Upfronts 2012: CW Shifts Six of Its Seven Returning Series

Net will avoid fall crush by launching season in early October

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/17/2012 9:00:00 AM

Complete Coverage: Upfronts 2012

The CW released its fall schedule Thursday, which includes time period moves for six of its seven returning series and sets a fall launch for its new season in early October to avoid the September premiere week crush.

90210 and Hart of Dixie will switch nights, with the former shifting to Monday at 8 p.m. to lead into the final abbreviated season of Gossip Girl. Hart of Dixie will instead lead of Tuesday to launch another medical-themed drama, Emily Owens, M.D. (formerly First Cut), starring Mamie Gummer as a surgical intern who discovers that working in a hospital feels a lot like high school.

Supernatural will get upgraded from Friday to Wednesday, where it will lead out of the new Arrow, starring Stephen Amell as the popular DC Comics character, creating a male-friendly drama block for the traditionally female-skewing network.

As a result, The CW's long-running reality series America's Next Top Model will move to Friday, anchoring the night at 8 p.m. leading into the third season of Nikita, which moves back an hour to Supernatural's old slot. In addition, the next season of ANTM will involve the viewer in the competition for the first time, allowing fans to vote online each week for their favorite contestants based on photo shoots taken during production.

The only series keeping its time period is the net's top-rated Vampire Diaries, which continues Thursday at 8 p.m. to launch Beauty and the Beast, starring Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) as a homicide detective and Jay Ryan as a doctor with a dark side.

Sex and the City prequel series The Carrie Diaries is being held for midseason, when it will take over Gossip Girl's time slot when that series ends its run. New drama Cult, about a journalist looking for his brother who went missing after becoming obsessed with a hit TV show about a menacing cult leader, is also on the bench for midseason.

THE CW's 2012-2013 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE

MONDAY

8:00-9:00 PM                      90210 (New Night)
9:00-10:00 PM                   Gossip Girl (New Time)
                                    (The Carrie Diaries premieres January 2013)

TUESDAY

8:00-9:00 PM                      Hart of Dixie (New Night)
9:00-10:00 PM                   Emily Owens, M.D. (New Series)

WEDNESDAY

8:00-9:00 PM                      Arrow (New Series)
9:00-10:00 PM                   Supernatural (New Night)

THURSDAY

8:00-9:00 PM                      The Vampire Diaries
9:00-10:00 PM                   Beauty and the Beast (New Series)

FRIDAY

8:00-9:00 PM                      America's Next Top Model (New Night)
9:00-10:00 PM                   Nikita (New Time)