The CW network announced it’s new 2021-2022 schedule today, and thanks to an expansion into Saturday nights is more packed than ever before. That said, the new schedule does come with its fair share of shake-ups, as the network continues to play around with the staggered schedule cause by their decision to start the large majority of their dramas starting January, 2021 due to the COVID shutdown.
“This year, as we begin to return to more normalized production schedules, The CW is firing on all cylinders,” said Mark Pedowitz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The CW Network via a release provided to Decider. “The CW dares to defy by expanding our primetime schedule to include Saturday night and becoming a full 14 hour, seven-day-a-week broadcast network for the first time in its history, offering more original series on both our linear and digital platforms, providing more opportunities for our advertisers and affiliates.”
First, the good news. As previously announced, The CW renewed nearly its entire lineup of series for 2021-2022. That includes Walker (Season 2); All American (Season 4); Batwoman (Season 3); Charmed (Season 4); DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 7); Dynasty (Season 5); The Flash (Season 8); In the Dark (Season 4); Legacies (Season 4); Nancy Drew (Season 3); Riverdale (Season 6); and Roswell, New Mexico (Season 4). The network also recently renewed Kung Fu and Superman & Lois for Season 2, and DC’s Stargirl for Season 3, prior to Season 2 even airing for the latter.
Joining those returning series are new pickups: the All American spinoff All American: Homecoming, which is set at an HBCU; Naomi, a DC superhero series headed by Ava DuVernay; a reboot of The 4400 titled 4400 from Riverdale writer Ariana Jackson; and the highly anticipated adult reboot of Legends of the Hidden Temple.
Now, the mixed to bad news. Powerpuff, the much discussed adult Powerpuff Girls reboot is being redeveloped with the same creative team and cast, and will now currently be on the schedule. Similarly, Tom Swift, a Nancy Drew spinoff, is not yet confirmed. And the network has passed on Black Lightning spinoff Painkiller, and Our Ladies of Brooklyn, a drama about millennial nuns. The latter two will be shopped around by their studios, but will not air on The CW.
Jumping into the schedule proper, there’s plenty of news that will perk fans’ ears up. Sunday nights are now game nights, with Legends of the Hidden Temple and a new, U.S. version of Killer Camp. All American, now a hit, sticks to Mondays in Season 4, and is joined by the premiere of 4400.
Tuesdays are their own story, though, with The Flash taking its traditional 8/7c slot, with Riverdale moving to 9/8c after it, instead of the Wednesdays at 8/7c slot it has aired in for the previous five seasons. That’s not all: both The Flash and Riverdale will kick off their new seasons this Fall as five-episode events, before continuing at some later point to finish off their eighth and sixth seasons, respectively.
Wednesdays are also shaking up as The CW’s new superhero night, with Legends of Tomorrow anchoring the 8/7c slot, followed by Batwoman, jumping from Sundays to Wednesdays for Season 3.
Thursdays are steady with new hit Walker returning for Season 2, followed by Legacies’ fourth season. And Friday brings a surprise of its own, with Nancy Drew vacating its Wednesday slot to move to Fridays at 9/8c. Saturdays, meanwhile, are the new Fridays, with a mix of unscripted shows Whose Line Is It Anyway? and World’s Funniest Animals.
The additional dramas from The CW, including All American: Homecoming, Naomi, Charmed, DC’s Stargirl, Dynasty, In the Dark, Kung Fu, Roswell, New Mexico and Superman & Lois will all return midseason in 2022.
The network also notes that, keeping with the precedent set over the past few seasons, every episode of 4400, All American: Homecoming, Bawtoman, DC’s Stargirl, Kung Fu, Naomi, Nancy Drew, Superman & Lois, Walker, Killer Camp, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Whose Line Is It Anyway? and World’s Funniest Animals will be available to stream the next day free on both CWTV.com and The CW app.
With that in mind, here’s the full Fall schedule, with exact premiere dates to be announced later on.
