The CW Announces 2016-2017 Fall Schedule; And It’s Super

The CW Announces 2016-2017 Fall Schedule
Melissa Benoist as Supergirl Image Credit: Darren Michaels/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Thursday, ahead of its annual presentation to advertisers, The CW released its 2016-2017 fall schedule. The decade-old network will premiere two new series this fall, with another joining the lineup in midseason. But the biggest change to the network is that Supergirl is moving from parent network CBS to bring the number of the CW’s DC Comics-based series to four.

Despite a SupergirlFlash crossover this season, CW President Mark Pedowitz claims that event was more about corporate synergy than foreshadowing. “The ball [to move Supergirl] got rolling a week and a half ago. This is a good thing for the CW. Our parent company recognized that this was the right place for Supergirl and we believe that this is a big help for us.”

The CW will launch its 2016-17 broadcast season in October, with premiere dates to be announced later. In midseason, the will mark the return of The 100, iZombie, The Originals and Reign are joined by a new drama based on the Archie comic universe, Riverdale.

The network also revealed that this August, it will also broadcast the online docuseries My Last Days. The network describes the inspiring and heartfelt series as “How to truly life, as told by those who are dying.” The series is created and will be hosted by Jane the Virgin star Justin Baldoni, and will feature the stories of six-terminally ill — but real-life — superheroes who have decided to make a profound impact on others in the time they have left.

Following is The CW’s 2016-17 primetime schedule, a night-by-night breakdown and accompanying details on all the programs. All times ET/PT.

The CW’s 2016-17 Primetime Schedule

Monday
8:00-9:00 PM             Supergirl (New Network)
9:00-10:00 PM           Jane the Virgin

Tuesday
8:00-9:00 PM             The Flash
9:00-10:00 PM           No Tomorrow (New Series)

Wednesday
8:00-9:00 PM             Arrow
9:00-10:00 PM         Frequency (New Series)

Thursday
8:00-9:00 PM             DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
9:00-10:00 PM           Supernatural (New Night)

Friday
8:00-9:00 PM             The Vampire Diaries
9:00-10:00 PM           Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (New Night)

Descriptions of New Series

The CW Announces 2016-2017 Fall Schedule
Melissa Benoist as Supergirl. Image Credit: Darren Michaels/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Supergirl
Supergirl is an action-adventure drama based on the DC character Kara Zor-El, Superman’s (Kal-El) cousin who decides to embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be.

With the series’ network swap, of course we’re wondering how the series will change. Pedowitz revealed that he is meeting with show runner and EP Greg Berlanti and his team “next week” to discuss the direction of the show now that it’s left CBS (and it’s assumedly bigger production budget.) One move that will immediately affect the show is that production is moving from LA’s Warner Brothers Studios to cost-effective Vancouver, Canada. “We’re pretty confident that they know our needs, and we’re confident that we know their needs,” says Pedowitz. He did note that Calista Flockhart will still be a part of the north-of-the-border production, but didn’t elaborate if she will remain on the show fulltime or if her character will be scaled back. “We are happy to have her in whatever capacity,” he says. I had the opportunity to visit the Supergirl set in January and wonder if they will move the expensive sets to Canada, or if Cara’s about to get some less-expensive digs.

The CW Announces 2016-2017 Fall Schedule
Joshua Sasse as Xavier and Tori Anderson as Evie in No Tomorrow. Image Credit: Eddy Chen/The CW

No Tomorrow
Evie Callahan (Tori Anderson), a risk-averse quality-control assessor, appreciates order. But when Evie meets charming, free-spirited Xavier Holliday (Joshua Sasse), the attraction is immediate and electric. He encourages Evie to “carpe that diem,” because it’s more fun and he believes humankind has a mere eight months and twelve days until a runaway asteroid destroys Earth. And he’s made an Apocalyst — a tally of every last thing he wants to do before the world ends. And in this rom-com with the ultimate deadline, Evie must decide whether to live life by the rules, or to its fullest.

The CW Announces 2016-2017 Fall Schedule
Peyton List as Raimy in Frequency. Image Credit: Bettina Strauss/The CW

Frequency
This time-spanning thriller is based on the 2000 film of the same name starring Jim Caviezel and Dennis Quaid. In the new series, when Detective Raimy Sullivan (Peyton List) was Raimy was eight years old, her father, NYPD Officer Frank Sullivan (Riley Smith) left Raimy and her mother, Julie (Devin Kelley), behind when he went undercover and got himself killed. Twenty years later, Raimy is stunned when a voice crackles through her father’s old ham radio —it’s her dad transmitting from 1996. When Raimy warns her dad about the sting that will lead to his death, he survives the attempt on his life, but the change in history drastically affects Raimy’s life in the present.

MIDSEASON
Riverdale
As a new school year begins, the town of Riverdale is reeling from the tragic death of high school golden boy Jason Blossom. Archie Andrews (KJ Apa) is still the all-American teen, but the summer’s events made him realize that he wants to pursue a career in music — despite the sudden end of his forbidden relationship with Riverdale’s sexy music teacher, Ms. Grundy (Sarah Habel). Also inhabiting Archie’s world is singer Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray), whose sole focus is on her soon-to-be-world-famous Pussycats, budding writer Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), girl-next-door Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), Riverdale’s queen bee Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) and new student, Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes). Riverdale may look like a quiet, sleepy town, but there are dangers and secrets in the shadows … Based on the characters from Archie Comics. Pedowitz says the series is “A more adult version of the concept, that works. It is basically the secrets of a small town.” He also shares that the series “Will feature a much more adult presence,” with the addition of parents of several of the characters with their own dramas.

Other news from the CW
Pedowitz was asked, now that the DC comics character Vixen has been introduced into the Arrow and Flash universe, is she the next character to be developed into a live action spinoff? He shares, “Any of the DC characters has the potential to be spun off into a live-action series.” With four DC-based shows on the network, that opens a lot of characters to spinoff-potential.

Holding Back Some Good Stuff
On the decision to hold back The Originals and The 100 until midseason, “We only have 10 hours [of programming],” Pedowitz reminded journalists. “We have a very strong schedule. We wanted to have a very strong midseason and summer.” He also pointed to The 100 as a “very bingeable show.”

Fantastic Four (but not the Marvel Comics one)
Now that the CW will have four DC Comics shows, we’re eagerly anticipating some major crossovers. Pedowitz teased, “It will be the biggest crossover ever!”

What do you think of The CW’s fall lineup? What are you excited to watch? Do you think Supergirl will change?

Supergirl  © 2016 WBEI. All rights reserved.
Frequency and No Tomorrow © 2016 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved

2 Comments

  1. The CW needs to realize that many comics loving males don’t get control of their TVs Monday nights at 8 because of NBC’s “The Voice” and ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars”. I was excited the CW was picking up “Supergirl”…because I never got to see it when CBS ran it. Guess what? The time’s exactly the same, so I still don’t get to see it! Either change or at least re-air “Supergirl”, “Riverdale” faces the same fate if aired on Mondays.

  2. Superwoman…what a joke. Stay in the kitchen and make a meat loaf. Leave the real world to is men….

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