UP FRONTS: CW’s New Fall Shows
Posted by: bonniekaryn on: May 17, 2007
The CW Cancels ‘Veronica Mars’
By DAVID BAUDER
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NEW YORK (AP) – The CW network canceled the cult hit “Veronica Mars” and will try to pick up steam in its second year with series about the snobby rich, transplanted families and a bounty hunter for the devil.
The network, created out of the ashes of the former WB and UPN, had already ended the long-running family dramas “7th Heaven” and “Gilmore Girls.” On Thursday the ax fell on “Veronica Mars,” which starred Kristen Bell as a wisecracking teenage private eye.
Corporate parents CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc. had hoped the CW could become a fifth major network by combining the best of its predecessors, but it has often slipped behind Univision in the ratings during a disappointing first year.
The new “Gossip Girl,” about a group of prep school teenagers in Manhattan, will be given the biggest push. The CW scheduled it for Wednesdays at 9 p.m. after its top-rated program, “America’s Next Top Model.”
The CW’s only new comedy, “Aliens in America,” is about a high school student trying to adjust to a Pakistani exchange student. “Life is Wild” is a drama about a New York City family spending a year at a game reserve in South Africa.
The new drama “Reaper” features one of the CW’s oldest new characters: a 21-year-old. His parents sold his soul to the devil and he’s assigned to track down evil escapees from hell.
On Sunday nights, the network will debut “The CW Now,” an entertainment-oriented newsmagazine for 18-to-34-year-olds. “Online Nation” will talk about what’s hot on the Web.
In midseason, the CW will bring on a reality show, “Farmer Wants a Wife,” about a country guy choosing among 10 women fed up with big-city prospects.
The CW’s prime-time schedule for the fall TV season:
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. – “The CW Now”
7:30 p.m. – “Online Nation”
8 p.m. – “Life is Wild”
9 p.m. – “America’s Next Top Model” reruns