The CW’s 2021 Fall Primetime Schedule
Sundays
8/7c – Legends of the Hidden Temple (New Series)
9/8c – Killer Camp (New U.S. Edition)
Mondays
8/7c – All American
9/8c – 4400 (New Series)
Tuesdays
8/7c – The Flash
9/8c – Riverdale (New Night)
Wednesdays
8/7c – DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (New Night)
9/8c – Batwoman (New Night)
Thursdays
8/7c – Walker
9/8c – Legacies
Fridays
8/7c – Penn & Teller: Fool Us
9/8c – Nancy Drew (New Night)
Saturdays
8/7c – Whose Line Is It Anyway? (New Night)
8:30/7:30c – Whose Line Is It Anyway? (New Night)
9/8c – World’s Funniest Animals (New Night)
9:30/8:30c – World’s Funniest Animals (New Night)
The CW also shared a promo of the upcoming season (which you can watch above), and some graphics, first look pictures and synopses for their new series (which you can check out below):
From Oscar® nominee/Emmy® winner Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship (“Arrow”), and starring Kaci Walfall (“Army Wives,” “Power,” “The Lion King” on Broadway) in the title role, the DC drama NAOMI follows the journey of a cool, confident, comic book–loving teenager as she pursues her hidden destiny. When a supernatural event shakes her small hometown of Port Oswego, Naomi sets out to uncover its origins, with a little help from her fiercely loyal best friend Annabelle (Mary-Charles Jones, “Kevin Can Wait”). She also has the support of her adoptive, doting parents, veteran military officer Greg (Barry Watson, “7th Heaven,” “The Loudest Voice”) and linguist Jennifer (Mouzam Makkar, “The Fix”). After an encounter with Zumbado (Cranston Johnson, “Filthy Rich”), the mysterious owner of a used car lot, leaves her shaken, Naomi turns to tattoo shop owner Dee (Alexander Wraith, “Orange Is the New Black”), who becomes her reluctant mentor. While unraveling the mystery of herself, Naomi also navigates her high school friendships with both military kids and local townies, including ex-boyfriend and high school jock Nathan (Daniel Puig, “The System”); Annabelle’s longtime, loyal boyfriend Jacob (Aidan Gemme, “Deliver Us From Evil”); proud “townie” Anthony (Will Meyers, “Bad Education”); and fellow comic book enthusiast Lourdes (newcomer Camila Moreno). As Naomi journeys to the heights of the Multiverse in search of answers, what she discovers will challenge everything we believe about our heroes. Based on the characters from DC, NAOMI is written and executive produced by Ava DuVernay and Jill Blankenship, and executive produced by Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes of ARRAY Filmworks. Amanda Marsalis (“Echo Park,” “Queen Sugar”) directed and co-executive produced the pilot episode. The series is from ARRAY Filmworks in association with Warner Bros. Television.
From the executive producers of ALL AMERICAN, ALL AMERICAN: HOMECOMING is a young adult sports drama set against the backdrop of the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) experience at Bringston University, where Black excellence is a way of life. The series follows Simone (Geffri Maya, “All American”), a young tennis hopeful from Beverly Hills who is trying to fight her way back to great after some time away from the court, and Damon (Peyton Alex Smith, “Legacies”), an elite baseball player from Chicago who is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. After Simone’s aunt Amara Patterson (Kelly Jenrette, “Manhunt”), a journalism teacher and activist, exposes a scandal that threatens to derail the school’s beloved baseball program, new coach Marcus Turner (Cory Hardrict, “The Outpost”) is determined to bring a championship back to Bringston the honest way — with Damon’s help. Damon will adjust to his new normal with fellow baseball player and childhood friend JR (Sylvester Powell, “Five Points”) by his side. Meanwhile, as Simone struggles to find her footing, she will get a little guidance from Thea (Camille Hyde, “Katy Keene”), the super-competitive queen bee of the Bringston tennis team, and Keisha (Netta Walker, “Come as You Are”), the school’s unofficial mayor, who will help Simone learn how to live her best life. As they contend with the high stakes of college sports, Simone and Damon will also navigate the highs, lows, and sexiness of unsupervised early adulthood at a prestigious HBCU. ALL AMERICAN: HOMECOMING is written and executive produced by Nkechi Okoro Carroll, and executive produced by Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, David Madden, and Robbie Rogers. Michael Schultz (“All American,” “Black Lightning”) directed the pilot episode. The series is from Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.
