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In its second year, the CW is still trying to find itself, which explains why on Thursday morning it revealed a fall schedule with only two days of its freshman lineup untouched. Nevertheless, the schedule looks somewhat familiar, with all old shows maintaining their original days/times and new shows plugged into the empty slots.
The green network will introduce three new dramas, one new comedy and two new alternative series in the fall, with its Sundays receiving the biggest overhaul. The biggest news, however, wasn’t what was new, but what didn’t survive.
Despite fans’ hopes that were buoyed by rumors of a well-received reboot, “Veronica Mars” was not renewed for the fall, leaving the teenage PI to continue her FBI career off screen. The drama joins the ranks of the recently canceled “Gilmore Girls,” “7th Heaven,” the Will Smith-produced comedy “All of Us,” “Reba” and freshman drama “Runaway.”
With the exceptions of Sundays, three of the new shows will be launched alongside established shows. The comedy “Aliens in America” will be positioned at 8:30 p.m. Mondays, between “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Girlfriends” for the Monday night comedy block that finishes with the CW’s freshman survivor “The Game.” The supernatural dramedy “Reaper,” about the devil’s bounty hunter, will directly follow “Beauty and the Geek” on Tuesdays, while “The O.C.” creator Josh Schwartz’s latest drama “Gossip Girl” will capitalize on the female viewership following “America’s Next Top Model” on Wednesday nights.
The new face of Sundays is a curious mix of alternative programming and family drama. Beginning at 7 p.m., the CW will launch its entertainment newsmagazine “CW Now,” which keeps viewers informed of trends and celebrity gossip, followed at 7:30 p.m. by “Online Nation,” a show featuring the latest online viral videos. The night switches gears at 8 p.m. with “Life Is Wild,” a drama based on a British series about a veterinarian who transplants his family into a game preserve in South Africa. An encore presentation of “Top Model” concludes the evening at 9 p.m.
“Our new shows have attitude and a sense of fun, and they’re going to define this network,” says the CW’s President of Entertainment, Dawn Ostroff. “With that in mind, The CW is adding six new series to our schedule this fall. With established shows anchoring four nights and providing a launch pad for new programs, we will also have stability on our successful Thursday and Friday lineups.”
“One Tree Hill” fans can expect the drama back for the midseason, as well as two new reality competitions shows: “Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants,” in which mother/daughter teams compete together, and “Farmer Takes a Wife,” a rural/“Green Acres” take on “The Bachelor.”
Here is The CW’s fall 2007 schedule:
Monday
8 p.m. “Everybody Hates Chris” 8:30 p.m. “Aliens in America” 9 p.m. “Girlfriends” 9:30 p.m. “The Game”
Tuesday
8 p.m. “Beauty and the Geek” 9 p.m. “Reaper”
Wednesday
8 p.m. “America’s Next Top Model” 9 p.m. “Gossip Girl”
Thursday
8 p.m. “Smallville” 9 p.m. “Supernatural”
Friday
8 p.m. “Friday Night Smackdown”
Sunday
7 p.m. “CW Now” 7:30 p.m. “Online Nation” 8 p.m. “Life Is Wild” 9 p.m. “America’s Next Top Model” (Encore Presentation)
