Erica Durance and Tom Welling

The CW has renewed ‘Smallville’ for a tenth and possibly final season.

Recently, The CW renewed ‘The Vampire Diaries,’ ‘Gossip Girl,’ ‘90210,’ ‘Supernatural’ and ‘America’s Next Top Model’ but absent from the list was veteran ‘Smallville’.

According to a number of sources, the delay was due to talks with the cast and crew.

Now a deal has been struck and The CW has confirmed that ‘Smallville’ will be returning this fall.

Following its move to Fridays this fall, a timeslot The CW has usually struggled with, the show has performed solidly and developed a loyal following.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Gillian Zinser

Tomboy surfer chick Ivy Sullivan has been promoted to a regular on the soap drama ‘90210’.

Ivy who recently joined the cast to create a love triangle between Liam (Matt Lander) and Naomi (Anna-Lynne McCord) has worked well with the boys and her extended stay will allow the writers to delve deeper into this intriguing storyline.

The recently renewed show returns in March on The CW after a long hiatus.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

'The Vampire Diaries' returning for a second season.

The CW has announced five series from its 2009/2010 line up will return for 2010/2011. ‘The Vampire Diaries,’ ‘America’s Next Top Model,’ ‘Supernatural,’ ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘90210′ will all return in fall 2010 as The CW attempts to settle on their 2010/2011 line up ahead of the May upfronts.

The renewal of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and ‘America’s Next Top Model’ comes as no surprise despite the latter fading quickly. ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘90210,’ Dawn’s babies, were sure bets because of president – Dawn Ostroff’s continual public praise but ‘Supernatural’ was a surprise. There have been a number of reports that the writers and producers wanted this season, the fifth to be its last, so Dawn must’ve done a good job in convincing the writers and producers for another season.

Absent from the list is veterans, ‘One Tree Hill’ and ‘Smallville’ and freshman dramas ‘Melrose Place’ and ‘Life Unexpected.’ ‘One Tree Hill’ remains on the bubble but ‘Smallville’s’ prospects are in the hands of its star Tom Welling. There have been reports Tom Welling has been auditioning for other projects and if he is successful and wants to start afresh, he might jump ship. However, the chances of him remaining as Clark Kent is relatively strong. With this news, the axe is getting sharper for low-rated drama ‘Melrose Place.’ As for ‘Life Unexpected,’ its still too early to determine the prospects as only five episodes have aired. Its prospects will most likely depend on The CW’s pilot projects.

THE CW CONTINUES TO SCORE BIG IN LIVE+7

VAMPIRE DIARIES, SMALLVILLE, TOP MODEL Each Add 1 Million or More Viewers Once All DVR Playback is Factored In

December 2, 2009 (Burbank, CA) – The CW Network again led all networks in primetime gains from all DVR playback for the week ending Nov. 15, 2009, according to Nielsen Live+7 day vs. Live-Only viewing.  The CW’s biggest increases came in its young target demos of women 18-34 (53%, 2.36rtg v. 1.54rtg) and adults 18-34 (53%, 1.68rtg v. 1.1rtg), followed by adults 18-49 (51%, 1.39rtg v. 0.92rtg) and women 18-49 (50%, 1.85rtg v. 1.23rtg).

Monday tandem of GOSSIP GIRL and ONE TREE HILL continues to deliver big DVR gains, with GG up 57% in women 18-34 (3.84rtg v. 2.44rtg), 59% in adults 18-34 (2.38rtg v. 1.5rtg) and 53% in women 18-49 (2.57rtg v. 1.68rtg); while OTH grew 43% in women 18-34 (3.02rtg v. 2.11rtg), 45% in adults 18-34 (1.91rtg v. 1.32rtg) and 41% in women 18-49 (2.15rtg v. 1.53rtg).

On Tuesday, 90210’s ratings improved 64% in women 18-34 (3.14rtg v. 1.91rtg), 66% in adults 18-34 (2.02rtg v. 1.22rtg) and 74% in women 18-49 (2.16rtg v. 1.24rtg), and MELROSE PLACE improved 80% in women 18-34 (1.69rtg v. 0.94rtg), 70% in adults 18-34 (1.19rtg v. 0.7rtg) and 70% in women 18-49 (1.19rtg v. 0.7rtg).

The penultimate episode of this cycle’s TOP MODEL’s ratings improved by 63% in women 18-34 (3.39rtg v. 2.08rtg), 59% in adults 18-34 (2.05rtg v. 1.29rtg) and 56% in women 18-49 (2.9rtg v. 1.86rtg).

Freshman smash THE VAMPIRE DIARIES only gets bigger once all DVR playback is included, gaining 57% in women 18-34 (3.82rtg v. 2.43rtg), 51% in adults 18-34 (2.68rtg v. 1.77rtg) and 57% in women 18-49 (3.09tg v. 1.97rtg).  SUPERNATURAL improved 40% in women 18-34 (1.85rtg v. 1.32rtg), 47% in adults 18-34 (1.78rtg v. 1.21rtg) and 41% in women 18-49 (1.71rtg v. 1.21rtg).

Friday’s SMALLVILLE remains in heavy DVR demand, as its Live+7 ratings rose above its live viewing by 82% in adults 18-34 (1.69rtg v. 0.93rtg) and 80% in adults 18-49 (1.62rtg v. 0.9rtg).

Several The CW shows added about a million more viewers once all DVR playback was factored in, with VAMPIRE DIARIES adding nearly 1.6million more viewers (4.89mil v. 3.32mil), SMALLVILLE gained nearly 1.3 million additional viewers (3.47mil v. 2.2mil) and TOP MODEL improved by an even 1 million viewers from DVR playback (3.66mil v. 2.66mil).

Lucy Hale - In negotiations to top-line 'Pretty Little Lairs'.

Competition between The CW and ABC Family has really heated up over the last two seasons, with both channels targeting the same young female demographic.

Last season, ABC Family’s ‘The Secret Life of an American Teenager’ even topped the reboot of The CW’s ‘90210’.

Now it looks as though ABC Family are taking a page from The CW’s playbook, with the cable channel eyeing a project from Warner Bros. Television and Alloy Entertainment — the duo behind ‘Gossip Girl’, ‘Privileged’, and this season’s breakout hit, ‘The Vampire Diaries’.

The project, entitled ‘Pretty Little Liars’, is based on the series of novels by Sara Shepard.

Adapted for television by Marline King (“Just My Luck”), ‘Liars’ revolves around four 16-year-old friends, Aria, Emily, Spencer and Hanna, who’ve had a falling out following the disappearance of their manipulative and vindictive “Queen Bee”, Alison. Three years after her disappearance, the girls begin to receive mysterious messages suggesting that Alison is watching them and knows all their dirty secrets. The messages continue to arrive, even after Alison’s body is finally discovered.

‘Privileged’ star Lucy Hale is said to be negotiations to top-line ‘Liars’, with Bob Levy, Leslie Morgenstein and King serving as executive producers.

Alloy and Warner had previously attempted to turn ‘Liars’ into a TV series, with a project in development for The WB back in 2005. Mimi Schmir had penned the script, but it wasn’t green-lit for pilot by the network.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Disappointing results for '90210’ season premiere.

The ratings ‘preseason’ began last week with the series premiere of ‘Melrose Place,’ ‘Glee’ and ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and sophomore premiere of ‘90210.’

The CW started off the preseason with ‘90210,’ despite the heavy promotion and The CW’s spin doctors, the show got off to a slow start with only 2.561M, a 1.3/4 (rating/share) with A18-49 , 1.7/6 in A18-34, 2.6/8 in W18-34 and 1.8/5 in W18-49. Proceeding ‘90210′ was the freshman premiere of ‘Melrose,’ retention was almost perfect but keep in mind numbers were on the low side. ‘Melrose’ mustered a paltry, 2.270M, A18-49 1.3/3 (rating/share), A18-34 1.5/5, W18-34 2.5/7 and W18-49 1.8/5.

