Is there trouble at The CW?
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/03/27/is-there-trouble-at-the-cw/

Lets see:
*They've decided to pull the plug on "SmackDown!" even though it's their highest rated show.

*They don't pick up "Reba" following the merger even though I believe it was the WB's highest rated show (or at least, sitcom) at the time.

*They're pulling the plug on Kids' WB in favor of the cheap anime from 4KidsTV (which is already on FOX).

*The crust of their shows are either reality shows (e.g. "America's Next Top Model" and "Beauty and the Geek") or shows about pretty white kids with problems (e.g. "Gossip Girl" and "One Tree Hill"). This comes in the midst of them announcing the dismantling of their comedy department.

*They immediately dump shows that have a cult following like "Veronica Mars" or frequently give it a bad timeslot like "Everybody Hates Chris".

I'd assume The CW just dissolve and their affiliates go independent or pick up RTN or ION where they're not available. There's NOTHING on there worth watching, IMO. Why on earth are they renewing Smallville? That show is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay past its prime.

Really, although their ratings are lower, MyNetwork TV is better off - they have less overhead because most of their programming is unscripted. I've always thought MNTV would outlast The CW despite its higher ratings.

Supernatural and OTH are all I really watch on there now on a regular basis. Smallville and Reaper on occassion.

Despite that I will never forgive them for cancelling Everwood. 7th Heaven SO did not need another season IMO. Also they treated Reba badly even though it got good ratings.

The WB and UPN should have never merged. Ever.

Smallville is still good but unfortunately Lex and Lana are leaving the show as regulars so it'll probably get bad next year.

Smallville is still good but unfortunately Lex and Lana are leaving the show as regulars so it'll probably get bad next year.
It's very hard to imagine Smallville without Lex.

Yes it was a big misstake, they got rid of some great shows. The CW sucks

I am a little happy that Smackdown is going to another network, as I've not forgiven them for not finding a slot for Reba, plus moving Smackdown to another network made it easier to renew OTH and Supernatural

Hey I was wondering with no More Kids WB does that mean No More Shaggy and Scooby Doo get a Clue

Hey I was wondering with no More Kids WB does that mean No More Shaggy and Scooby Doo get a Clue
Good question. I was wondering that myself.

Lana and Lex aren't the only ones from Smallville to leave, here's what I found:

Gough & Millar Exit Smallville
Source: Alfred Gough & Miles Millar April 3, 2008


"Smallville" creators and executive producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar have announced they are not staying on for the eighth season of the show. They sent out the following open letter:

As the creators of "Smallville" we look back at 7 amazing years. We look back at 152 episodes. We look back knowing that the show will continue into Season 8 without us. After much heartache and debate we have decided it is time for us to move on.

Over the last 7 years we have had the honor of working with a remarkable team of people here in Los Angeles and in Vancouver. We have been blessed with a wonderful cast who we have watched mature with admiration and affection. We have been rewarded with a fan base that is as loyal as it is vocal.

We are incredibly proud of our work on this show. We achieved what we set out to do. We never compromised our vision. We leave knowing that "Smallville" is the longest-running comic book based series of all-time. The show was featured on the covers of Rolling Stone, MAD magazine, TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly. The pilot had the highest-rated premiere in the history of the WB. Even in its seventh year it is still the #1 scripted show on the network. "Smallville" is watched by millions of people in hundreds of countries and in dozens of languages around the world.

The show's success is a credit to a fantastically talented group of people. We wanted to take this chance to single some of them out. Our writers – your work speaks for itself. James, Jae, Rob, David – the backbone of our team in Vancouver. Joe Davola, Chris and Shelly – remember those Friday night brainstorming sessions? Len Goldstein and Steve Pearlman – thanks for believing we could do this. David Nutter – for giving the show your magic touch. John Litvack – when the knives were out, you always had our backs. Ken Horton – our Yoda. Peter Roth – Smallville's biggest fan. Melinda, Michael R., Paul M., Susan and Suzanne – for steering us through 152 episodes. Greg Beeman – your passion is an inspiration. Jordan, David, Garth, Carolyn, Bob & Lew – and everyone at the much-missed WB. Paul Levitz, Greg Noveck and the guys at DC Comics. Lisa Lewis – our very own soccer mom/mafia accountant. Michael Gendler – aka mega-counsel. David Lubliner – we can finally focus on features now. And last but in no way the least, Renee Kurtz – the smartest TV agent in town, we would be nowhere without you!

