The CW Fall Lineup: My Hits & Misses

by Benny Bedlam

I know what you’re thinking, The CW, really? Believe it or not, the network has picked up a number of shows that have grown popular over the years among fans beyond the young female demographic.  Smallville, One Tree Hill and The Vampire Diaries are just some examples of shows that were successful in creating entertaining and substantial content for a wide array of viewers. I agree that those shows still had their cheesy moments. However, I’d rather have those shows than shallow teenage dramas. Sadly, with every good show the CW offers, we get one or two undesirable ones as well. 

1. Arrow

HIT

As soon as I saw the trailer for this show, I became a fan in an instant. I was expecting them to give Green Arrow the Smallville treatment wherein they start with the hero as an innocent teen struggling with his powers and adolescence. Yet, the trailer shows no such innocence and Oliver Queen is thrust into accepting maturity at the very beginning. The tale is actually reminiscent of Nolan’s gritty realistic take on Batman plus some added angst for their teenage viewers.

In spite of its seemingly serious tone, I think this will be quite popular among the CW’s usual audience. It’s like watching that popular show “Revenge” young women love on ABC, but this time you’re rooting for a handsome fellow who would most probably take his shirt off in a couple of episodes. I’m keeping my fingers crossed on this one!

2. Beauty and The Beast

MISS

Well, modern adaptations of classic tales are always interesting to see but this isn’t growing on me at all. I was wrong to think Beastly was going to impress me, so shame on me if I root for this. From what I see, this is going to be a crime-procedural drama with supernatural elements. While I’m excited to see Kristin Kreuk on screen (with the exception of her Chun-Li flick), I feel like she could have taken on other roles to maximize her talent.

Browsing through the comments on the show’s trailer on YouTube, I can tell that the only saving grace of this show is the actor who plays the “beast.” It’s just strange that he doesn’t look anything like the grotesque beast we are familiar with from the classic tale. Instead, we get a good-looking man with mere scar on his face. Isn’t he supposed to be handsome at the end of the tale? That probably means this is the end for Beauty and The Beast and it hasn’t even begun.

I might be wrong and this trailer was just badly made, but I’m not counting on that. This show has to have extraordinarily good writing if it wants to stay on air.

3. Emily Owens, M.D

MISS

I’m actually sad that I’m calling this show a miss. It’s one of those shows were I kept watching the trailer numerous times just to convince myself that It was going to make it. This show is about young medical professionals in a hospital and as Justin Hartley says in the trailer: “It’s a lot like high school.” I immediately got the impression that this was going to be like Grey’s Anatomy meets Saved By The Bell. As funny as this show tries to be, I think I’ve gotten more laughs from watching Animal Practice.

The frontrunner of this show is Mamie Gummer and if most of you don’t know, she’s the daughter of the marvelously talented Meryl Streep. I admit that this was the reason I kept trying to find ways to like this show. There were certain shots were Mamie would definitely sound and look like her mother. I guess it’s wishful thinking for me to expect some of her mother’s talent might have rubbed off on her but talent doesn’t work that way. Anyway, I’m guessing this show wont last very long. They might bring in Meryl Streep as a guest star, but after that spike, I don’t think they’ll have any more tricks up their sleeves.

There are two other shows that The CW is boasting for their future lineup. There are no release dates or trailers out yet so it’s hard to really give a thoughtful prediction on their lifespan. However, I will touch up on them briefly and give my two cents on the idea behind it.

The Carrie Diaries is a Sex & The City prequel starring AnnaSophia Robb as Carrie Bradshaw in her teens. While I hate another show with sensationalized teen drama and revolving guest stars as lovers, it would be quite interesting to see a show set during the 80’s. If they pull off the dialogue, costume, and set design well, then I’m confident this show will succeed but time will tell.

The Cult is a show starring Matt Davis from The Vampire Diaries in a supernatural themed adventure about people investigating the dark practices of a Cult and its television show. This sounds intriguing but I’m guessing this will have the same life span as The Secret Circle – cancelled.

 

 

 

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4 Comments

  1. Arrow looks good. Optimistic about that one, if cautiously so.

    I am skeptical of Beauty and the Beast also, but read an interesting tidbit this week that suggests the take will be more sci-fi than supernatural. The Beastly man is a failed super-soldier of some sort, and his beastly appearance comes and goes along with his super-soldieryness. That could really go either way in terms of substance vs. cheese, so we’ll see.

  2. I have to disagree with you on this list. For simply one reason; the majority demographic of audience viewers of CW television shows are teenage girls.

    Though “Arrow” does have an attractive lead actor, I feel that there won’t be enough story telling to keep viewers interested. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

    Beauty and the Beast on the other hand is a simple concept of a love story that will carry the series for at least 3 seasons. And it has attractive characters as well.

    Though I’m not a CW viewer, this is my prediction.

    Modern Television, aside from a few comedy shows, is no longer what it used to be because of cable stations like HBO, Showtime, AMC. In a way it’s a shame, but in the same sense, we all still win.

    Anyways cheers!

  3. What about Supernatural? I don’t think you’ve ever posted about that show. I had never seen it (or heard of it; in fact, I barely ever heard of the CW or the WB networks) but started watching it on streaming Netflix, and watched all the seasons. I thought it was really fun show, which never takes itself too seriously. In fact, they goof on themselves a lot.
    I liked the earlier seasons better, but the show is about to start it’s 8th season which damn impressive for this type of show.

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