On a brighter note, The CW’s other freshman class, ‘The Vamire Diaries’ bit off a lot more viewers, 4.84M, A18-49 2.1/6, A18-34 2.2/8, W18-34 3.0/10 and W18-49 2.8/8. The debut saw the highest audience numbers ever for a CW series premiere.

Elsewhere at Fox, Fall premiere of summer hit ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ posted 6.465M, with A18-49 2.7/8 and A18-34 3.0/9. Lead out Glee managed to build from its lead in, pulling 7.136M, A18-49 3.3/9 and A18-34 3.6/10

Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2009 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

Amalia Zinser

According to TV Guide, Amalia Zinser, is joining the cast of sophomore drama ‘90210’.

The Hollywood newcomer will play Ivy, a surfer chick who will tempt the boys of America’s most famous zip code, including Dixon and Liam.

“She’s the quintessential California girl — easy-going, athletic and full of fun,” says a TV Guide source.

Zinser, who recently guest starred in episodes of ‘Cold Case’, ‘Southland’ and ‘Cupid’ will make her first appearance on The CW drama in October.

The second season of ‘90210’ premieres Tuesday, September 8 on the CW.

Source: TV Guide

"To New Beginnings"--LtoR: Jessica Stroup as Silver, AnnaLynne McCord as Naomi, and Jessica Lowndes as Adrianna on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"-- LtoR: AnnaLynne McCord as Naomi, Jessica Lowndes as Adrianna, and Jessica Stroup as Silver on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"--LtoR: Trevor Donovan as Teddy and Tristan Wilds as Dixon on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"--Trevor Donovan as Teddy and Jessica Lowndes as Adrianna on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"-- Jessica Stroup as Silver and Tristan Wilds as Dixon on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"--LtoR: Jessica Stroup as Silver, AnnaLynne McCord as Naomi, and Jessica Lowndes as Adrianna on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"-- LtoR: Jessica Stroup as SIlver, Jessica Lowndes as Adrianna, and AnnaLynne McCord as Naomi on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"-- Tristan Wilds as Dixon on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"-- AnnaLynne McCord as Naomi on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"-- Jessica Lowndes as Adrianna on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"--Trevor Donovan as Teddy and Jessica Lowndes as Adrianna on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"-- LtoR: Shenae Grimes as Annie and AnnaLynne McCord as Naomi on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"-- Tristan Wilds as Dixon on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"-- Jessica Stroup as Silver on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"-- LtoR: Jessica Lowndes as Adrianna, AnnaLynne McCord as Naomi, and Jessica Stroup as Silver on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

"To New Beginnings"-- Trevor Donovan as Teddy and Jessica Stroup as Silver on 90210 on THE CW. Photo: Michael Desmond/The CW ©2009 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved.

“Like Gossip Girl, I hope 90210 will become the Californian equivalent of teen style and fashion next season.” – Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair, Executive Producer and Showrunner

Adrianna sexes it up like Megan Fox, Dixon dons a semi-fro and Silver boogies down on the dance floor in 10 foot stilts. Yep, it sure looks like the new fashion conscious season of ‘90210’.

'The Vampire Diaries' coming soon to The CW and GO!

The season will kick-off with The CW’s sophomore drama ‘90210’. You might remember that ‘90210’ premiered to The CW’s biggest numbers in history (4.65M, A18-49: 2.6/7) but those viewers abandoned it in droves with the finale only mustering a little more than half that audience (2.49M, A18-49: 1.3/3). This is a make or break season for the remake and if it continues to shed viewers it will not only damage The CW’s brand but will have a detrimental effect on the heavily promoted freshman drama ‘Melrose Place’ 2.0. The CW is pinning their hopes on ‘Melrose Place’ and their other fall freshman ‘The Vampire Diaries’, which was inexplicably added to their Thursday line-up at the expense of The CW’s highest rating drama ‘Smallville,’ which has now been bumped to Fridays. If both ‘Melrose’ and ‘Vampire’ fail, it may well be the final year for the struggling network as CBS and WB cannot continue to run a network at a loss in this sort of climate. Elsewhere, Tuesdays will be a little dull with procedurals occupying CBS and reality on ABC, NBC and Fox. However, recently the alphabet made a late change noticing a chance to pounce in that timeslot, by pushing mid season sci-fi drama ‘V’ forward for a November 3 start.

The following night sees the fall premiere of summer reality show, ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’  Fox’s decision to air a second cycle of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ was quite bizarre, the show captures a solid but not spectacular audience during the summer and who’s to say airing it twice a year won’t damage the franchise? Fall has always been the achilles heel for the News Corp. Network and no doubt ‘Dance’ will improve on past year offerings, but will viewers return for future seasons? The decision to move ‘Dance’ to fall was to provide some lead-in support for freshman drama ‘Glee,’ which squandered its ‘Idol’ lead in when Fox aired a sample episode behind one of Idol’s final 2009 episodes, in the ended it averaged only 9.62M, A18-49: 4.4/11.

The aforementioned ‘The Vampire Diaries’ has its series premiere on Thursday, September 10 and it will be partnered with The CW’s other sci-fi drama ‘Supernatural’. The CW greenlighting ‘Diaries’ was no surprise as they wanted to capitalise on the ‘Twilight’ and ‘True Blood’ hype. Even though ‘Diaries’ has generated a lot of negative press, initial sampling will be large but the million dollar question is how long will the audience give it? The following Thursday sees the return of JJ Abram’s latest demo hit ‘Fringe’. ‘Fringe’ will have its work cut out going up against heavyweights, ‘CSI’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ which both return on September 24. ‘Fringe’s’ departure from a solid lead in indicates the confidence Fox has in the sophomore drama, however in comparison to Abram’s previous projects, ‘Fringe’ focuses less on mythology and more on individual episodes which should make it easier to follow but less intriguing to the dedicated fans. Another huge Thursday development is the movement of last year’s freshman hit ‘The Mentalist’ to 10/9c following CSI. CBS is grooming it as the next CSI, which I might add has lost a lot of steam since the departure of William Petersen, however the timeslot is somewhat of a bogey one for CBS as nothing has remained there for more than one year.

Thursdays also see the return of ‘Survivor’ for its 19th season, the 6th season of the Office, the 2nd season of ‘Parks and Recreation’ and the debut of critical darling ‘Community’ which all premiere on September 17. For those waiting for ’30 Rock’ it returns on October 15. The biggest premiere to Thursdays is ‘Flash Forward’, which is being promoted by ABC as the new ‘Lost.’  ‘Flash Forward’ looks to be the biggest show to come out of the states since ‘Lost’ and ‘Desperate Housewives’ and it comes with a lot of buzz. Just recently, the directors noted, they will need at least three seasons to complete the arc they have planned. In a nutshell, ‘Flash Forward’ follows the life of an FBI agent who investigates the reason for a mysterious event, which sees everyone blackout for two minutes and seventeen seconds, travelling six months into the future.

The following two Mondays see the return of ‘WTF’ (No, not What The Beep, but Watch This Fall) drama ‘Gossip Girl’ and veteran ‘One Tree Hill’. This fall, Dawn has decided to do a switcheroo with the two, moving her baby ‘Gossip’ to a higher household viewing time and avoiding direction competition with ‘House’. The aforementioned ‘House’ and the trouble ridden ‘Heroes’ both return with two hour premieres on September 21. It has been quite a steep fall for ‘Heroes’, if Kring can’t stop the bleeding, this might be the end of the one season wonder. The following Monday sees NBC launch their new high-octane medical drama ‘Trauma,’ a number of photos/clips for this show have being doing the rounds on the internet, so expect a large initial sampling. ‘Lie to Me’ will occupate the post ‘House’ slot as Fox tries to groom this as a replacement for ‘House’. Over at CBS, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ has been moved to 8/7c providing some lead in support for the dead on arrival ‘Accidently on Purpose’. ‘Two and a Half Men’ remains, but ‘The Big Bang Theory’ moves to the post ‘Men’ slot. ‘Bang’ was trialled in the slot late last year or early this year and maintained close to 100% retention, so look for ‘Bang’ to reach series highs again.