Finally, to the fans who have stuck with us through the highs and the lows: know this – we never stopped fighting to make this show great. Thanks for watching.

Alfred Gough & Miles Millar

^ OMG, why not just end it now? seriously

What a waste of airtime. End the show, CW....you're spending money you probably don't need to waste.

I think it was a huge mistake. UPN and WB were brining in much higher ratings than CW has ever brought in, EVER. UPN wasn't much of a network. WB wasn't bad . . . it was actually doing really well around the time it folded. They should have ceased UPN, or maybe had it merge with the WB but just call it the WB.

I don't get why the CW always seems to put some of their best shows in low rated timeslots. They moved their entire sitcom block to Sunday's, which was a huge disaster (every show on the block barely gets 1 million each week, when it was getting 2-3 million on Mondays).

I can care less about their sitcoms ever since the way they screwed Reba because it didn't fit the desired demographics that Girlfriends and Chris get (which I don't get... Reba and Girlfriends are both female centric sitcoms, they could market them together for that... I know more people who like both shows than CW thinks). I only watch Supernatural, One Tree Hill and Reaper. The glory days of the late 90's/early 00's WB are long gone.

Girlfriends IMHO has gone on way longer than it should, another show on past its prime. It's really not the same since Jill Marie Jones left, and the show just seems weak to me now.

I can care less about their sitcoms ever since the way they screwed Reba because it didn't fit the desired demographics that Girlfriends and Chris get (which I don't get... Reba and Girlfriends are both female centric sitcoms, they could market them together for that... I know more people who like both shows than CW thinks). I only watch Supernatural, One Tree Hill and Reaper. The glory days of the late 90's/early 00's WB are long gone.

Wasn't Reba getting 3-4 million when it was cancelled? Compared to their 4 sitcoms now (which can barely manage over a million), I don't understand the need to cancel it.

Wasn't Reba getting 3-4 million when it was cancelled? Compared to their 4 sitcoms now (which can barely manage over a million), I don't understand the need to cancel it.


Like Dean said, it didn't fit their demographic, which is people in there teens and 20s. Reba is about a single mom going through life after her husband married his knocked-up mistress.
That whole "didn't fit the dmeographic" is crap! I'm 20 years old and I loved Reba. Last I checked, didn't ratings matter more than what target it hit?

Wasn't Reba getting 3-4 million when it was cancelled? Compared to their 4 sitcoms now (which can barely manage over a million), I don't understand the need to cancel it.
yep, Reba was CW's #1 sitcom by far when it was axed. The only reason the fans got a season 6 was because it would've cost more to cancel it in season 5 than produce an additional 13 final episodes. It really got on my nerves because they cancelled Reba for not being "urban enough" and then they bring out Aliens In America, which even airs in that coveted urban sitcom block that they refused to let Reba into, and that show is no more "urban" than Reba was.

Like Dean said, it didn't fit their demographic, which is people in there teens and 20s. Reba is about a single mom going through life after her husband married his knocked-up mistress.
That whole "didn't fit the dmeographic" is crap! I'm 20 years old and I loved Reba. Last I checked, didn't ratings matter more than what target it hit?
I agree. I am not a fan of country music but I loved watching Reba and enjoyed it all six years. You'd think if it's getting 4 million, that should mean more than 2 million but hitting the "right" 2 million in their eyes

Like Dean said, it didn't fit their demographic, which is people in there teens and 20s. Reba is about a single mom going through life after her husband married his knocked-up mistress.
That whole "didn't fit the dmeographic" is crap! I'm 20 years old and I loved Reba. Last I checked, didn't ratings matter more than what target it hit?
I agree also, this whole desperation to fit demographics and to be "hip" and "cool" these days is why a lot of networks aren't so great anymore.

I was in my mid teens to early twenties when the show aired and I loved Reba too.

^ OMG, why not just end it now? seriously
Because it's their #1 show. Oh wait, since when does ratings matter to The CW? - Everwood and Reba were still in the top 5 rated shows on their network when they pulled the plug on both shows. It's a shame, really.

Girlfriends IMHO has gone on way longer than it should, another show on past its prime. It's really not the same since Jill Marie Jones left, and the show just seems weak to me now.
I read not too long ago that Girlfriends has been canceled anyway. And they're probably not even going to get a proper series finale. It might just be a clip show or something. I've never been a fan, but for a show that's been on for almost a decade, it certainly deserves better than that. The CW has their heads up their a**.

or shows about pretty white kids with problems (e.g. "Gossip Girl" and "One Tree Hill"). This comes in the midst of them announcing the dismantling of their comedy department.

