Note to the CW: I’m *not* picking on you. I promise. I believe your plan to target young women Mondays through Wednesdays is going as well or better than expected on two out of the three nights. Unfortunately Tuesday night is not looking so good and there’s no way to sugar coat that. But what prompted me to write this was a story in Variety talking about how the CW is readying a series based on Batman’s partner Robin’s pre batmobile lifestyle. It was this snippet that sounded the alarms:
CW insiders said they also see the “Graysons” development as a validating gesture by Warner Bros. that the company is still behind its 50% investment in the netlet, particularly following this fall’s strong openings for “Gossip Girl” and newbie “90210.” They believe the studio wouldn’t risk bringing one of its prized franchises to CW if it believed the net was in dire straits.
Obviously the guy at Variety hasn’t looked at 90210’s ratings since the second episode, but I’m not going to carp about that. My question is this: if things aren’t at least a little dire, and the folks at Warner Bros aren’t giving the network grief and are happy about the way things are going, why would insiders from the CW even bring this up at all?
Because of the spin from CW insiders, it actually seems more likely to me than ever that Warner Bros. is less than thrilled with the way things are going at the CW.
On the plus side I know there are a lot of people who would be very happy to see a show like The Grayson’s on the CW. The notion that the CW is considering this also fortifies my belief that the targeting of young females is a Monday through Wednesday proposition only, which seemingly makes it even more important to fix Tuesdays in a hurry…
CW has low ratings
3 millions per night for Gossip Girl/90210 jeez put those shows on ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC those shows will get cancelled immediately
I wish WB would give the CW a little grief about how they’ve completely ignored SV this season, and haven’t promoted it AT ALL. And yet it still managed to put the most butts in front of the TV set of any of the CW’s scripted shows. If WB has a voice at the network, I wish they would speak up for one of its own (a show that makes them a good amount of money through the sales of DVD’s).
And I’ll keep repeating this. ROBIN??? SERIOUSLY??? you don’t pick Aquaman or give Justin his spin off and you are going with FREAKING ROBIN!!!
If I want to see Cirque Du Solei I’ll see A&E
You know what Dawn how about actually PROMOTE Smallville
What made me raise an eyebrow was Marc Berman saying Grayson would replace or BE PAIRED WITH Smallville. Is the CW really looking to chuck Supernatural for this?
Not to sound nasty or anything, but I always get a kick out of hearing that the CW is going down. Mainly because I still havn’t forgiven UPN for canceling “Enterprise.” (silly reasoning, right?
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They should treat CW like a cable network, put borderline shows on the cw, it would clear space on the network and give cw more viewrs
Well, I had predicted that the management of the CW would sink the network when UPN and the WB merged. Of all the comedies that the two networks had, Reba was the one with the highest ratings and that’s the one that they cancelled. Instead of using Reba as a lead-in for the weaker performing comedies, they just dropped it completely.
Also, Smallville seems to have ran its course. Much like Gilmore Girls, the last two seasons seemed to be treading water instead of advancing the show. Now there’s a complete shift in the show (much like the final season of Gilmore Girls) and it doesn’t feel like the same show. I believe many of the changes in Smallville needed to happen, but they should have happened more gradually. New characters added, old characters completely disappear and Clark finally works at the Daily Planet all in the first episode. Come on… The search for Clark should have been a multi-episodic deal so that the search for Luthor would have more meaning. Grrr…
The other major problem that the CW currently has is “the focus of young females” only. If the two major scripted shows are Smallville and Supernatural, why try to bury them? They seem like the shows you should be building up and building off of… That’s why I thought Reaper was working for a while on the network.
