You hear about mergers in business all the time. Time-Warner, AOL-Time Warner, well you get the picture. While the parent companies of the TV networks often change hands, merge with other companies but having two “major” networks, perhaps mid-major is a more accurate term, merge is a whole other ball of wax. The WB and UPN both had a modicum of success but neither was able to present a consistently strong slate of shows across the board. Each year they might each have two or three shows that could be called successful. With the merging of the networks it seemed logical if both networks could take their strengths, for The WB that meant teen dramas and for UPN it meant urban comedies and reality programming, combine them The CW could be a much stronger entity than either two networks were separately. Is it just me but does the new network’s logo look like an attempt to resemble the logo of ‘The O.C.’ or does it just look like something a guy painted on a football field.
While looking at the new schedule it would seem The CW has decided to play safely, having only introduced one new drama and one new comedy. The decision to keep popular, but expensive, ‘7th Heaven’ seems an odd one. After weeks and weeks of ads counting down how many episodes of ‘Heaven’ remained and not the whole countdown was just a hoax makes The CW seem a bit hack. Desperate may be a bit more accurate though. It seems this yea’s slate of pilots for The CW did not live up to expectations, including the previously highly hyped Aquaman series. So in many ways it seems this year is a transition year for The CW. Gone are ‘Everwood,’ ‘Eve,’ ‘The Bedford Diaries,’ just to name a few. Back from the bubble are ‘Supernatural,’ ‘One Tree Hill’ and ‘Veronica Mars.’ Being a big fan of ‘Supernatural’ and ‘Mars’ I am pretty pleased to see both survived and even though I liked ‘Everwood’ it really did not have much of a future.
Sticking with its theme of playing safely most of the shows have stayed in their same time slots at last season. The only big change happens on Sunday where ‘Everybody Hates Chris’ and his fellow comedies have moved over from Thursday to make room for the ‘Smallville,’ ‘Supernatural’ combo.
Here is a breakdown of the two new shows and one mid-season show.
The Game
Sadly this is not about the rapper The Game and his attempts to get off the mean streets with a dream of being a famous rapper. A comedic rip off of ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ ‘ would be a great idea. The “game” referred to in the title of the show is football, which makes sense that show will appear on Sundays. The show focuses not one the players but rather their wives and the struggles of life in football off the field. Staring in the show are Hosea Chanchez who previously appeared in ‘Everwood,’ Coby Bell ‘Third Watch,’ and Tia Mowry who was in a couple episodes of ‘Love Inc.’ and the movie ‘The Hot Chick.’
Runaway
The only new drama on the sked could mean this was the best of the best or just the best of the worst. Hopefully it’s the former. Like many of the other new dramas announced for next season it is what I am calling a “concept” drama. The show follows a seemingly normal middle-class American family, The Raders who have three kids, who are in hiding. It seems the father of the family, Paul Rader, played by Donnie Wahlberg of ‘Band of Brothers’ and ‘Saw II”, has been unjustly accused of a violent crime. Fearing a corrupt legal system and searching for the evidence to prove his innocence Paul, his wife two teenage kids and 8-year old have landed in Bridgewater, Iowa where they have taken on new names and identities. Sounds like a modern day ‘The Fugitive’ with a wife and kids or a TV version of ‘Running on Empty.’ Leslie Hope plays the wife, she played Jack Baue’s wife in ’24,’ and more recently was in ‘Commander in Chief.’ Sarah Ramos from ‘American Dreams’ plays the teenage daughter Hannah.
Hidden Palms
The only mid-season show announced ‘Hidden Palms’ does not have a premiere date at this time but will probably be slotted in depending on how the other shows fare. This series pretty much fits the exact niche of the old WB network; a teen drama with a mysterious twist. It centres around 15-year-old Johnny Miller who has everything going for him, good grades, athletic prowess but his perfect world comes back to earth after his father committed suicide. A year later Johnny now lives in Palm Springs with its warm weather and superficial personalities. Johnny begins to question what type of neighbours he is surrounded by after learning a secret about his new community. Produced by Kevin Williamson of ‘Dawson’s Creek’ and ‘Scream’ fame the show stars Taylor Handley who played Oliver in ‘The O.C.’ Also staring are Sharon Lawrence from ‘NYPD Blue,’ Michael Cassidy, also from ‘The O.C.’ where he played Zach, and Gail O’Grady from ‘American Dreams’ and ‘NYPD Blue.’
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 PM | 7th Heaven | Gilmore Girls | America’s Top Model |
| 9 PM | RUNAWAY | Veronica Mars | One Tree Hill |
| Thursday | Friday | Sunday | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 PM | Everybody Hates Chris All of Us | ||
| 8 PM | Smallville | Friday Night Smackdown | Girlfriends THE GAME |
| 9 PM | Supernatural | America’s Top Model-encore |
*Note: Between cycles of ‘America’s Top Model’ that time slot will be filled by another season of ‘Beauty & The Geek.’