*They immediately dump shows that have a cult following like "Veronica Mars" or frequently give it a bad timeslot like "Everybody Hates Chris".
Speaking of "pretty white kids with problems" - I always thought the original plan for The CW was to "reinvent" The WB and UPN. Picking up One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl for another season and adding "90210" to their lineup this fall, seems like they're just making a new "The WB" (though it will absolutely pale in comparison to The WB's glory days). I watch One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl and will even watch 90210, but I just don't understand how shows like these are a "reinvention" of The WB.

And speaking of cult followings, god I miss Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars. And I've NEVER forgiven them to axing Everwood. It's a shame what's become of The WB, really.

I agree with what a lot of you are saying. UPN never was much of a network...what did they even have going for them really? I'm not familiar with their start, but all I can remember in the 2000s was Girlfriends, SmackDown!, and maybe America's Next Top Model. None of their programming ever interested me. They didn't seem to have many 'big' shows.

WB, however, just seemed like a higher-budget, better quality network. The presentation and programming quality, IMO, was much better. They had a lot of top shows in the 2000s....7th Heaven, Reba, Everwood, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, One Tree Hill, Charmed, Jamie Foxx, all come to mind.

If WB and UPN had both continued, IMO, WB would have outlasted UPN. They actually had some decent programming. Really, The WB should have just bought UPN (or they should have merged and kept WB), added the UPN shows that were worth keeping, and move on. No name change, no marketing change. "The CW" has been a huge disappointment, to me at least - most of the shows airing are UPN/WB carryovers. What about when these shows end? The only shows on there that didn't come from UPN/WB are Aliens in America, Gossip Girl, Reaper, and The Game. Aliens is a joke and probably won't be back, Reaper is OK, The Game and Gossip Girl are decent, but not that great. So that's two, maybe three shows we could see next season that they came up with. Maybe they renewed Smallville for lack of anything else to air.

I think The Parkers and now that I'm finally getting a chance to see it on FX, Buffy, were hands down the best shows ever on UPN. I thought Girlfriends was good in its prime, and some of the sitcoms I notice start off decently but I lost interest in them fast (One on One immediately comes to mind).

The WB had many good shows: Everwood, One Tree Hill, Buffy, Angel, Smallville, Supernatural, Steve Harvey, Reba, Gilmore Girls... a few of these shows I didn't see until reruns years later, but I'd definitely say after seeing these shows, in the late 1990s-2000's the WB had the better shows easily.

Didn't WB also air some later seasons of Grounded for Life and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch? They had Dawson's Creek and Angel too, not a big fan of either, but I think they were popular.

Didn't WB also air some later seasons of Grounded for Life and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch?

Yes to both of them.

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch ran from 2000 to 2003 on the WB when ABC cancelled it after the previous four seasons.

Grounded for Life ran from Feb. 2003 to 2005 on the WB after FOX dumped it in the middle of its third season.

Didn't WB also air some later seasons of Grounded for Life and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch? They had Dawson's Creek and Angel too, not a big fan of either, but I think they were popular.
oh, forgot all about Grounded for Life, Dawson's Creek, and Sabrina... I love all of those, and What I Like About You

I read not too long ago that Girlfriends has been canceled anyway. And they're probably not even going to get a proper series finale. It might just be a clip show or something. I've never been a fan, but for a show that's been on for almost a decade, it certainly deserves better than that. The CW has their heads up their a**.
That's just wrong. :mad: They better never that with Smallville, OTH... or, Supernatural, my all time favorite show on there.

Love what's being said here. WB could be counted as a major network - their dramas usually did very well for them. A lot of their new shows premiered well for them, too, back in the day. I know Gilmore Girls and Smallville had high premieres, not sure what they were, though. Everybody Hates Chris premiered to over 7 million viewers . . . wasn't that the highest premiere on the network? The CW is lucky to see shows reach 2 million viewers for a premiere, let alone a regular episode.

The WB did have some great shows, nonetheless. I always liked their sitcoms. I always Sabrina and Grounded for Life. I also like What I Like About You, and a few of their 90's sitcoms weren't bad, either. I just don't get what the deal about the CW and their shows are - they just aren't good.

