UPN and The WB networks coming to an end and the simultaneous birth of the new CW was definitely the surprise of the television year. But when the dust cleared it seemed logical to everyone on both sides of the screen that it was the perfect solution to a long-time ratings problem.
Early in 2006, after several months of highly secret negotiations, the official announcement of the CW, America's first new broadcast network ever created by combining the assets of two existing networks (the WB and UPN) came from Leslie Moonves, the President/CEO of CBS Corp (UPN's parent organization) and Warner Bros. Entertainment Chairman/CEO Barry Meyer. The CW debuts nationally on September 20, 2006 and then continues to roll out for the next two weeks.
"Aiming at the same 18-34 year old demographic for the last few years, had left UPN and the WB always scrambling for the same audience and splitting ratings," said Paul Hewitt, Vice President of Corporate Communications for the CW. In February of '06, CW Entertainment President Dawn Ostroff told The Hollywood Reporter that by melding the two existing networks into a third entity using what she called a 'one plus one equals three' equation, "the strength of the two entities coming together is going to by far outweigh what either of them could have been on their own."
The newly minted CW — an acronym culled from the first letters of CBS and Warner Bros. — has been designed to broadcast the best of each former network's shows. "When Dawn first became President of Entertainment for UPN in February 2002, she focused on defining the networks brand," Hewitt said. Ostroff, the former senior VP of Programming and Production at cable's Lifetime Network, is credited with helping to raise that estrogenic web let from sixth to first place.
While the WB had Gilmore Girls, Smallville, and Dawson's Creek, Hewitt went on to explain, "Prior to Leslie (Moonves) and Dawn taking over, UPN had previously not been considered a quality network. UPN's reputation began to improve with the addition of Star Trek: Enterprise and Girlfriends. Since Ostroff came aboard in 2002, the network image improved considerably. By the 2004-2005 season, UPN had produced two critically acclaimed new dramatic shows, Veronica Mars and Kevin Hill, and the runaway hit reality series, America's Next Top Model. More recently the network premiered the Chris Rock-inspired sitcom Everybody Hates Chris, which is coming to the CW — all reflections of Ostroff's never-wavering belief in both quality and diversity.
The new dramas were critical successes but ratings did not automatically follow. February 2005, saw the final primetime voyage of UPN's Enterprise franchise and that summer witnessed the sudden demise of the WB's beloved singing amphibian, Michigan J. Frog. Later that year the WB would ax over 15% of its human staff as well. It became increasingly evident that the chosen demographic was not supporting the two netlets doing battle for it. As a single new network the CW is taking the strongest shows from each network, choosing from the best brands and the strongest franchises," Hewitt explained.
Debuting with 30 broadcast hours per week spread over seven days, the new network follows the WB's scheduling model. Six nights with thirteen hours of prime time programming breaks down as follows: Monday through Friday (8-10 EST/PST); Sundays from 7-10 (EST/PT) as well as a Monday to Friday afternoon block (3-5 (EST/PST), plus The Kids' WB on the CW, a five hour block on Saturday mornings (7-Noon (EST/PST). Ostroff and Co. have programmed blocks of shows on various nights to attract and hold the various fan bases within the CW demographic.
To do that the CW has mixed and matched the best of the WB/UPN roster of existing shows and also created two new original series to add to that line-up. There's Runaway, a new family thriller, starring Donnie Wahlberg, created by Chad Hodge (Tru Calling) and exec produced by Darren Star (Sex and The City). The Game, is another smart urban comedy from creator and show runner Mara Brock Akil (Girlfriends).
The new CW line-up is based on Ostroff's basic programming concepts, apparent as early as the 2003 UPN upfronts. That's when she announced, "...we are confident this year's schedule provides us the right foundation to grow our audience and better define our brand while creating a more seamless audience flow from night to night." Even then, a strong part of her strategy was to have established shows "serve as tent-poles for launching new series which were developed as companion programs."
Monday is now family night, pairing the perennial 7th Heaven (WB) with one of the season's two new shows, Runaway. Tuesday combines two critically acclaimed series, one from the WB Gilmore Girls, and one from UPN Veronica Mars for a perfect 18-34 set. Wednesday pairs the UPN hit America's Next Top Model with the WB's One Tree Hill while Thursdays are all sci-fi fantasy (and all WB) featuring Smallville and Supernatural. Friday remains the home of the WWE Friday Night Smackdown (UPN) and Sundays belong to UPN's successful sitcoms — Everybody Hates Chris, All of Us and Girlfriends, followed by The Game, plus an encore presentation of each week's episode of ANTM. Although the WB's popular Everwood is missing from this line-up, mid-season promises Hidden Palms, a new drama from Kevin Williamson (Dawson's Creek), a new edition of Beauty and the Geek, and there is a firm order for more episodes of Reba.