Wednesdays will be interesting for a number of reasons, ABC has a completely new line up with critical darlings ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Cougar Town’ occupying the key 9/8c and 9:30/8:30c timeslots. ‘Cougar Town’ follows Jules (Courtney Cox), a recently divorced single mother exploring honest truths about dating and aging in our beauty and youth obsessed culture, while ‘Modern Family’ explores the complications that come with being in a family in this day and age. The entrees ‘Hank’ and ‘The Middle’ debut the following week. ‘Eastwick’ a cross between ‘Valentine’ and ‘Sex and the City’ also debuts in the same week as ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Cougar Town’, but things don’t look good for the romantic drama.

The landscape for Fridays has completely changed; networks are finally getting aggressive with their programming. There is less reality from the other three networks which might finally give CBS’ combo of Ghost Whisperer, Cold Case and Numb3rs some headaches. Fox kicks off with a comedy hour with waiting to be cancelled ‘’Til Death’ and ‘Brothers’ followed by the ever improving and surprise renewal ‘Dollhouse’ which all premiere on September 25. The CW veteran ‘Smallville’ has been yanked to Thursdays along with the ever fading ‘Ugly Betty’.

Nothing much has changed on Sundays, with ABC’s ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Brothers and Sisters’ starting on September 27. Fox has shuffled their line up knocking out the every reliable – ‘King of the Hill’, for Seth McFarland’s new, albeit belated project ‘The Cleveland Show’. ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Family Guy’ and ‘American Dad’ all return for their 21st, 8th and 5th season respectively. ‘The Cleveland Show’s’ pilot has been leaked for a while and it doesn’t look too different to ‘Family Guy’ or ‘American Dad’.

Finally, the biggest news this fall is Jay Leno moving to primetime, which begins daily from September 14, 10/9c. All eyes will be on the ratings for ‘The Jay Leno Show,’ but NBC isn’t expecting much, as long as it remains profitable, NBC will be satisfied. Jay Leno recently said he doesn’t expect his show to beat first run CSI, but hopes to push CSI repeats to the limit. The format of the show is: Leno will begin with a 10 second opening sequence which leads into a monologue. He will have at least one special guest a night and music will come from multiple acts. Jaywalking and newspaper headlines will be held until the end of the show to give News affiliates a strong lead in. Leno also gave us a snippet of the ‘Green Car Challenge’ where you can see, as Leno puts it, “who is faster, Shaquille O’Neal or Cameron Diaz.” There will be pre-recorded segments from D.L Hughley and Rachel Harris.As always, this is will be an interesting fall, with networks trying something different.

I hope everyone enjoys the fall TV season and wish for everyone’s favourite TV show to survive.

Premiere Dates

• ‘90210’ 2nd Season Premiere September 8
• ‘Melrose Place’ Series Premiere September 8
• ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Fall Premiere September 9
• ‘Glee’ Series Premiere September 9
• ‘The Vampire Diaries’ Series Premiere September 10
• ‘Supernatural’ 5th Season Premiere September 10
• ‘One Tree Hill’ 7th Season Premiere September 14
• ‘Gossip Girl’ 3rd Season Premiere September 14
• ‘The Jay Leno Show’ Series Premiere September 14
• ‘The Beautiful Life’ Series Premiere September 16
• ‘Bones’ 5th Season Premiere September 17
• ‘Survivor’ 19th Season Premiere September 17
• ‘Parks and Recreation’ 2nd Season Premiere September 17
• ‘Fringe’ 2nd Season Premiere September 17
• ‘The Office’ 6th Season Premiere September 17
• ‘Community’ Series Premiere September 17
• ‘Heroes’ 4th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘House’ 6th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘How I Met Your Mother’ 5th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘Accidently on Purpose’ Series Premiere September 21
• ‘Two and a Half Men’ 7th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘The Big Bang Theory’ 3rd Season Premiere September 21
• ‘Castle’ 2nd Season Premiere September 21
• ‘CSI: Miami’ 8th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘NCIS’ 7th Season Premiere September 22
• ‘The Goode Wife’ Series Premiere September 22
• ‘The Forgotten Series’ Premiere September 22
• ‘Mercy’ Series Premiere September 23
• ‘Criminal Minds’ 5th Season Premiere September 23
• ‘Modern Family’ Series Premiere September 23
• ‘Cougar Town’ Series Premiere September 23
• ‘Eastwick’ Series Premiere September 23
• ‘Flash Forward’ Series Premiere September 24
• ‘The Mentalist’ 2nd Season Premiere September 24
• ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ 6th Season Premiere September 24
• ‘Brothers’ Series Premiere September 25
• ‘Smallville’ 9th Season Premiere September 25
• ‘Dollhouse’ 2nd Season Premiere September 25
• ‘The Amazing Race’ 15th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘The Simpsons’ 21st Season Premiere September 27
• ‘The Cleveland Show’ Series Premiere September 27
• ‘Desperate Housewives’ 6th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Brothers and Sisters’ 4th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Family Guy’ 8th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘American Dad’ 5th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Lie to Me’ 2nd Season Premiere September 28
• ‘Trauma’ Series Premiere September 28
• ‘Hank’ Series Premiere September 30
• ‘The Middle’ Series Premiere September 30
• ‘Private Practice’ 3rd Season Premiere October 1
• ‘Ugly Betty’ 4th Season Premiere October 9
• ‘30 Rock’ 4th Season Premiere October 15
• ‘V’ Series Premiere November 3
• Cable Premiere Dates
• ‘Dexter’ 4th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Californication’ 3rd Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Stargate Universe’ Series Premiere October 2
• ‘Sanctuary’ 2nd Season Premiere October 9

Jennie Garth

TV Guide has confirmed that Jennie Garth will be returning to The CW’s ‘90210’ in its second season.

Questions were raised over Garth’s future on the show, after it was revealed that the network had ordered new showrunner Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair to move away from guest spots from the original cast.

Garth will contine reprising her role as Kelly Taylor, West Beverly’s resident guidance counselor. It’s even been rumoured that Kelly will be the first to discover Annie’s season-finale drama.

Garth will make her season 2 debut in episode 3.

The new season of ‘90210’ premieres Tuesday, September 8th on The CW.

Source: TV Guide

With the second season of  ’90210′ kicking off on September 8 in the US, The CW have launched a new batch of promos promoting just how “very” ‘90210′ is.

Shannen Doherty really ought to know, right? Check out the movie ‘Heathers‘ if you didn’t get that.

Apparently Naomi and the guys just aren’t “very” enough to get their own promos. Go figure.

Annie

Adrianna

Silver

'90210' The First Season available August 11 in North America.

‘90210′ The First Season

The  six-disc set contains all 24 episodes from the first season. Bonus features will include:

• Cast Commentaries on Selected Episodes
• Behind-The-Scenes Featurettes about the show’s music, fashion, sets, and more

An edgy, contemporary spin-off of the iconic drama “Beverly Hills, 90210,” the new “90210″ looks at life through the eyes of Annie Wilson and her brother Dixon, whose first day at West Beverly Hills High School leaves no doubt they’re not in Kansas anymore. Actors: Rob Estes, Shenae Grimes, AnnaLynne McCord, Tristan Wilds, Ryan Eggold, Lori Loughlin, Dustin Milligan, Michael Steger, Jessica Stroup, Jessica Walter.

Gossip Girl

Returning for its third season, GOSSIP GIRL is a one-hour drama based on an exclusive group of privileged teens on Manhattan’s Upper East Side whose lives revolve around the blog of the all-knowing albeit ultra-secretive Gossip Girl. No one knows Gossip Girl’s identity, but everyone in this exclusive and complicated vicious circle relies on her website and text messages for the latest scoop. The series stars Blake Lively as Serena van der Woodsen, Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf, Penn Badgley as Dan Humphrey, Chace Crawford as Nate Archibald, Taylor Momsen as Jenny Humphrey, Ed Westwick as Chuck Bass, Jessica Szohr as Vanessa Abrams, Kelly Rutherford as Lily van der Woodsen and Matthew Settle as Rufus Humphrey. Filmed in New York and based on the popular series of young-adult novels by Cecily von Ziegesar, GOSSIP GIRL is from Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios with executive producers Josh Schwartz (“Chuck,” “The O.C.”), Stephanie Savage (“The O.C.”), Bob Levy (“Privileged”), Leslie Morgenstein (“Privileged”), John Stephens (“Gilmore Girls,” “The O.C.”), and co-executive producer Joshua Safran.

