The CW Upfronts

It’s another year of upheaval at The CW, as new owners Nexstar continues to cut new fiction programming in favor of re-airing existing content from other markets and live sports (or “sports”).  Monday has an all-new look, with two hours of game shows based on board games.  Trivial Pursuit, hosted by LeVar Burton, kicks off the night, followed by Scrabble, hosted by Raven-Symoné.  Tuesday’s programming is devoted to the network debut of WWE NXT.

The Canadian production Sullivan’s Crossing returns for its second season to kick off Wednesday nights, followed by Joan, an import from the UK starring Sophie Turner as a notorious jewel thief and which only runs six episodes.   Thursday’s start with the fourth and final season of Superman & Lois, followed by The Librarians: The Next Chapter, centering on a librarian from the past who finds himself stuck in the present.  Friday will have back-to-back episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway? followed by season two of Inside the NFL.  Saturday and Sunday will feature sports and/or movies.

Waiting in the wings for midseason are Good Cop/Bad Cop, a dramedy about a brother and sister detective team starring Leighton Meester, and Sherlock & Daughter, where the famous detective is forced to team up with an American girl who may be his daughter.  All American: Homecoming is expected to return next summer.

The fates of All American, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Sight Unseen, Walker, and Wild Cards are undecided at this point.  Gone and probably forgotten are FBoy Island and its female-skewing spinoff, Lovers and Liars.

The CW Upfronts

It’s another year of change at The CW, which was sold to Nexstar and is cutting programming costs in a bid for more profitability.  Monday starts off with All American, the only returning scripted show, followed by 61st Street., starring Courtney B. Vance and previously airing on AMC.  Tuesday is all “new” comedy night, with three imported Canadian series, Son of a Critch, Run the Burbs, and Children Ruin Everything, followed by Everyone Else Burns, a British comedy.

Canada provides more content for Wednesday night, with Sullivan’s Crossing, starring Chad Michael Murray, followed by The Spencer Sisters, starring Lea Thompson.  Thursdays goes all-reality, with two episodes of the Nikki Glaser-helmed FBoy Island, recently dumped by HBO Max.  Friday remains the same, with Penn & Teller: Fool Us followed by an hour of Whose Line Is It Anyway?  Saturday goes back-to-back with two episodes each of Masters of Illusion and World’s Funniest Animals.  The Sunday night offering is I Am, a collection of documentary features.

Waiting in the wings for midseason are the fourth season of Walker and FGirl Island, which, ok.  Whatever.

Lost to the sands of time are DC’s StargirlThe FlashKung FuNancy DrewRiverdaleWalker Independence, and The Winchesters.  The fates of Superman & Lois and Gotham Knights are undecided at this point.

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.