TVSquad

I'm thinking CW stands for "Creative Write-off."

Reply

This is really odd. Both networks will keep their shows alive for the rest of the season...but I wonder what this means for shows like Supernatural, Smallville, Veronica Mars, and Everybody Hates Chris next season?

Reply

So, what is going to happen to the UPN programming?

Reply

How do you name a channel with "the" in it? At least one that is strictly an acronym? Arg, desperate attempt to sound hip and edgy.


Funny thing is, take the best 50% of UPN and the best 50% of the WB and you're still a very distant 4th. I'm really looking forward to seeing the Homeboys in Space meet up with the Dawsons Creek kids, though.

Reply

I wonder what this bodes for Whedon and Co. The WB axed them last year but UPN was hot on thier heels trying to pick up both Buffy and Angel. Now that they have united as one, will we see a return to the land of Sunnydale(vale?). A lot of thier shows are currently in syndication on other networks so what happens with those?

Reply

The best shows from both UPN and the WB will go onto CW. As far as syndicated shows, your guess is as good as mine. But I'd assume they'll stay syndicated.

Reply

The cancellations of shows for the Fall season for UPN start in 3...2...1...

Reply

So is this good news or bad news? And what does this mean for Veronica Mars?

Reply

CW is just a stupid name. I hope they come up with a better name than that. A name is huge - remember when TNN changed to SpikeTV as part of a rebranding? Sure they were going after a male audience, but everyone associated tnn with country stuff and as stated above I would associate CW with Country Western for some unknown reason.

It will definately be interesting to see what happens to the line ups as I think this year The WB actually has a decent lineup on some days. But then you have to throw in UPN shows and it all gets mixed up. You have shows like Charmed, Gilmore Girls, Supernatural, Smallville, Reba, Twins and I am sure there are a couple others on WB. Then on UPN you have Everyone hates Chris, America's Next Top Model, and of course WWE Smackdown.

Ok so with those above shows that still only makes up Monday through Wednesday. Still CW? Come on. Someone in the marketing department needs to be fired.

Reply

Brent, you forgot the best show of them all -- Veronica Mars!

Reply

What happens in a market where there's both a WB and UPN affiliate? Does one close up shop? Will all the programming be combined? Will they start anew, with all different programming, in the fall? What the *heck* were they smoking? Raises a whole lot more questions than it answers.

Reply

Sometimes when you pick an acronym or name for a product it means something unexpected to some or all of your customer base. For instance, GM sold their car Nova in Spanish-speaking countries, not realizing that the name means "no go" to those customers. Similarly, you wouldn't name your product The BM because that would elicit chuckles. The thousands of licensed ham-radio operators in the country are going to hear that network name and recognize it immediately, since "CW" means "Morse Code" to a ham.

Reply

Well, Whedon's staying out of television for the time being, so I wouldn't worry about where any Buffy-type products are going to go.

The real question is: will Veronica Mars get canceled? This scares me because it's my favorite (remaining) show on television.

Reply

I thought UPN & FOX were related, since in my area they swapped shows & then they swapped their channel numbers.

Reply

Apparently, hit shows will stay:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/24/news/companies/cbs_warner/index.htm?cnn=yes

Reply

I'm really worried about Veronica Mars too. UPN might be able to look past the ratings and see how crazy the critics and fans are about the show which barely happens to UPN shows, but combining it with WB shows which have crazy fans and much better ratings the VM might just be gone.

Reply

I'd be awfully surprised if the honchos at The CW aren't smart enough to pair Veronica Mars and Smallville on the same night.

Reply

The WC seems more fitting.

Reply

But the man from CBS Corp. mentioned Veronica Mars in the statement he made. I hope that's a good sign.

Reply

As someone mentioned above, I think this means that the best shows from both networks will stick around for the new network.
I would bet on the following shows sticking around for the new network:

Girlfriends (UPN)
All of Us (UPN)
Gilmore Girls(WB)
Supernatural(WB)
Americas Next Top Model (UPN)
Veronica Mars (UPN)
One Tree Hill (WB)
Smallville (WB)
Everwood (WB)
Everybody Hates Chris (UPN)
Smackdown (UPN)
Reba (WB)

Reply