One Tree Hill

In season seven of ONE TREE HILL our beloved characters learn the struggle to live an exceptional life doesn’t end once you’ve achieved your dreams. Whether they found true love, answered a call to greatness, or sought redemption for sins of the past, nothing that’s come before compares to the challenges our characters now face to keep their dreams alive, their friendships intact and their lives full in the place they call home. ONE TREE HILL was created by Mark Schwahn and is executive produced by Schwahn, Joe Davola, Greg Prange, Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins. ONE TREE HILL is a Mastermind Laboratories and Tollin/Robbins Production in association with Warner Bros. Television.

90210

The second season of “90210″ focuses on the West Beverly group as they begin their all-important Junior year. They’ll go through all the ordinary teenage struggles and triumphs crushes, sexual discovery, academic pressure, evolving friendships, shunning and isolation, love and relationships, family issues, SATs, STDs, a desire to fit in, a desire to stand out, fear and humiliation, joy and exultation but they’ll do so in the extraordinary world of LA a world of movie stars and overnight success, glamour and glitz, surfing and sunshine; a city where the American dream is writ large in the Hills and yet failure could come around any corner of the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. We’ll follow Naomi, the well-meaning, but delightfully narcissistic rich girl with a heart of cubic zirconium; Adrianna, the gifted, artistic drama queen whose personal life is as dramatic as any role she could hope to play; Silver, the outspoken free spirit who marches to the beat of her own drum machine; Annie, the good girl from Kansas who has gotten a bit lost in the land of Oz; Dixon, her charming, good-natured brother who adapts easily to any challenging situation and yet is still struggling to find his own voice; Navid, whose geeky charm makes all the Blaze girls swoon; and Liam, the troubled New York transplant who abhors the decadent materialistic world of Beverly Hills. These stories could only happen in LA…and only on “90210.” The series stars Rob Estes as Harry Wilson, Lori Loughlin as Debbie Wilson, Shenae Grimes as Annie Wilson, Tristan Wilds as Dixon Wilson, AnnaLynne McCord as Naomi Clark, Ryan Eggold as Ryan Matthews, Jessica Stroup as Silver, Michael Steger as Navid Shirazi, Jessica Lowndes as Adrianna Tate-Duncan and Matt Lanter as Liam Court. 90210 is produced by CBS Television Studios with executive producer Rebecca Sinclair.

America’s Next Top Model

Returning with its thirteenth and fourteenth cycles, the runaway runway hit series stars Tyra Banks. The show gives real people an opportunity to prove that they can make it in the high-stress, high-stakes world of supermodeling. With mentoring by Tyra Banks and exposure to high-profile fashion-industry gurus, young women of various backgrounds, shapes and sizes must endure a highly accelerated modeling boot camp and face weekly tests to determine who will make the cut as they vie for a professional modeling contract. The executive producers are Ken Mok (“Making the Band”), Tyra Banks and Daniel Soiseth (“Hell’s Kitchen”). The reality series was created by Tyra Banks and developed by Mok and Kenya Barris. AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL is produced by 10 by 10 Entertainment in association with Bankable Productions.

Supernatural

Returning for its fifth season, this haunting series follows Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers bound by tragedy and blood to their dangerous, other-worldly mission. This past season, Dean was rescued from Hell by the angel Castiel, who told Dean he was meant to avert the impending Apocalypse, as well as Lucifer rising from Hell. As the brothers were caught up in the epic battle between angels and demons, Sam and Dean found their relationship was strained almost to the breaking point until ultimately, both brothers were betrayed. Now, in season five, they must battle the Devil himself. The series stars Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester, Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester and Misha Collins as Castiel). SUPERNATURAL is from Warner Bros. Television in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision, with executive producers McG (“Charlie’s Angels,” “The O.C.”), Eric Kripke (“Boogeyman”) and Robert Singer (“Midnight Caller”).

Smallville

Returning for its ninth season, last season SMALLVILLE was filled with twists and surprises, starting with the disappearance of Lex Luthor. However, someone quickly arrived to take his place the enticing Tess Mercer. As Tess maneuvered her way through town, she flirted with her old flame Oliver Queen, discovered Clark’s true identity and unleashed a new world of danger. As if that hurdle wasn’t enough for Clark, he also met his greatest match Doomsday. SMALLVILLE explored the origins of Doomsday, revealing a sympathetic guy named Davis Bloome, who battled an inner demon the Doomsday character fans have loved to hate for years. When Clark wasn’t busy battling the beast, he was knee-deep in work at the Daily Planet. Last season threw Clark and Lois Lane together literally across the desk from each other. As Clark’s persona as the cub Planet reporter emerged, so did his feelings for Lois, the fated love of his life. The series stars Tom Welling as Clark Kent, Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan, Erica Durance as Lois Lane, Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen and Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer. Reinterpreting the Superman mythology from its roots, SMALLVILLE was developed for television by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (“Shanghai Noon,” “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”), based on the DC Comics characters. Copy/pasted from Futon Critic Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson serve as executive producers, along with James Marshall, Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins and Joe Davola. The series is produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions and Warner Bros. Television. SUPERMAN was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

We return after our mid-season hiatus with all the news about Freeview, One HD and the Get Ready For Digital TV conference.

We talk ‘Prison Break’, ‘90210′, ‘Friday Night Lights’, ‘Home Made’, ‘MasterChef’ and the Logies.

We wrap up with a few topics from the forums and an insight into our April Fools post on the blog.

Dustin Milligan won't be back next season on '90210'.

Entertainment Weekly is today reporting that ‘90210′ will be getting a bit of a shake up next season, with teen drama’s new boss, Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair, telling EW that the soap’s second season would be “significantly” different than the first.

Sources confirm that Dustin Milligan, who plays Ethan on The CW drama, won’t be returning to the show when it begins it’s second season in the fall. Though the source adds that the door is being left open for the actor to briefly appear to wrap up Ethan’s story.

Milligan’s exit from the show appears to be a creative decision. “Everyone loves Dustin,” says EW’s insider source. “There was just a feeling that the character had run its course.”

Meanwhile Matt Lanter, who appeared as bad boy, Liam, last month, has been confirmed as a series regular next season.

‘90210′ returns from it’s mid-season hiatus this week, with upcoming episodes marking the first eps with Sinclair in charge. So expect to see a few changes around Beverly Hills.

As previously reported, Sinclair last month told EW that she wanted to “reconceive things visually. There are opportunities to embrace California culture visually in terms of fashion and style; I want it to be more contemporary.”

“If Gossip Girl is about youth in New York, I want to [make '90210'] about youth in L.A. and Beverly Hills.”

The showrunner also plans to rely less on the original ‘90210′ stars to boost ratings, meaning Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty’s guest spots may be coming to a halt. Though not before Tori Spelling drops by at the end of this season.

So will all these changes be for the better? I guess we’ll have to wait and see, when ‘90210′ returns Tuesday night on The CW.

Brittany Snow (as the young Lily van der Woodsen) and Andrew McCarthy on The CW's 'Gossip Girl'.

Tori Spelling reprises her role as Donna Martin on '90210', returning April 14th on The CW.

Tori Spelling, Jessica Stroup, Jennie Garth and guest Diablo Cody on the set of The CW's '90210'.

Photos: Michael Desmond/The CW (Source Entertainment Weekly)

More casting news has broken on upcoming CW pilots ‘Melrose Place’ and ‘The Beautiful Life’.

‘Cloverfield’ and ‘Life As We Know It’ star, Jessica Lucas, has landed a lead on the reboot of ‘Melrose Place’.

