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Yesterday the CW announced renewals for six of its top shows, including old standards like One Tree Hill and Smallville. While this is great news for fans of the long-running dramas, it's not very good for the network.

The CW is still in its infancy, and still making mistakes. Just look at the failed partnership with MRC to outsource its Sunday night programming, a deal that was cut short and replaced with syndicated reruns and movies.

Now the network is making another mistake keeping around fossils like One Tree Hill, Smallville and even America's Next Top Model. While fans should be happy to have more of these entertaining programs, the CW needs to find itself, establishing a solid brand. Simply renewing relics from the former WB and UPN networks is not the way to do that.

Every year, it gets harder and harder to convince stars like Chad Michael Murray and Tom Welling to stick around their aging shows. Eventually the CW won't be able to meet their demands and the established franchises of the network will vanish. Once that happens, the network will die quickly unless there's something in place to take over.

The other shows don't offer that. America's Next Top Model will enter cycles 13 and 14, resorting to gimmicks like a cycle with all the contestants under 5'7''. If you've been to any mall in America lately, you know this country is quickly running out of potential top models.

Supernatural was also renewed, but creator Eric Kripke has always stood by a five-season plan, meaning next year will be its last. What does that leave the CW with?

There's Gossip Girl, the network's sole success. The ratings aren't great, but it's one of those shows that does very well with younger audiences who only watch TV on their computers. It's the rare gem in the fledgling network's otherwise abysmal development slate. Does anyone remember Runaway, Life is Wild or Hidden Palms?

The other renewed show is 90210, the show that debuted to nearly 5 million viewers before dropping down to an average of just over 2 million. The show had tremendous buzz, but quickly fizzled.

In development are a number of shows that will likely face trouble. The new Melrose Place reboot might be an interesting concept, but if 90210 was any indication, any short-term excitement will not pay off in the long run. Similarly, the network is working on a Gossip Girl spin-off that goes back to Lily's teenage years.

As much as an '80s period piece might be fun to watch, the target audience for the CW wasn't even born in that decade, so why would hip youngsters care about the '80s?

The network's best hope could be a show based on the novel series The Vampire Diaries, about a pair of rival vampire brothers in love with the same girl. It combines the fantasy elements of Supernatural with the basic story structure of One Tree Hill. Following the success of Twilight and HBO's True Blood, a teen vampire show could be just right to let the CW make its mark.

However, in order for a new show like The Vampire Diaries to succeed, the CW has to stop relying so heavily on the old standards like Smallville and they need to stop putting all their eggs in the baskets of remakes and spin-offs. Otherwise, it's not just the shows on the bubble that need to worry about cancellation, it could be the entire network on the chopping block.

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