The CW Expands To Saturdays, Announces Two New Shows
Every time The CW announces a renewal for everything and then throws new shows on top of that, we ask “how are they going to fit it all in?” The CW has the tightest schedule of any broadcast network with just twelve hours to work with (two each day except for Saturday). Today we got our answer: the network is finally getting a Saturday lineup, graduating to a full-week schedule.
Have the ratings been rising lately? They’ve been about the same, actually, aside from a few special bumps like the series premiere of Superman And Lois. The CW shows still get the lowest ratings of any network on the air but thanks to streaming deals and other alternate sources of cash, that never seems to matter. The CW is the one place where you can start watching a new show and be at least 80% confident that it won’t be abruptly cancelled.
They’ll need at least two new shows to fill that space, and they announced them today: Naomi, based on the new DC comic book, and All American: Homecoming, a spinoff of the football drama (this one focuses on tennis and baseball). They join a third, already announced series, a remake of The 4400.
You may recall that there were other pilots in contention….CW says their live-action Powerpuff Girls pilot needs some work and a bit of retooling (a glorious reprieve for us fans of the original who’ve been dreading this…I fear we’re only delaying the inevitable though). They have not yet made a decision on Tom Swift, the proposed Nancy Drew spinoff that ran a backdoor pilot as one of Nancy’s episodes two weeks ago. However the Black Lightning spinoff Painkiller has been killed.
More will be announced later this week when The CW has its Fall Upfronts presentation and reveals its schedule for the 2021-22 season.