She will play ‘Melrose’ resident Riley Richmond, a wealthy and beautiful 24-year-old who works as an inner-city elementary school teacher.

Lucas joins previously cast Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, Katie Cassidy and Michael Rady. She was last seen on fellow CW drama ‘90210′.

Over at Ashton Kutcher’s CW pilot, ‘The Beautiful Life’, there have been a number of casting announcments over the past week, with Aussie supermodel Elle Macpherson making her return to acting.

She’ll will play Claudia, the owner of Focus Models, the top modeling agency in New York in which the series is set.

Macpherson joins Sara Paxton, Ben Hollingsworth, Ashley Madekwe and Nico Tortorella who have also landed lead roles in the pilot.

Both series will be produced by CBS Paramount for The CW.

‘Sex and the City’ producer Darren Star will re-team with HBO after signing a new two-year first-look deal with the cable network.

Under the two-year deal, he’ll develop a new series for the network (his first solo project in over a decade) and help foster in a number of new comedy and drama projects from other writers.

“They say you can never go home again, but with this deal at HBO, I feel I am,” Star said. “I can say from my fortunate experience that there is nothing in the world quite like having a series on HBO.”

In addition to the his Emmy-winning ‘Sex and the City’, which has since spun off into a box office hit, Star is also seeing success wit his 90’s dramas ‘90210′ and ‘Melrose Place’ seeing rebirth on The CW.

Star’s most recent television series ‘Cashmere Mafia’, based at Sony Pictures Television, only lasted seven episodes on ABC.

Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair - Former 'Gilmore Girls' scribe, is set to take '90210' into the future.

Rebecca Rand Kirshner Sinclair is set to take over the reins of The CW’s 90210. The producer/scribe has inked a new seven-figure deal with CBS Paramount, to helm the high school drama for the 2010-11 season.

This new deal will most likely see current head honchos Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah step down at the end of this season.

Sinclair boarded the 90210 school bus as an executive producer September last year, and has been credited with helping the new 90210 find its feet.

But Sinclair admits her early experience on the teen series was rocky, ”I felt the show was confused and too cynical for me.”

Clockwise: Tom Welling, Leighton Meester, Jensen Ackles and Anna Lynne McCord.

Smallville, Supernatural, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and 90210 have all received early renewals for next season by The CW. America’s Next Top Model has also been given two additional cycles.

“As we continue to build The CW Network as a destination for young women, these six shows have clearly contributed to strengthening our schedule and our brand identity,” CW boss Dawn Ostroff said in a statement.

“By securing these signature hits for next season, we’re furthering our commitment to deliver high-quality, original programming to our viewers, advertisers and affiliates.”

The renewals of Gossip Girl and America’s Next Top Model were pretty much in the bag from day one, however the futures of Smallville, Supernatural, One Tree Hill, and 90210 were less certain.

According to Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello, Smallville and One Tree Hill we’re both riding on which core cast-members would be returning.

“Smallville’s renewal clearly signals that Tom Welling has successfully concluded his contract negotiations with producer Warner Bros., but the same can’t be said for One Tree Hill leading man Chad Michael Murray. The actor-writer’s participation next season is TBD, although insiders say he’s expected to return in some capacity.”

One show which seems to be missing from the pack is Privileged. What’s the deal CW? Doesn’t this freshman dramedy fit your teen-skewed mould? Let’s hope it gets a renewal sooner than later.

In other CW news, the net have also green-lit pilots for a Gossip Girl spin off and a reboot of Melrose Place.

Hooray for The CW!

The CW has pushed the season 2 premiere of Reaper forward a few weeks to March 3! Season 2 will now premiere 8/7c March 3 as a lead in to 90210. This pips the quirky drama against ratings juggernaut American Idol, fingers crossed it won’t be a casualty.

This decision comes as both 90210 and Privileged had the highest percentage of DVR viewing in the week January 12-18 (33.5% and 33.9% respectively).

Now for the bad news, a thirteen episode order still remains.

• Grey’s Anatomy lead out program Private Practice managed a healthy 9.03M, A18-49: 3.4/8, A18-34: 3.3/9 on its first Thursday night airing.

• Up against The Golden Globes and 24, Desperate Housewives hit a series low with 13.5M, A18-49: 5.2/12, A18-34: 4.8/12.

• After being off the air for 18 months, Sunday’s airing of 24 garnered 12.52M, A18-49: 4.2/10, A18-34: 3.5/10 followed by 11.95M, A18-49: 3.9/10, A18-34: 3.4/9 on Monday.

• After a solid debut Superstars of Dance on Monday fails, losing nearly 3M viewers with 7.1M, A18-49: 1.9/5, A18-34: 1.7/4.

• American Idol premiered to massive ratings with its Tuesday episode pulling in 30.074M, A18-49: 11.8/28 and A18-34: 9.9/26 and 29.854M, A18-49: 11.7/29 and A18-34: 10.7/29 on Wednesday. Casualties include 90210, Privileged, Scrubs and Homeland Security, all losing a large chunk from its previous airings.

Source: Nielsen TV Ratings

Some of you might know how much I despise The CW and this dark side is back again. The CW has been quite good during the fall with two brilliant freshman shows in 90210 and Privileged but again they have let me down. Their top rating freshman drama of last year and my favourite show to come out of the 2007-2008 fall season Reaper has been treated like sh*t again! Dawn Ostroff what are you smoking? Here’s some evidence:

• Reaper was on the bubble until the final minute but Gossip Girl which had a lower season average was renewed earlier in its run.
• When I heard Reaper was not returning this fall, instead held back until mid-season and now pushed back even further, starting March 17th is absolutely absurd.
• Only a thirteen episode order! The CW you really know how to kill shows.

To further illustrate my point, The CW is down nearly 14% in the key 18-49 demo. Ok, ok, they might be up 11% in their target demo women 18-34, miniscule in the wider scheme of things, but this drop in the key demo will never be compensated by this small gain in their target demo.

Couple this with the way they have treated their top rating dramas like Supernatural and Smallville, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure they are struggling financially. Yes, they have made it clear their target demo is women 18-34, but surely from the numbers Supernatural and Smallville have managed this season, they can and should widen their target audience. I don’t know if anyone has seen the pdf – What a spot costs? But it is well worth a look. Even though both Supernatural and Smallville are The CW’s top rating shows outside of America’s Next Top Model, its timeslot is worth less than lower rating shows Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill and on par with The CW’s struggling Friday comedies. The executives at The CW need to wake up to themselves and swing the axe on Dawn not their quality shows. Recently, Dawn talked about the importance of flow which totally contradicts her scheduling of Reaper proceeding 90210. Oh Dawn you frustrate me!

As for Reaper, The CW should’ve given it a full season order and premiered season two in January!

Full schedule below:

Monday
8-9 p.m. Gossip Girl (New episodes begin January 5)
9-10 p.m. One Tree Hill (New episodes begin January 5)

Tuesday
8-9 p.m. 90210 (New episodes begin January 6)
9-10 p.m. Privileged (New episodes begin January 6)

Wednesday
8-9 p.m. 13 – Fear is Real (Series premiere January 7)
9-10 p.m. 90210 (Encore Episodes Begin January 7)

Thursday
8-9 p.m. Smallville (New episodes begin January 15)
9-10 p.m. Supernatural (New episodes begin January 15)

Friday
8-8:30 p.m. Everybody Hates Chris (New episodes begin January 9)
8:30-9 p.m. The Game (New episodes begin January 9)
9-10 p.m. 13 – Fear is Real (Encore episodes begin January 9)

Tuesday (Beginning March 17)
8-9 p.m. 90210
9-10 p.m. Reaper

What an interesting fall it has been, with a number of good performances from The Mentalist, Smallville, Supernatural and Gossip Girl to name a few and many casualties in My Own Worst Enemy, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Do Not Disturb, Lipstick Jungle, The Ex-List, Easy Money, Valentine, In Harm’s Way and Til Death. Here is how I rate each show.