I think the prob with CW is that the vast majority of the WB shows were past their prime by 2006... Supernatural was the only real "jump start" show they had, so it really didn't help that most of the WB shows that went from WB to CW only had a good year or two left in them, and now they're stuck with very few hit shows. It says a lot about how the network has fallen that One Tree Hill got an instant renewal for 2008-2009 with ratings that had it teetering on the brink of cancellation in 2005-2006, but what was one of their lowest rated shows two years ago is now one of their flagship hits today. That says it all right there, One Tree Hill's ratings didn't magically go up, it just didn't drop any further, and what narrowly escaped cancellation in season 3 is now a smash for CW in season 5.

I remember watching the WB's Friday night lineup in the 2001-02 & 2002-03 seasons. Anyone remember these lineups?

2001-02 Season
8:00 PM - Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
8:30 PM - Maybe It's Me
9:00 PM - Reba
9:30 PM - Raising Dad

2002-03 Season
8:00 PM - What I Like About You
8:30 PM - Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
9:00 PM - Reba
9:30 PM - Greetings From Tucson

It's lineups like these that make me miss the WB more and more.

^ Loved Greetings from Tucson too. I was sad when I heard that Pablo Santos died around a year ago. :(

Season 1 of WILAY is my favorite. I remember seeing the pilot when it first aired and I loved it.

I remember watching the WB's Friday night lineup in the 2001-02 & 2002-03 seasons. Anyone remember these lineups?

2001-02 Season
8:00 PM - Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
8:30 PM - Maybe It's Me
9:00 PM - Reba
9:30 PM - Raising Dad

2002-03 Season
8:00 PM - What I Like About You
8:30 PM - Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
9:00 PM - Reba
9:30 PM - Greetings From Tucson

It's lineups like these that make me miss the WB more and more.
I liked most of those too. I also enjoyed "Run of The House" with Joey Lawrence. And Sister, Sister and Unhappily...Ever After are among my all time favorite WB sitcoms.

The WB really did have some GREAT dramas; Buffy, Dawson's Creek, Felicity, Roswell, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, 7th Heaven, Everwood, Popular, Angel, Charmed, etc.

Yeah, WB had some good sitcoms. Friday nights were always good, until Sabrina the Teenage Witch was cancelled. Then they had those hopeless sitcoms on Friday nights, like that one with Fran Drescher, which was probably their worst sitcom to date.

What I Like About You wasn't bad. I always loved the first season compared to the other 3. Sister Sister, Reba, and Grounded for Life were also great WB sitcoms.

The merger hasn't made the CW the powerouse network it could have been.
Unfortunatly, the shows I watched (Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars) are no longer on anymore.
Smallville is the only CW show I watch now.

The WB had all the tools to make a good network back in the day, but like everyone else has pretty much said, their good shows have either gotten canceled or have gone sour and limping along. It really sucks for them because they had all of their big hit dramas on at once...Dawson, Buffy, Felicity, Angel, "7th Heaven," etc. All of them were on at once, and they all started to fall apart at the same time and then they were all gone at the same time (except for 7th, of course). They had nothing to back them up with. Imagine all of ABC's hit shows falling apart now and getting canceled. What would take their places as the centerpieces of ABC's lineup? Nothing. And that's what happened to The CW.

I only watch "Supernatural." I hear "Gossip Girl" is good, and I plan to watch the summer reruns, but we'll see...

I don't keep up with CW much, but isn't "Gossip Girl" their only new show that was a real 'hit' this past year? That's the only one you ever hear mention of.

If so, they need to get some more new show ideas, because all of these WB carryovers and America's Next Top Model won't carry them forever.

I was a big WB fan, but I have had no desire to get into Gossip Girl. If I don't like the real Paris Hilton or Brandon Davis, why would I want to see fictional versions of them?

I was a big WB fan, but I have had no desire to get into Gossip Girl. If I don't like the real Paris Hilton or Brandon Davis, why would I want to see fictional versions of them?

I know what you mean. If they're calling Gossip Girl a new hit for them this season, which can barely get 2 million viewers if I remember correctly, that's just sad. I wouldn't be surprised to see them fold in a couple years.For godsakes, Mama's Family on ION gets higher ratings than some of their shows.

WB had many sitcoms years ago. Most of them didn't get a chance to grow IMO. They were on a year and gone. I'm mad that Reba didn't get a finale, but neither did Full House.
7th HEaven had 2 finales.

I live in Australia, but have hated The CW ever since it formed, as it cancelled many of The WB and UPN shows that I enjoyed - and I'll never forgive them for cancelling Gilmore Girls, 7th Heaven and Reba, what do they mean it didn't fit with their demographic, I'm 16 years old and love it, my 13 year old sister adores it and my 10 year old brother watches occasionally!