Tag / CW

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Changes On The Dial

wgn9For the first time since 1995, WGN will be an independent television station this fall after announcing that they were not renewing their contract with the CW.  Starting September 1, CW programming will move to WPWR, owned by Fox.  WGN was the flagship station when the WB network launched in 1995 and became Chicago’s CW affiliate when the WB merged with UPN in 2006.

What does this mean for viewers?  Initially, not much, beyond some schedule stability.  CW programming won’t have to compete with live sporting events on WGN anymore and WGN won’t have to farm out a certain number of its sporting events to other stations.  So no more Saturday night episodes of The Flash and more White Sox and Cubs games back on WGN.  Long term?  Well, I’ve already seen one article calling for the return of The Bozo Show.  I guess anything is possible.

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The CW Upfronts

Supergirl-CBSThe CW has gone all-in on the comic book adaptation front, with 6 series planned for next season based on properties that originated in the comics world.  They get things started on Monday, where Supergirl lands the same timeslot it enjoyed last year on CBS, followed by returning hit Jane The Virgin.  The Flash remains on Tuesday, leading in to No Tomorrow, a romantic comedy with an apocalyptic twist.

Arrow stays in its usual Wednesday slot, followed by Frequency, an adaptation of the old Dennis Quaid film starring Peyton List.  Legends of Tomorrow remains on Thursdays, followed by the 235th season of Supernatural, where the Winchester brothers investigate the deal with the devil struck to keep this show on the air.  Returning shows Vampire Diaries and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend move to the dead zone that is Friday nights.

iZombie moves to mid-season, along with Riverdale, an adaptation of the Archie comics.

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CBS Upfronts

bbtFor the first time this century, CBS announced a new fall schedule this week without a version of CSI in the mix.  Instead, the Tiffany network looked to other familiar properties, and stars, to fill the holes in their lineup.  With the network again airing football on Thursday nights for the first 2 months of the season, there will be much juggling going on, starting on Monday, where The Big Bang Theory returns until football ends.  It will be followed by Kevin Can Wait, a new show featuring former CBS star Kevin James.  Once football ends, James moves up a half hour and will be followed by Man With A Plan, starring former Friend Matt LeBlanc.  2 Broke Girls, The Odd Couple, and Scorpion round out the night.

Tuesday wraps two versions of NCIS around Bull, a new drama starring former NCIS star Michael Weatherly as, and you can’t make this up, a young version of Dr. Phil.  No changes on Wednesday night, where Criminal Minds returns for its 12th season.  Thursday, starting in November, starts with The Big Bang Theory, followed by the new Joel McHale-helmed The Great Indoors.  The night finishes with Pure Genius, a new drama from the creator of Parenthood.

Friday sees a new version of MacGuyver, followed by the returning Hawaii Five-O and Blue Bloods.  Sunday adds another version of NCIS to fill the hole left by The Good Wife.

Gone and never to be seen again are The Good Wife and summer staple Under The Dome.  Gone and destined to be seen again is Supergirl, which is moving to the CW.  Gone and maybe seen again is Limitless, which didn’t make the schedule but is not officially cancelled and is looking for a new home.

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Flying Down To The CW

Supergirl-CBSSupergirl, the highest rated freshman show on CBS, has been renewed for a second season, but will move down the dial to corporate sibling the CW.  In addition, it was announced that production of the show would move to Vancouver in a bid to lower costs.  The move gives the CW 4 hours of DC-related programming a week.

 

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The CW Upfronts

legends-of-tomorrow-faceboo_1We finish up our look at the upfronts with the CW, which has slowly moved themselves away from the home of the teenage drama to super hero central.  Come next spring, 4 out of the network’s 10 weekly hours will be devoted to shows based on DC comic books.

Monday adds Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the only new show on the fall schedule, to join Jane The Virgin in a comedy block.  Tuesdays and Wednesday remain unchanged, with The Flash leading in to iZombie, followed by Arrow and yet another season of Supernatural.  Thursdays have been turned over to vampires, and Friday remains a dumping ground.

Midseason will bring DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow, the spin-off of The Flash and Arrow, featuring a super team made up of powered folks that had previously appeared on the other 2 shows.

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2014 New Fall Season – Tuesdays

old-tv-set1Continuing our look at the new fall season, here are the offerings that I may find myself interested in for Tuesdays.

7:00

Selfie – I love Karen Gillan and am quite fond of John Cho, but put them together in this loose adaptation of Pygmalion and, at least based on the pilot, you get a steaming pile of something or other.  I will give this a chance to improve due to the talents involved, but I don’t hold out a great deal of hope.

The Flash – Spinning off from Arrow comes this latest forray from the CW in to the world of DC superheroes.  Hopefully it follows more from Arrow‘s example than Smallville‘s.

