The CW’s 2010-11 Schedule

The CW has made some minimal changes in the shows they are airing but like CBS has made significant shifts in the days that shows air.

Cancelled:
The Beautiful Life, Blonde Charity Mafia (announced, never aired), Fly Girls, High Society, Hitched Or Ditched, Melrose Place.

Retained:
America's Next Top Model, Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries

Moved:
90210, Life Unexpected, One Tree Hill

New:
Hellcats, Nikita

For midseason the network is holding reality series Shedding For The Wedding.

Complete Schedule: (New shows in Capitals)
Monday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: 90210 (new day)
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Gossip Girl

Tuesday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: One Tree Hill (new day)
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Life Unexpected (new day)

Wednesday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: America's Next Top Model
9:00-10:00 p.m.: HELLCATS

Thursday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Vampire Diaries
9:00-10:00 p.m.: NIKITA

Friday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Smallville
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Supernatural (new day)

Smallville star Tom Welling is one of the executive producers of Hellcats, the CW's new comedy-drama about the cutthroat world of college cheerleading. Aly Michalka plays Marti Perkins, a pre-law student at Lancer University. After her mother (played by Gail O'Grady) forgets to send in her scholarship application the highly intelligent Marti is forced to return to cheerleading as the only way she can stay in school. The decision to join the cheerleading team brings Marti a new roommate in team captain Savannah Moore (Ashley Tisdale) who initially clashes with Marti but warms to her when it becomes apparent that they need her to win the championship. Not everyone does. Also starring are Robbie Jones, Matt Barr, Jeremy Wong, Heather Hemmens, Elena Esovolova, Sharon Leel and Ben Browder.

Nikita, based on the French movie Nikita and several subsequent versions including the syndicated TV series starring Peta Wilson. Maggie Q plays the woman known as Nikita. As a teenager she was rescued from Death Row by a mysterious government agency known as The Division and given a new chance to serve her country. What she didn't know is that she would be serving her country as a spy and assassin. Betrayed by the only people she thought she could trust she has remained in hiding for three years. Now she's back and determined to expose The Division and seek retribution on those who betrayed her. Meanwhile The Division continues to seek out an train young people to become assassins. On of them, a young woman named Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca) is beginning to understand why the legendary Nikita chose to run. Also stars Shane West, Aaron Stanford, Ashton Holmes, Tiffany Hines, Melinda Clark and Xander Berkeley.

Shedding For The Wedding combines two of the most stressful things in life – planning a wedding and losing weight. Over a three month period ten overweight engaged couples will compete for the various elements of their dream wedding. Each week the couples will face a major physical challenge that will allow them to win an element such as invitations. They also have to eat right and exercise, helped by leading nutritionists and trainers. At the end of each episode the couples will step on the scales and the couple which has lost the least weight over the week will be eliminated. The last couple standing will win their dream wedding – on TV.

Comments:

The CW appears to have taken a leaf out of the book of their corporate "half-parent" CBS with a schedule that revitalises itself by moving shows around rather than inserting a raft of new shows. Of course in The CW's case it's probably less a case of having an embarrassment of riches in terms of programming than it is a question of cost. There seems to be a pattern in the way that the network has placed its shows: Monday is schools, Tuesday is family drama, Wednesday is "beautiful people" Thursday adventure, and Friday is boys night. I think both of the new shows have an excellent chance of succeeding and not just because the network can't afford to replace them. Hellcats has elements of the movie Bring It On combined with Glee and if played right has the potential to be a fun romp. Nikita on the other hand should work with both female and male audiences as an adventure tale which just happens to feature an attractive but empowered woman. Certainly it would seem to be as good a fit out of Vampire Diaries as Supernatural, and Supernatural work better with Smallville (officially in its final season) than a rerun of America's Next Top Model ever did. The big misfire in this whole schedule is undoubtedly Shedding For The Wedding. On any other network – including many of the cable networks – I wouldn't expect this to get picked up except as a summer series and if it did I would be amazed if it ran the full three months that The CW has announced that it will run. I honestly can't imagine people watching this... but then again I couldn't have imagined that people would willingly watch Biggest Loser either.

Coming soon – a night by night analysis of the new schedule.