Winners

The Simpsons: Back for its 20th season, The Simpsons has been Fox’s Sunday night stable mate pulling in an average of ~9M viewers this season. Couple this with the highest rating Treehouse of Horror episode in five years. Simpsons is definitely a winner for Fox even though the jokes seem to be recycled over and over again.

Family Guy: Has not dropped out of the weekly top 10 in the 18-49 bracket and dominates the 18-34 demo against the likes of Desperate Housewives and NFL. Has a number of years left in it.

Desperate Housewives: Now into its fifth season, the housewives seem to never age. Viewership has diminished due to a lacklustre third season (?), nevertheless it is Sunday’s night top scripted drama in total viewers and 18-49 demo.

Chuck: Against some tough opposition, Chuck managed to remain around the 6.5M mark and over the 2 rating in key demos in the fall.

Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother: Continually defies the critics, occasionally winning the timeslot in the key demos and has slowly built an audience over the fall season.

Two and a Half Men: Veteran CBS comedy which defies logic and reaps in excess of 14M viewers every week.

CSI: Miami and CSI: NY: The two spin-offs constantly pull in the masses and in Miami’s case building on its lead in.

Gossip Girl: Season 2 has been somewhat of a break through season for the teen drama, hitting series high numbers and providing a suitable and beneficial lead in for One Tree Hill.

One Tree Hill: After falling below the 3M mark during its 3rd, 4th and 5th seasons, One Tree Hill has bounced back nicely, regularly rating in the mid to low 3M range.

House: The move to 8/7c hasn’t helped its numbers, but it is taking one for the team as Fox continue to develop Fringe. Still pulls in massive demos for the news corp. network.

The Mentalist and NCIS: Against the House and Dancing juggernauts these two dramas have performed admirably, especially The Mentalist which does particularly well for the eye in the demos.

90210: Was off to a flying start, but numbers have settled around the 3M mark. Occasionally out-rates CW’s other teen dramas in One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl.

Criminal Minds: Behind the CSI franchise, it is CBS’s best rating demographic show amongst all the crime procedurals.

30 Rock: Has been nurtured nicely and off the back of the US election and Tina Fey’s extra exposure, numbers have soared to series highs.

The Office: The peacock’s best rating show in the fall, challenges the likes of Grey’s Anatomy, House and Desperate Housewives for the 18-49 crown.

ER: In its final season and still pulling in the viewers left, right and centre. Also defeats the likes of lead in assisted shows Life on Mars and Eleventh Hour in the key demos. One of NBC’s top rating shows of the fall.

CSI: Still pulling in the masses in its ninth season, also stays competitive in the demos against the demo king Grey’s Anatomy.

Grey’s Anatomy: Numbers have died down for the once ratings juggernaut, but it is still the week’s top rating demo show.

Supernatural and Smallville: Are up year-on-year and ratings can not be better with Supernatural soaring to series highs. Well deserved winners.

On the Bubble

King of the Hill: The recently cancelled animated comedy just misses out on the winners list. Regularly winning its timeslot in the 18-34 demo and hovering around the 6-7M mark week in week out. What were the execs at Fox smoking when they swung the axe?

American Dad: My favourite animated comedy of them all, does well in the demos but poor retention out of Family Guy has it a bee’s d**k away from a winner.

Amazing Race: Has slipped significantly in the demo, sometimes even dropping below the 2 rating in the 18-34 demo.

Cold Case: Solid numbers for veteran CBS, but its demos aren’t what CBS are looking for. If not for NFL overrun, CBS would be dead last in the demos on Sundays.

Brothers and Sisters: Averages 10M every week and a 4 rating in the demos, but losing a third of a compatible lead in is not good enough. Anymore it would’ve been a loser.

Heroes: Has lost a lot of steam, in previous seasons in has dominated the demos with nothing coming close to it, but this season Two and a Half Men constantly beats it in the key demos.

Prison Break: Has been stable across the fall season and regularly clears the 2 rating in the demos.

Old Christine and Gary Unmarried: Numbers for a relatively easy timeslot are soft, but CBS haven’t had another comedy block outside of Mondays, so this deserves a little credit, only just.

Samantha Who?: Just makes it into this list, retention out of Dancing with the Stars is a paltry 50 odd percent, but nothing else has done better out of Dancing. My judgement on Samantha Who? might change when the ratings for last night are released early tomorrow morning our time.

Boston Legal: After surviving the culling last year, Boston Legal continues to out perform a number of the alphabet’s other shows even though it is in its final season.

Fringe: Still a work in progress and if it weren’t for a House lead-in would be in the trash by now. Nevertheless, does well in the demos and is Fox’s best rating drama since House itself.

Law and Order SVU: Has tumbled to series low numbers, but still a consistent performer for an otherwise struggling network.

The Biggest Loser: Constantly slides under the radar for NBC, it is one of NBC’s best performers in demos.

America’s Next Top Model: Initially numbers were soft but has built as the season progressed, with the finale pulling in 4.8M and was the night’s top rating program amongst the 18-34 demo.

Private Practice: Best of a bad bunch on a Wednesday night, numbers will improve once it proceeds its sister show, Grey’s Anatomy.

Ugly Betty: Hasn’t reached the highs of its inaugural season, but still one of ABC’s better shows.

Life on Mars and Eleventh Hour: Poor retention out of lead in, but numbers have been acceptable.

Survivor: The reality veteran continues to kick off CBS’s Thursday night with a bang.

Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs: Solid but not spectacular Friday night performers.

Everybody Hates Chris and The Game: Numbers are down on Smackdown, but approx 1.5-2M isn’t a bad effort for The CW.

Losers

The Unit: Moving it from Tuesday night to Sundays has sugar coated some flaws but retention out of Cold Case is good, however demos are a worry.

In Harm’s Way, Easy Money and Valentine: all lasted less than 6 weeks, could only muster 1M or so viewers and couldn’t even crack a point in the demo.

My Own Worst Enemy: The recently cancelled drama had a lot of potential, but numbers just didn’t stack up.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Continues to bleed viewers from its series premiere, with its last airing netting less than 5M viewers. It might have a core fan base, but that is where it ends.

Privileged: Even though its one of my favourites of the new fall season, numbers have been poor out of a compatible 90210.

Eli Stone: Poor retention out of Dancing which eventually led to its cancellation.

Without A Trace: No longer appeals to the masses, but averages reasonable numbers for procedural kings CBS.

Pushing Daisies: Struggled in a relatively easy slot, with figures slipping below the 5.5M mark and 2 rating in the demo.

Dirty Sexy Money: Another sophomore drama culled due to ABC’s stupidity, however ratings were poor and cancellation was justified.

Stylista: What were The CW thinking here? Project Runway, Shear Genius to name a few.

Knight Rider: Exciting show which hasn’t caught on to the masses.

Life: Has lost its oomph factor from its freshman season and even with the shift to a more viewer friendly timeslot, numbers have been poor.

Lipstick Jungle: Numbers have headed south since its season two premiere.

Do Not Disturb and Til Death: Should have never green lit these two shows.

Deal or No Deal: Viewer fatigue has finally set in for this once stable performer.

My Name is Earl: Novelty is wearing off this once funny comedy.

Kath and Kim: Hasn’t worked out for NBC, but has the potential to be a good comedy.

Kitchen Nightmares and Hole in the Wall: Down year-on-year in that timeslot.

The Ex-List, Crusoe, Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader and Don’t Forget the Lyrics: Crusoe and Ex-List both couldn’t crack it on Friday, averaging ordinary numbers. The shift to Fridays for 5th Grader and Lyrics hasn’t worked out with both pulling less than its Thursday numbers.

Worst Week: Poor retention out of Two and a Half Men.

The silly season is almost here and it’s the time of the year where networks air shows which have failed during the official ratings period. Here is a list for each network (If I have left out your favourite show, just leave me a comment).

Note: I have only included new content and excluded factual shows.

