Hoping to develop its own year-round programming strategy, the CW announced it is looking at the possibility of launching its 2009-10 season as early as July or August of next year. CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff revealed her strategy at the network’s executive session during its portion of the TV Critics Association’s annual summer press tour, held in Los Angeles.

“We’re all talking about how we can have programming on throughout the year. And the specific season that runs from the third week of September through May, may work for some of the networks. But we really feel we need to zig when everybody else is zagging, and sort of look at this in a different way,” Ostroff told journalists assembled for the session. “The idea is to get out of the fray, and be able to launch at a time when we can bring viewers in when there’s not as much competition.”



In order to meet such early launch dates, Ostroff said the network is contemplating shooting pilots as soon as October or November of this year. However, when repeatedly asked how the CW would fill time slots once earlier-launched runs of episodes reach their season end, Ostroff was evasive.

Ostroff was equally evasive when answering questions about the CW’s Sunday night programming block, produced by Media Rights Capital. In fact, she avoided answering any questions about the financial terms of the CW’s contract with MRC, saying only, “the deal is very complicated.”

What’s clear is this: The network is still reeling from a severe ratings drop following the writers' strike. Turning to MRC enables the CW to add new programs to its schedule without having to deficit them.

And it greatly needs new programs. After all, since its inception in 2006, the CW has been saddled with an inconsistent schedule—urban comedies on Mondays, female-skewing dramas and reality Tuesdays through Thursdays, and male-targeted wrestling on Fridays. Having chosen not to renew its contract with the WWE, Ostroff said the network saw a chance to solidify its schedule.

“When you look at the viewers who came to the WWE, they did not watch any other show on the CW, and visa versa,” she said, adding that with Sunday’s new lineup, “we have a real opportunity for flow.”

Of course, the CW’s implementation of its new schedule also resulted in the network shifting its two remaining African-American comedies—Everybody Hates Chris and The Game—to Fridays. And Ostroff took flak at the executive session for what seems to be the CW’s abandonment of the urban audience.

What’s more, wrestling was one of the CW’s biggest ratings draws, and losing it could further damage the network. “We know taking something like WWE off, which was very strong, will have an impact on the schedule,” Ostroff said. “But I think what’s really important is that we had talked about building a brand, about having flow, and when you look at the schedule now, we feel that we’re speaking to a similar audience night after night after night. And [we] have an opportunity to bring in people in who are coming to us on Monday night, and the next night, and the night after, which we really hadn’t had.”

(read on for an extensive look at The CW's upcoming schedule)




CW Series Premiere Dates:

What follows are the roll-out dates for the new and returning CW series. Unlike its competitors, the CW plans to launch four shows the week of Sept. 1.

Gossip Girl: Monday, Sept. 1, 8 p.m. ET (season premiere)

One Tree Hill: Monday, Sept. 1, 9 p.m. ET (season premiere)

90210: Tuesday, Sept. 2, 8 p.m. ET (series premiere, two hours)

America’s Next Top Model: Wednesday, Sept. 3, 8 p.m. ET (season premiere, two hours)

Privileged: Tuesday, Sept. 9, 9 p.m. ET (series premiere)

Smallville: Thursday, Sept. 18, 8 p.m. ET (season premiere)

Supernatural: Thursday, Sept. 18, 9 p.m. ET (season premiere)

Everybody Hates Chris: Friday, Sept. 19, 8 p.m. ET (season premiere)

The Game: Friday, Sept. 19, 8:30 p.m. ET (season premiere)

In Harm’s Way: Sunday, Sept. 21, 7 p.m. ET (series premiere, Media Rights Capital)

Valentine: Sunday, Sept. 21, 8 p.m. ET (series premiere, MRC)

Easy Money: Sunday, Sept. 21, 9 p.m. ET (series premiere, MRC)

Stylista: Wednesday, Oct. 29, 9 p.m. ET (series premiere)

Surviving Suburbia: Sunday, Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m. ET (series premiere, MRC)

(read on for more analysis of the upcoming schedule)


90210
Tuesday 8 p.m.
 
-The Premise:
Spun-off from Beverly Hills, 90210, this contemporary version looks at life in the famous zip code though the teenage eyes of Annie Mills (Shenae Grimes) and her brother Dixon (Tristan Wilds), whose family has moved to Beverly Hills to keep an eye on their troubled grandmother (Jessica Walter).   
 
-Competition: Opportunity Knocks (ABC), NCIS (CBS), The Biggest Loser: Families (NBC), House (Fox)
 
-Who Was on the Panel:
Rob Estes, Lori Loughlin, Shanae Grimes, Tristan Wilds, Jessica Stroup, Ryan Eggold, Dustin Milligan, AnnaLynne McCord, Michael Steger, Jessica Walter, and executive producers Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs.
 