The new U.S. version of KILLER CAMP will return to “Camp Pleasant” as a mix of 13 unlucky American and British campers navigate through new deadly twists and surprises while competing to expose the “killer” among them for a share of the $50,000 cash prize. Each night, one of them will be viciously dispatched by camp handyman Bruce, who’s back with counselor Bobby (comedian Bobby Mair), and a whole host of surprises and hilariously elaborate new murders. Executive produced by Karen Smith and Steph Harris with Ben Wilson as Showrunner, KILLER CAMP is produced by Tuesday’s Child Television and distributed by Keshet International.
This supersized, adult version of LEGENDS OF THE HIDDEN TEMPLE is taken out of the studio into a “jungle” and scaled up with tougher challenges and much bigger prizes on the line. It preserves the original Nickelodeon series’ favorite elements including: “Olmec” (the giant talking Mayan head), the“Moat Crossings,” “The Steps of Knowledge,” the “Temple Run,” and of course, the iconic team names: “Purple Parrots,” “Blue Barracudas,” “Orange Iguanas,” “Red Jaguars,” “Silver Snakes” and “Green Monkeys.” Every episode is a hero’s journey through a mysterious jungle. Five teams begin the journey, but only one is “strong enough and smart enough” to enter the ominous Olmec’s Temple, avoid the “dreaded” Temple Guards, retrieve a lost treasure, and return it to its rightful owner. Based on the original game show created by David G. Stanley, Scott A. Stone and Stephen R. Brown, LEGENDS OF THE HIDDEN TEMPLE is produced by Stone & Company Entertainment and Nickelodeon. The series is executive produced by Scott A. Stone and Marcus Fox (“Paradise Run”).
Over the last century at least, four thousand four hundred people who were overlooked, undervalued, or otherwise marginalized vanished without a trace off the face of the planet. Last night, inexplicably, they were all returned in an instant to Detroit, MI, having not aged a day and with no memory of what happened to them. As the government races to understand the phenomenon, analyze the potential threat, and contain the story, an empathetic social worker (Joseph David-Jones, “Arrow”) and hardened community corrections officer (Ireon Roach, “Candyman”) are among the civil servants called upon to deal with the uncanny refugees. The new partners clash in ideology and approach, but gradually find they have more in common than they thought as they become familiar with those under their care, including: a lawyer and resilient young mother from the early aughts (Brittany Adebumola, “Grand Army”), whose unexpected reunion with her estranged husband (Cory Jeacoma, “Jersey Boys”) and suddenly teenaged daughter is immediately rocky; a WWI Army surgeon fresh from the Harlem Renaissance (TL Thompson, Broadway’s “Straight White Men”); an influential hidden figure from the Mississippi civil rights movement (Jaye Ladymore, “Empire”); a black sheep reverend-scion born to a notable televangelist family in 1990s Chicago (Derrick A. King, “Call Your Mother”); a seemingly shallow but misunderstood D-list reality TV star (newcomer Khailah Johnson) from Miami, circa 2015; and two wildly different unaccompanied teens, a vibrant girl (newcomer Autumn Best) whose bell bottoms give away her 1970s upbringing, and an introspective, prescient boy (Amarr Wooten, “Liv and Maddie”) whose origin remains a mystery. These unwilling time travelers, collectively the 4400, must grapple with their impossible new reality, the fact that they’ve been returned with a few…upgrades, and the increasing likelihood that they were brought back now for a reason they’re only beginning to understand. Based on the original TV series created by Scott Peters and Renee Echevarria, 4400 is from CBS Studios and is executive produced by Ariana Jackson, who wrote the pilot, Sunil Nayar, and Anna Fricke and Laura Terry of Pursued By a Bear.
This post first appeared on Nypost.com
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