Nine

ER: returns Wednesday 3rd December 9:30pm
Fringe: returns Monday 1st December 9:30pm
Gossip Girl – Season 1: premieres Wednesday 3rd December 10:30pm
McLeod’s Daughters: returns Saturday 6th December 8:30pm
Monster House: returns Friday 5th December 10:45pm
Pushing Daisies: Some time during the summer
Survivor – Micronesia: continues Monday 1st December 9:30pm and Tuesday 2nd December 10:35pm
Temptation: 7pm Weeknights
The Big Bang Theory: Sunday and Monday 30th November and 1st December 8:00pm
The Closer: returns Thursday 4th December 9:30pm
The Hills: Premieres on Saturday, December 6 at 12.30pm
Wife Swap USA: Saturday 6th December 7:30pm

SBS

Carla Cametti PD (New Aussie Drama): starts Thursday 8 January at 8:30pm
Food Safari: begins Wednesday 3rd December 8:30pm
Inspector Rex – Rex in Rome: starts Thursday 4 December at 7:35pm
Iron Chef: series returns Saturday 14 February at 8:30pm.
Long Way Down (Documentary Series): begins Wednesday 3rd December 8:30pm
Mad Men: late summer 2009
Top Gear Season 11: begins Monday 24th November 7:30pm
Wall Street Warriors (Documentary Series): begins Friday 5th December 7:30pm

Seven

24: Redemption: premieres Friday December 5th 9:30pm
Dance Machine: premieres Saturday December 6th 7:30pm
Dirty Sexy Money: begins Tuesday December 2nd 9:30pm
Eli Stone: premieres Tuesday December 2nd 8:30pm and continues on Thursday
Heroes: continues Thursday December 4th 10:30pm
Holby Blue: premieres Sunday November 30th 8:30pm
Kath & Kim (US): returns Monday December 1st 11:00pm
Las Vegas: returns Wednesday December 3rd 8:30pm
Prison Break: returns Tuesday December 2nd 10:30pm and continues on Wednesday
Scrubs: continues Monday December 1st 10:30pm
The Amazing Race: continues Thursday December 4th 9:30pm
The Unit: continues Wednesday December 3rd 9:30pm
Ugly Betty: returns Tuesday December 2nd 7:30pm and continues on Thursday

Ten

90210: returns Sunday 30th November 7:30pm Monday 24th November 7:30pm
America’s Next Top Model – Season 8: premieres Sunday 30th November 6:30pm
Army Wives – Season 1: premieres Monday 1st December 8:30pm
Don’t Forget The Lyrics - Season 2 episode 15: begins Wednesday 3rd December 7:30pm
How to Look Good Naked – Season 2: begins Wednesday 4th December 7:30pm
In Plain Sight - Season 1: premieres Tuesday 9th December 9:30pm
Out of the Blue: continues Weeknights 10:30pm
The Bold & The Beautiful: continues Weeknights 6:00pm
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: continues Sunday 30th November 10:40pm
The Ex-List: premieres Monday 1st December 9:30pm
The Office – Season 3 episode 20: continues Sunday 30th November 10:30pm

• FOX’s Family Guy spin-off, The Cleveland Show, has been pushed back to next year. The network also announced that the animated comedy had been given a full 22-episode order for it’s fall season debut.

• Tori Spelling is set to return to Smallville early next year for another one episode guest spot. Could 90210 also be in the cards?

• Speaking of 90210, Network Ten have announced the return of the teen drama, just in time of the end of the ratings season. It returns 7:30pm Monday, November 24th on Ten.

• Gossip Girl is returning to Australian screens (well, set top boxes anyway). The popular teen drama returns to 8:30pm Tuesday, December 9th on FOX8.

Sources: EW, Variety, TV Tonight, FOXTEL

Just to keep you up to date with the news, here are a few noteworthy headlines from the past week.

• American Dad gets fifth season pick up.

• Courtney Cox signs on to pilot for ABC sitcom Cougar Town from Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence.

• FOX to wrap King of the Hill at the end of this season.

• The CW and CBS Paramount Network Television are discussing possible reboot of Melrose Place, à la 90210.

• ABC Family commit to new pilot based in the competitive world of gymnastics, dubbed Perfect 10.

• BBC’s Australian produced soap Out of the Blue finds new home on UK channel Five.

• Andrew Denton calls it quits for Enough Rope.

• Underbelly picks up 8 nominations for 2008 AFI Awards.

Sources: Variety, TV Tonight, Herald Sun, AdelaideNow, Australian Film Institute.

So by now you’ve probably already noticed that a few of those fast-tracked shows that you were watching have been already yanked off the air. You’re probably wondering, ‘what the frack?’

90210
Gone! Returning later this year (apparently). Lasted 4 episodes.

Fringe
Gone! MIA. Lasted 5 episodes.

Kath & Kim: The American Series
Replaced with the Aussie version. Lasted 2 episodes.

And you wonder why people turn to illegal downloads, if not just to avoid the headache of dodgy scheduling practices. How about not totally screwing us over for once, networks?

The Mentalist Gets Back-Nine

CBS crime drama, The Mentalist, which stars Australia’s Simon Baker, has been given a full season order. It’s the first new CBS series to be given a back-nine order.

Locally, the Nine Network can finally rejoice, it looks like this season wont be a complete bust. After several years of picking up US series which were cancelled within the first 13 episodes, they finally have a couple in the bag which ought to gain a second season, provided the US ratings stay strong.

The Mentalist joins fellow Nine Network drama, Fringe and The CW’s 90210 on the freshman full season order conveyer belt.

Gossip Girl Extended

Meanwhile, The CW’s Gossip Girl has been given a two-episode extension to it’s full season order, bringing the total to 24 episodes. The additional episodes are to make up for the shortened previous season, due to the writers strike. The extension comes as the teen drama continues to reach series highs for the green network.

FOX has given the new J.J. Abrams sci-fi drama Fringe a full season pick up after scoring the number one spot among adults aged 18-49.

The series debut to less victorious results, but has since gained some serious momentum during its four episodes on screen, averaging 4.2/11 and 10.7 million viewers overall.

The full season pick up brings the total number of episodes to 22, after the original 13 episode order. It becomes the second new fall season series to be given a back-9 order, after The CW’s 90210, which has held up strongly with 1.7/5 in 18-49, 3.25 million overall.

Source: Variety

Seems not many like a cheap spin-off of a 90’s soap. At least here in Australia anyway…the show this week attracted only 616,000 viewers – only 200k off SBS’s South Park figures, it was the fourth most watched show in the 16-39 demographic, but that is still not good enough. The show moves to Friday night as of October 10th at 8.30p.m., being replaced by the fast-tracked season of Supernatural but the question remains, how long before it is shifted to Ten HD?

This does not bode well for the network’s 2009 acquisitions, it was one of the only highlights that they got from their US output deal with CBS/Paramount and it has already failed from a local standpoint.

In the USA the show is still holding viewers, the last episode in the USA was its lowest rating one to date pulling 2.96 million, though still performing in the demos, it is down from the high reached in Episode 2 of 5.14million – the show premiered to 4.91 million – The CW does have faith however, as previously reported it has been picked up for a full 22 episode season.

UPDATE: Looks like 90210 is gone, baby gone! Ten have just ripped 90210 out of the schedule all together now. It’s looks like its been put into “returning later in the year” status/AKA: “most likely going Ten HD.” (Source: TV Tonight)

Episode 15 brings us up to date with all the latest tv news, gossip and programming developments. We discuss the 90210 full season pick up, The Emmys, Prison Break series finale, NBC’s Kath & Kim, Australian Idol top 10, who is Kyle XY?, AFL Grand Finale coverage, television show recaps and a sort of new segment ‘Most Underrated Show of the Week’.

The CW today announced that their re-launch of 90210 had been picked up for a full 22-episode season. It was announced today by Dawn Ostroff, President, Entertainment, The CW. It becomes the first fall season show to be picked up for a full season order.

“The successful addition of ‘90210′ has taken The CW another step forward in building a cohesive schedule that defines this network as a destination for young women with shows that get our audience talking — and watching,” said Ostroff. “We’re very excited about the chance to watch this ensemble of newcomers and familiar faces coalesce and grow together as we move forward.”

