2020-2021 season, announcing that they would return with a full slate of new programming in January due to shutdowns from the corona virus.  The late start will not impact the number of episodes, with series still producing seasons of 13 to 22 episodes, depending on the show.  That will stretch the season in to July or August, leading to a very short summer break before the 2021 fall season starts in October.  The final episodes from some shows’ current seasons, which could not finish filming because of the pandemic, will be included in their next seasons.

Monday stays the same, with All American followed by Black Lightning.  Tuesday kicks off with The Flash, followed by the latest installment of the Arrowverse, Superman & LoisRiverdale and Nancy Drew continue to hold down the fort on Wednesdays.

While Supernatural may finally be over, Jared Padalecki returns to Thursdays in Walker, a re-imaging of Walker, Texas Ranger.  The night wraps up with Legacies.  Friday goes all reality, with Penn & Teller: Fool Us followed by back-to-back episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway?  The Sunday night offerings are Batwoman and the new version of Charmed.

The network is planning a smaller version of its traditional Arrowverse crossover to air either late 1st quarter or early in the 2nd quarter of 2021.

To accommodate Melissa Benoist’s pregnancy, Supergirl gets bumped to mid-season.  Joining it are Dynasty, Roswell, New Mexico, In the Dark, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, alongside two new series: Kung Fu and The Republic of SarahSupernatural, which still had two episodes to film in its final season before the shutdown, will air its final seven episodes in the fall, alongside some usual summer and/or streaming fare.

All of this, of course, assumes that the production shutdown due to the corona virus lets up and crews can get back to work.

The CW Upfronts

With more shows than spots on the schedule, the CW has finally decided to expand to a 6th night of programming for the first time in 9 years.  Monday gets a brand new look, with Legends of Tomorrow followed by Arrow.  Tuesday remains the same, with the Flash and Black Lightning offering up the second straight night of a double dose of the DC universe.  All American, about a high school football player who moves from Compton to Beverly Hills, follows Riverdale on Wednesdays.

Supernatural returns to Thursday for its 40th season, and will be followed by Legacies, about the next generation of supernatural beings at The Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted.  Friday has Dynasty and the final season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.  The Sunday night offerings are Supergirl and a new version of Charmed, without any of the Halliwell sisters.

The final seasons of Jane The Virgin and iZombie, along with The 100, are on the bench for mid-season.  New shows on tap are In The Dark, about a blind woman trying to get by in the world, and Roswell, New Mexico, a reboot of the former WB and UPN series.

Lost to the sands of time are Hooten & The Lady, Life SentenceThe Originals, Reign, and Valor.