-The Scoop:
Unlike the original Beverly Hills, 90210 where the elder Walshs, Jim and Cindy, were just window dressing, there will be a strong adult storyline in this new version.  According to Jeff Judah:
 
“Gabe (Sachs) and I are both fathers.  We feel like this central family, this core family, moves into Beverly Hills and it's, how do they hold onto their, sort of, moral center? We think this generation of parenting is different than the ones we grew up with. We, as parents, did almost everything that our kids are doing. Our parents didn't do that.  
 
We also want to have this point of view that there are these other families in Beverly Hills, who we've seen in this generation of Baby-Booming parents, who just think they're parenting by giving their kids money and clothing and no rules. We have a strong point of view that kids need boundaries, need rules and that's one of the things that's going to influence the show.”
 
-The Reality:
No one ever said rebuilding a network is easy, so the pressure will really be on the high-profile 90210.  While the return of Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Shannen Doherty and Joe E. Tata (among potentially others) should solicit early curiosity, the success of this new version of 90210 must rely on the new cast-members.  If there is enough meat in the characters and storylines, chances of a new generation of viewers finding this hour could be positive.  There is, after all, just something about this zip code.
 
-Chance of Survival for 90210 (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1): 2-1
 
-Did You Know?:
The original version of Beverly Hills, 90210 originally faced NBC’s Cheers in the 1990-91 season, which was then the top-rated show on television.  So, it is certainly not impossible for this new 90210 to find an audience in the competitive Tuesday 8 p.m. hour.  
 
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Privileged
Tuesday 9 p.m.
 
-The Premise:
After a 23-year old Yale educated journalism major gets fired from her job at a tabloid, she meets a cosmetics mogul and becomes the live-in tutor for her twin teenage granddaughters in wealthy Palm Beach, Florida.  The girls, of course, are beautiful and rebellious, and Megan is determined to win them over while enjoying the new perks of her new job.  JoAnna Garcia (Reba), Lucy Kate Hale and Ashley Newbrough star.
 
-Lead-in: 90210
-Competition: Dancing With the Stars Results Show (ABC), The Mentalist (CBS), The Biggest Loser: Families (NBC), Fringe (Fox)
 
-Who Was on the Panel:
JoAnna Garcia, Lucy Kate Hale, Ashley Newbrough, Anne Archer, Kristina Apgar, Michael Cassidy, Brian Hallisay, Allan Louis and executive producers Bob Levy and Rina Mimoun.
 
-The Scoop:
While the two girls, Rose and Sage, are spoiled rotten, there is a very big difference according to JoAnna Garcia:
 
“I think one of the things that I find so interesting about the dynamic of Rose and Sage is there is a soul to both of them. There is an extreme vulnerability to Sage. It's actually a perfect example of the exact same situations can happen to two different people and how they can handle it in two different ways.  Rose sort of wears her heart on her sleeve, but Sage kind of does too. They just react to things in a little bit of a different way.”
 
-The Reality:
Considering 90210 is the lead-in, the compatibility for Privileged looks strong.  But four dramas on the CW in a two-day span featuring spoiled rich kids and/or young adults (Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, 90210 and Privideged) could be overkill.  And Fringe on Fox seems to be racking up early critical steam.  So, unless ABC’s Dancing With the Stars comes tumbling down (and that is highly unlikely), don’t expect Privileged to make much of an impact.
 
-Chance of Survival for Privileged (Scale of 1-1 to 10-1): 7-1
 
-Did You Know?:
JoAnna Garcia may be known for her supporting role on WB sitcom Reba, but this past season she came and quickly went on failed CBS sitcom Welcome to the Captain.
 
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Stylista
Wednesday 9 p.m.
 
-The Premise:
This reality/competition from America’s Next Top Model creator Tyra Banks will feature 11 aspiring fashion hopefuls as they compete for a $100,000 prize package, including a paid lease on an apartment in Manhattan, a clothing allowance, and a paid editorial job with Elle magazine.  Eight episodes have been ordered.
 
-Lead-in: America’s Next Top Model
-Competition: Private Practice (ABC), Criminal Minds (NBC), Deal or No Deal (NBC), ‘Til Death and Do Not Disturb (Fox)
 
-Who Was on the Panel:
Anne Slowey, Joe Zee and executive producers Jane Cha, Desiree Gruber, Eli Holzman and Ken Mok.   
 
-The Scoop:
Why Stylista will work, according to Ken Mok:
 
“I think one of the things that I learned from just doing Top Model is that the world of fashion and beauty is like endlessly fascinating.  There are many colorful characters in that world. I think in Stylista it just goes to the same thing, except the survey of the landscape is much wider than Top Model. You get to cover everything as an arbiter of taste.”
 
-The Reality:
While the compatibility out of America’s Next Top Model seems flawless, Top Model continues to lose steam -- and plenty of it -- with double-digit percent rating losses this season.  If viewers continue to lose interest in Top Model, similar looking Stylista may not be too stylish in the ratings.  
 
-Chance of Survival for Stylista (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1): 8-1