The show has also brought onboard Gilmore Girls writer/co-producer Rebecca Kirschner to take over the writers room, serving as an executive producer for the teen drama. Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah will continue to serve as daily show runners.

Hopefully we’ll start to see the quality of the writing go up, because we all know that up until now its been pretty damn terrible. While its improved marginally over its four episodes, lets face it, if this show weren’t based on a 90’s classic, it’d probably be face down on Rodeo Drive. I speak the truth, no?

Week Three of the US television season has seen the turbulence of last week’s ratings begin to settle.

FOX’s hit medical drama House, returned with 14.77 million viewers, creating a strong lead in for the J.J. Abrams’ new sci-fi drama Fringe (up 59% to 13.27 million). Both shows dominated their time-slots and scored strong results in their key demographics.

Over at The CW Gossip Girl saw its highest ratings ever with 3.73 million, 22% increase in its target demographic. One Tree Hill saw its best figures since season four with 3.37 million viewers. Both 90210 and Privileged retained last weeks figures despite the heavy competition from House and Fringe.

We’re back again with another great episode of TVAUSCAST. This week we discuss the new 90210, Privileged, Fringe, Packed to the Rafters, The Strip, Rush, Taken Out, Australian Idol, Make Me A Supermodel and more. We also go into a long winded discussion on tech and other forum topics. We wrap up with some self congratulatory praise.

Last night saw the second episode of The CW’s 90210 and series premieres of Privileged and FOX’s new sci-fi drama Fringe. We’re only into the second week of the US ratings period, but already signs of declining viewership is starting to show. 

Fringe, which was one of the most anticipated new FOX dramas, may have won the night, but it failed to make a big impact on the ratings figures with just 9.13 million viewers. Considering J.J. Abrams’ other series, Lost scored a massive 18.6 million viewers during its premiere, it was a rather underwhelming result for the News Corp broadcaster. Although there is still a chance for the Abrams’ series to pick up extra eyeballs next week when House returns and becomes a solid lead in for sci-fi drama.

The CW’s figures also underwhelmed with 90210 dropping to just 3 million viewers. This is equal to the figures which were seen by the Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill combo on Monday night. 90210 lost the top spot once again in its core demographic to The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family.

Privileged started solidly with 2.64 million viewers, holding on to most of 90210’s audience but it failed to pick up any extra viewers.

Both Fringe and Privileged will be re-broadcast on Sunday night in the US.

The cast of the new ‘90210’.

They say there’s ‘no such thing as bad publicity’, right? But how about TOO MUCH publicity? Is it possible that Ten over promoted the show? Giving the public huge expectations that the show just could not live up to. Or perhaps its was just so overly promoted that people just got sick of hearing about it and ran away in droves. Who knows? What we do know is that, 90210 kicked off last night, but to less than stellar ratings.

The first thing I thought when I sat down and watched the pilot was, “Wow! There are a lot of characters in this.” The second thing I thought was, “…and I really don’t care about half of them.” I felt that the show was overloaded with too many characters and too many sub plots for me to track them all. It basically made 2-hours of confusion.

All the dramas with the new cast felt contrived and far too set up, they were all too happy and chummy by the end for any conflict to not feel plotted and artificial.

The story-lines I found more interesting were actually the parts with the old cast, particularly Jennie Garth. Even though she had little screen time, I found myself more engaged when she appeared on the screen. Trying to piece together the puzzles of what happened to the her, what she’s been doing, how she fell into the situations that she is in. For example, how Kelly ended up alone and with child. The mystery around her character made for far more engaging television.

Her reunion with Shannen Doherty was great. Despite not even being a huge fan of the original series, seeing them together still felt somewhat nostalgic. I’m sure original fans would have picked up on all the little calls backs to the original series.

Despite the show being promoted as this completely scandalous teen drama, I thought it was actually pretty tame (apart from the initial b*** **b in the first 5 mins). There were some subtle hints of wit and vigor in the script which I assume were left behind from when Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars creator) was still involved. It did feel very much like a Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah production. Just like Life As We Know It, it’s a very simple show, filled with lots of teen angst and hormones.

Last of all, the updated theme song is like 90210 on acid. But I guess that’s what the executives were aiming for when they brought indie rocker Liz Phair onboard to help compose music for the series.

I don’t think the show has quite found its foothold yet. It’s pretty generic, not very engaging (yet), and has plenty of room to improve. Bring back more of the original cast and it may have a second season in it yet.

3 out of 5 stars

90210 airs 8:30pm Mondays on Ten. Or watch it online a ten.com.au.

The new 90210 debuted on Ten last night, but even with the heavy promotion and fast-tracking, it just didn’t seem to go down well for the viewers. Despite the strong lead in it had with Australian Idol, it just could not keep up with the competition and dropped below 900K for the first hour, the following hour dropped again below 700K, ranking in at 21st place for the night.

Despite the successful premiere in the US, it just didn’t seem to go well down here. Although there was some competition and the fact that it did win the demographic for the night it still didn’t get ratings that were expected. How long will it last on TEN? Who knows. My guess is for the whole series as Ten really have nothing else.

90120 airs 8:30pm Mondays on Network Ten, after Australian Idol.

Ten have dropped their first full length promo on us. Check it out now.

90210 premieres 8:30pm Monday, September 8 on Ten.

While The CW were still riding their 90210-high yesterday. ABC Family were spinning their numbers, only to find that their own teen series The Secret Life of the American Teenager actually rated higher than the Beverly Hills drama.

The cable network scored its second highest ratings figures ever, beating the first hour of The CW’s 90210 debut, in viewers 12-34 (2.42 million vs. 2.40 million) and females 12-34 (1.92 million vs. 1.71 million).

So step over Beverly Hills kids, it looks like you’re not the only American teenagers on Tuesday nights!

The CW’s reboot of 90210 has scored the highest ever ratings for a scripted series on the green network. 4.91 million viewers tuned in for the 2-hour series premiere which built to a massive 5.14 million viewers during the second hour.

The show out-performed the series premieres in key demographics for other hit teen shows such as Dawson’s Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The OC.

This is a precedent setting win for The CW who have up until now had little impact on ratings across the major markets. It is the first Tuesday night win for The CW in their target markets and the the highest performing series premiere in the history of the network.

Every so often a show comes along that seems to have it all. A great concept, great writers, great producers, great cast, great pilot, great everything. But what’s really great is when a show’s on-air cool factor spills over into other mediums, including print advertising.

J.J. Abrams’ upcoming sci-fi drama Fringe has to have one of the coolest advertising campaigns I’ve seen in some time (apart from 90210’s digit shaped pool). When a show has such an intrinsically perfect campaign to go along side the series, it just scream success. Especially on a cult show level.

See the official FOX website for even more poster ads.

Fringe premieres 8/7c Tuesday, September 9 on FOX. 8:30pm Wednesday, September 17 on Nine.

It may have already premiered in the US, but Ten have only just decided to start showing slightly different character promos for the upcoming 90210. They’re still fairly generic, giving us nothing but a tease.

What’s new you ask? Just a lense flare and voice over…Wow!

Come on Ten! Give us a real promo. We know you have it in you!

The 2-hour series premiere of 90210 airs 8:30pm Monday, September 8 on Ten.

It’s that time of year again. So jump in front of the tube and get ready for hours of tears, laughter and joy. The US fall season is here!

Prison Break, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, The Closer and The Hills headlined today’s festivities, while tomorrow kicks off the anticipated series premiere of 90210 and the return of The Shield and ABC Family’s Greek.

Stay tuned as we review some of this season’s most anticipated series returns and premieres.

It’s a new season of television! And boy is there a lot to talk about. In our first post-olympics podcast, we discuss Packed the Rafters, All Saints, Idol, Make Me a Supermodel, ABC Family, and plenty of Aussie Drama. The return of Cult Show of the Week and our new segment So You Think Concepts.  We wrap up by discussing the new season of Dancing with the Stars.