7:30

Manhattan Love Story – I’m not too sold on giving this new show, about the romance beteen two nuerotic New Yorkers, a shot.  But, I’m willing to try anything once.

8:00

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – The show, which greatly improved following the events of Captain America: Winter Soldier, returns for a second season at a later timeslot and with a new status quo.

Supernatural – For some reason that nobody can particularly understand, the show returns for its 10th season.  The show has been adrift for quite some time now and last season really started to drag.  I’m willing to keep watching, but I don’t know for how much longer.

Marry Me – Casey Wilson reunites with the creator of Happy Endings, who also happens to be her husband, for this new comedy.  Happy Endings was a tremendous show that ended way too early, so I will give this a shot and hope that it rekindles some of that magic.

New Girl – The group returns for season 4, and less couples than we have seen in year’s past.  Hopefully, the funny keeps coming. Continue reading →

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2014 New Fall Season – Mondays

old-tv-set1Day 2 of our look at the new fall television season brings us to Mondays.

7:00

The Big Bang Theory – CBS spent $275 million to broadcast 8 Thursday night NFL games, so The Big Bang Theory moves back to Mondays until late October.  The show continues to be a ratings powerhouse, so hopefully the move doesn’t shake things up too much.

2 Broke Girls – Once The Big Bang Theory returns to its Thursday perch, 2 Broke Girls will return to the Monday slot it inherited last spring from How I Met Your Mother.  At this point, the show is what it is, so there is no point on hoping that the writers move away from their lowest common denominator form of comedy.  As long as Beth Behrs and Kat Dennings continue to charm, I will continue to watch.  But their charms only go so far.

Gotham – FOX gets in the superhero game with this Batman prequel, set in the days just after a young Bruce Wayne has witnessed the death of his parents.  The show has been sold as more of the Gotham police force dealing with the criminals that will one day become Batman’s fiercest foes.

8:00

Sleepy Hollow – I am going to be completely honest and say I don’t really remember much about the first season of this show, other than it was a little crazy and it didn’t exactly grab me as much as it seemigly did everyone else.  I guess I’ll stick around until/unless I find something to take its place.

Jane The Virgin – The first CW pilot in years to not feature either vampires or superheroes is an adaptation of a Venezuelen telenovela.  Early reports are that it is one of the better pilots of the fall, so I guess I can give it a shot.

9:00 Continue reading →

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The CW Upfronts

arrow-keyart-closeupWith only 10 hours of programming per week, and most of that aimed directly at pre-teen girls, the CW doesn’t have much to talk about as they unveil their fall schedule.  DC gets another show on the schedule with Flash, spun off from Arrow, which will air Tuesday nights and lead in to the 47th season of Supernatural.  Speaking of Arrow, it stays where it is on Wednesday.  And that’s about it.

Waiting for mid-season is yet another DC adaptation, iZombie, brought to us by Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas.

And thus endeth our look at the 2014 upfronts.

 

by jim

Post Mortem – Nikita

nikitaAfter 3 decent, but never really good, seasons, Nikita was thought to be a prime candidate for the chopping block last spring.  The CW, however, surprised everyone by renewing it for a final, 6 episode season which kicked off quietly the Friday before Thanksgiving and ended even quieter the Friday after Christmas.  There was so little promotion that I didn’t even realize it had started airing until the third episode.  Thanks to OnDemand, I was able to catch up.

The final season sets Amanda back up as a threat in order for Nikita and crew to just knock her back down again.  Nikita gives up the freedom and clean slate from the government in order to take down Amanda her way, before disappearing with Michael.

This show provided a weekly shot of stupid action, which certainly serves a purpose, but doesn’t really make itself necessary viewing, so I can’t say that I’ll particularly miss the show.  The fact that it survived as long as it did, much like the title character, is a testament to all involved in the show.

 

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2013 New Fall Season – Wednesdays

old-tv-set1We are at the official half way point of out look at the offerings for the new fall season.

7:00

Revolution – NBC’s lone hit from last fall moves to Wednesdays.  This show struggled mightily once it returned from the winter hiatus, and it will need to start strong if I’m going to stick around for long.

Arrow – Surprisingly, the CW kind of hit it out of the park with this tale of Green Arrow.  Season 2 will be offering an arc featuring Summer Glau, so I, for one, am excited to see where things go.

8:00

Criminal Minds – Another show heading into its ninth season.  This one is getting a little tired, but it is still good more often than not.

Modern Family – This continues to be a funny show, even if most of the characters have become caricatures of themselves at this point.  But that is to be expected in comedies entering their fifth season.

9:00

Nashville – A surprisingly entertaining show that took some wrong turns towards the end of last season.  I’ll give it a shot to redeem itself this year. Continue reading →