The CW Fall Schedule: More Cute Young Things

The CW has spent its first two years of existence searching for some sort of identity other than being "that one that used to be the WB." But as the network revealed its 2008-09 plans Tuesday, the manner in which it wants to brand itself became clear: it's the Gossip Girl network now.

The first-year teen soap has become the CW's first homegrown success story, though to this point that success has been measured in buzz rather than ratings. But the two most high-profile new series announced by the network are clear attempts to leverage the Gossip Girl hype and hopefully get its viewers to hang around a little longer. First among equals among the new CW series is an updated version of Beverly Hills 90210, one of the early hits for Fox back in that network's own days as a startup. The older show hasn't really been away long enough for anyone to miss it, but if the new 90210 gets only a fraction of the numbers the original got on Fox, it will be the CW's biggest hit.

The 90210 cast features the usual selection of currently anonymous young people who will be dominating magazine covers by November, as well as Jennie Garth reprising her role as Kelly Taylor: did anyone else figure she'd grow up to be a guidance counselor? Somewhat familiar names among the show's kiddie corps include Tristan Wilds, so good as the tragic Michael in The Wire, and AnnaLynne McCord, who redefined over-the-top teen sluttiness on Nip/Tuck.

90210 will be paired on Tuesdays with Surviving the Filthy Rich, about a college graduate who stumbles into a job as a tutor for a pair of spoiled teens. The Palm Beach setting seems to insure that viewers won't see much in the way of actual tutoring. The other new series on the initial fall schedule is Stylista, which will follow America's Next Top Model on Wednesdays, and is similarly produced by Tyra Banks and Ken Mok. CW describes Stylista as The Devil Wears Prada come to life, as a collection of wannabes vie for a job in fashion journalism. Hopefully, the contestants realize that they will be expected to work harder than The Hills' Lauren Conrad.

The CW has been known for Sunday night sitcoms with appeal to African-Americans, but the 2008-09 Sunday lineup won't even feature CW programming. The network has outsourced its entire Sunday slate to Media Rights Capital, which will produce two sitcoms and two dramas to air between 7:00 and 10:00 PM. Details about these shows will appear at a later date.

So what will be missing from the CW? The most prominent absence is Beauty and the Geek, dead after five seasons. None of the other stopgap reality shows that have dotted the CW schedule, Pussycat Dolls Present and Crowned chief among them, seem to be on the agenda for even a midseason role. The long-running Girlfriends and the obscure-even-by-CW-standards Life Is Wild never returned from the strike. The first-year sitcom Aliens In America attracted unusually good reviews for a CW show, but the network isn't bringing it back. The popular Friday Night Smackdown! will be departing for MyNetworkTV, but Reaper is coming back at midseason with a 13-episode order. Reaper might be a good permanent fit on Thursdays when Smallville ends its run, which will almost certainly be a year from now.

The CW's Monday-through-Friday schedule (the new season begins September 1):

Monday: Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill, which won't have to wait till January this time around.

Tuesday: 90210 and Surviving the Filthy Rich.

Wednesday: America's Next Top Model and Stylista.

Thursday: Unchanged with Smallville (what's left of it, anyway) and Supernatural.

Friday: Everybody Hates Chris (8 PM) and The Game (8:30 PM) move from Sundays, as does the Top Model rerun (9 PM).

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