I love Smallville – it is the only show (during prime time) I watch on the CW- it is getting tired though…and the “rush Clark into the Daily Planet” to work with Lois in one episode was over kill…I have watched all 7 seasons but would like an ending now – the only thing keeping me now is the Legion Of Doom orgin and the Legion of Superheroes coming this year…but yea I think a GREEN ARROW or SUPERGIRL spin-off would be better – But with the GRAYSONS the CW cannot use the “No Tights, No Flight” rule – because the GRAYSONS are “FLYING TRAPEZE ACROBATS IN TIGHTS”
I want to think that news of developing a pre-Batman Robin is a good sign that WB hasn’t given up quite yet… despite the flawed logic of catering an entire network to a very, very small demographic. If Gossip Girl and 90210 are pulling in 3 million, then that is considered a success on CW. Too bad that CW has no interest in recognizing or promoting its 2 other scripted shows that pull in better numbers than its ‘darlings’ on the toughest night: Smallville and Supernatural. (Valerie, Smallville isn’t the only one ignored; their treatment of Supernatural is reprehensible with lack of promotion and constant budget cuts. It’s the dedicated fanbases of both shows that have helped pull in constant — and sometimes better — numbers).
I agree – the only time I see Smallville promos is during weekend matinee movies and during….well…Smallville itself…oh yea and they also run a promo of Smallvile like every Thursday Nite at 6:55pm – 5 minutes before the show starts -
we wlive in the Central time zone so Smallville is on at 7pm! — which is also lame!
I agree – the only time I see Smallville promos is during weekend matinee movies and during….well…Smallville itself…oh yea and they also run a promo of Smallvile like every Thursday Nite at 6:55pm – 5 minutes before the show starts -
we live in the Central time zone so Smallville is on at 7pm! — which is also lame!
it also ignores one tree hill
which i know doesnt do that well, but it gets over 3m! and is 6 years old!
Oh, believe me Anna, I think the CW’s treatement of Supernatural is absolutely deplorable. Its a great show, and it deserves a better network. And what angers and frustrates me is that I do believe both Smallville and Supernatural would be doing better with some network support and publicity. The fact that they are as strong as they are, without that support, is a testament to both shows.
I also think Smallville should end after this season (and it will. Tom Welling can’t wait to run out the door). But I’m loving the new direction they’ve taken, and I think the show would have better numbers if it was more widely known at how “Superman” this show has become, as opposed to the teen angst it used to be known for.
SUPERNATURAL is the only program on the CW worth watching, and that includes Smallville, which has degenerated into unwatchable tripe. The CW barely acknowledges SUPERNATURAL’s excellent ratings against The Office and Grey’s Anatomy, and their promotion has been small to none. I can’t help but wonder when this network will finally realize that SUPERNATURAL is their golden goose and start harvesting its valuable eggs?
While think I’m actually still in the CW’s target demo, I never watch their shows. That said…
ROBIN?!? REALLY? Nobody cared about him when he was WITH Batman, what makes them think people will care enough to watch a show about him WITHOUT Batman?
I wonder if they’re planning on replacing Supernatural with this show? If Supernatural can’t at least get OTH level ratings this season, I think it will be over.
Robin seried? That would be like making a Superman series about Jimmy Olsen. What about a series based on Alfred the Butler? Geesh.
^I think a Superman series about Jimmy Olsen might be more interesting… at least he occasionally had a personality.
I agree with everyone! I have to say that I’m most concerned about Supernatural because the show doesn’t get any publicity! I watch OTH and Gossip Girl on Monday’s and I never see clips of the show. It’s always 90210 and some other show. How is that fair? Supernatural is a very strong show, and it’s starting to be the only good show on the CW anymore! I agree that it would probably do better if on another network! The CW is just terrible, and I wish that the WB would step up and say something! I’m tired of watching good shows like this be cancelled because they want something that brings in the ratings, like Gossip Girl and OTH. Supernatural and Smallville would do a lot better if they would just promote it! I promote it by putting it all over MySpace and Facebook… But the network needs to do more about it than leaving it up to the fans!
I really dont understand why television companies set their sights on age demographics when we are all equal. My life is so much better for having Supernatural in it, the acting is second to none and yet every season we hold our breaths to see if it will get the renewal it so greatly deserves. I feel so sorry for those of us who have no control over the entertainment industry, because those that do let us down every day. Please give Supernatural the chance to finish it’s amazing story and give the people that watch it, throughout the world, the chance to follow Sam and Dean’s story to the end. A bit of promotion would go such a long way.