The CW’s 2007-2008 Primetime Schedule Interesting and Promising
Shocker—The CW May Actually Be On to Something Here
Like Veronica Mars fans everywhere, I spent most of today mourning the fact that the fledgling netlet The CW had the audacity to cancel the well-written and well-acted young-adult mystery series. As a result, I was blinded by my own indignation and initially failed to recognize how good the netlet’s projected second year actually is. I’m looking forward to every single one of the new fall series on its 2007–2008 primetime schedule, with the predictable exception of the unsurprisingly insipid reality shows.
The CW’s President of Entertainment Dawn Ostroff opened the upfront presentation at Madison Square Garden by claiming that the netlet’s “new shows have attitude and a sense of fun, and they’re going to define this network.” After reviewing the synopses and watching the video previews for the six newcomers in the fall, as well as two midseason entrants, I can get behind Ostroff’s bold predictions.
First up on Monday nights between returning favorites Everybody Hates Chris at 8pm EST and Girlfriends at 9 is the new half-hour sitcom Aliens in America. And, no, this has nothing to do with science fiction. Instead, the comedy is about “a 16-year-old Wisconsin boy, Justin Tolchuk, whose mother decides to improve his social status at school by importing an exchange student to be his friend. When the student turns out to be a Pakistani Muslim teenager named Raja, issues of diversity, tolerance and coming of age in America take center stage.” Dan Byrd and Adhir Kalyan star as Justin and Raja, respectively.
Tuesdays at 9pm will serve as home to the one rookie show I think I’ll enjoy most, Reaper, a supernatural adventure dramedy about “a slacker named Sam who learns that his parents accidentally sold his soul to the devil before he was born, forcing him into a new life as the devil’s bounty hunter.” How wild is that? Bret Harrison of The Loop (a silly Fox sitcom from last year that I really enjoyed in a childish way) plays Sam, Tyler Labine of the too-short Invasion plays his best friend Sock, and Ray Wise of 24 plays Satan himself. That’s some sensational, spot-on casting.
Next is Wednesdays and the series that features voiceover narration from Veronica Mars star Kristin Bell, The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz‘s Gossip Girl, which is based on the enormously successful young-adult book series of the same name about “the struggle for social supremacy among teens from both sides of the tracks in a posh Manhattan prep school.” The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants‘ Blake Lively and Surface‘s Leighton Meester are among the ensemble players.
Sundays bring the one remaining drama, the ambitious and somewhat distinctive Life Is Wild, notable in part because it’s slated to be filmed entirely in South Africa. The Everwood-ish premise concerns “a dysfunctional blended family from New York who moves to a rural South African town and finds they must rely on each other more than they ever did back home.” Brett Cullen of Friday Night Lights stars as the veterinarian who uproots his family, and Leah Pipes plays his teenage daughter, one of four kids towed along.
The remaining new fall series are the inconsequential reality shows Online Nation and CW Now, as well as the inane midseason reality replacements Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants and Farmer Wants A Wife.
The CW’s Fall 2007 primetime schedule is as follows with the returning programs added:
Mondays
- 8pm: Everybody Hates Chris (RETURNING COMEDY)
- 8:30pm: Aliens In America (NEW COMEDY)
- 9pm: Girlfriends (RETURNING COMEDY)
- 9:30pm: The Game (RETURNING COMEDY)
Tuesdays
- 8pm: Beauty and the Geek (RETURNING REALITY SHOW)
- 9pm: Reaper (NEW SUPERNATURAL DRAMEDY)
Wednesdays
- 8pm: America’s Next Top Model (RETURNING REALITY SHOW)
- 9pm: Gossip Girl (NEW DRAMA)
Thursdays
- 8pm: Smallville (RETURNING SCI-FI DRAMA)
- 9pm: Supernatural (RETURNING SUPERNATURAL DRAMA)
Fridays
- 8pm: Friday Night Smackdown! (RETURNING SPORTS)
Saturdays
- Take the night off or watch another channel
Sundays
- 7pm: CW Now (NEW REALITY SHOW)
- 7:30pm: Online Nation (NEW REALITY SHOW)
- 8pm: Life Is Wild (NEW FAMILY DRAMA)
- 9pm: America’s Next Top Model (SAME-WEEK ENCORE)
Related News: Goodbye ‘Veronica Mars’, Hello ‘Gossip Girl’?