''The best part of the schedule,'' Ostroff concluded at the 2006 upfronts, ''is that these shows [like Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars] will perform better together ... [by] not competing for viewers. Above all, she promised a distribution and promotional push for the CW that will be ''stronger than WB's and UPN's were.'' All told, Hewitt summed up the new CW with this prediction: "We have taken the best series from each network, and by next year we should be stronger as one, and make significant progress in the 18 to 34 year old demographic."
Here's a sneak peek at the two newbie's in the CW lineup. Runaway tells the story of the Rader family who go from being the folks who live next door to a family on the run, when the father (Donnie Wahlberg), is falsely accused of a murder. Then the real murderer threatens to kill Rader's wife (Leslie Hope) and his three kids (Dustin Milligan, Sarah Ramos and Nathan Gamble). This forces the whole family to change their identities and escape to a small town with the hope of one day clearing Paul's name. Will they be safe or will they have to keep on running?
"I've always been a fan of both family drama and thrillers and Runaway is a combination of both," said creator and show runner Chad Hodge. "It's a horrible situation for the family, but ironically it's the best thing that's ever happened to them. The arc of the series is that they go from a sort of broken place in their lives to a better place while on-the-run. As Paul's situation gets worse and worse, his family grows closer together and they find a simpler, better life. They may have had creature comforts before but now they have each other," Hodge explains. Runaway is currently shooting twelve episodes in Toronto through December and Hodge will travel back and forth between the production and the L.A. offices.
Hodge previously worked on two ABC movies co-incidentally starring former members of the Beverly Hills 90210 gang: This Time Around with Brian Austin Green and I Want to Marry Ryan Banks with Jason Priestley. "So you might say Darren Starr [Runaway's Executive Producer] and I were working together before we actually started working together," Hodge cracked. This Time Around turned out to be ABC Family's biggest hit ever ratings-wise and we made a series deal. I created a pilot, but the show never got made. Runaway is my first prime time network show."
"Darren and I share the same agent (William Morris) and they put us together. I came up with the show idea and wrote the pilot script on spec and Darren and I sent it over to UPN. Dawn had a meeting with us before there even was a CW. Then Darren and I worked some more on the pilot. It's a different kind of show for him but he's a great story teller with a lot of great ideas. And we were both very involved in the casting," Hodge continued.
I knew I wanted Donnie Walberg (NBC's Boomtown). I didn't even think it was worth doing the pilot if he didn't play the role. Casting was the most important thing to make sure that these are characters you can believe in and want to come back and watch every week. The show is really about, 'What would I do if I was in this situation, if I could start over."
To cast the family's teen-age kids, Hodge said, "My goal was always to have kids who seem real, who are good actors, not just pretty faces." With Sarah Ramos as Hannah Rader, he got a good actor who also happens to have a pretty face. Last seen as the pre-teen little sister, Patty Pryor on NBC's American Dreams, Ramos is now 15. "They really wanted someone older — over 18 at least — for the role, because they can work longer hours for one thing. But I've been acting since I was nine and I guess I just seem older," she said a few days before leaving for her six month stint in Toronto. "My mom's coming up to stay with me."
Ramos is a tenth grader in an independent study program with an interest in English and Psychology. The latter is most helpful in establishing a character she described as, "wanting to be seen as a normal teen aged girl, yet she has two identities. She wants to fit in, but there are all these restrictions. Some times she does dumb stuff — not on purpose — but she's always being forced to make compromises. She's a very complex person for a teen-ager."
As for being in the first new series at the CW, Ramos described the whole experience in a single word, "Sweet!" "I liked some of the shows on the WB and UPN and its very exciting to be part of all this. I even got to go to the party for the new network and I met Alexis Bledel from Gilmore Girls and Chad Michael Murray [One Tree Hill] who's hot!"
Ramos has a few acting precepts that have helped get her the jobs. "Always know the project you're reading for and not just your own sides. Be confident and don't try to guess what the casting people want. Play the character as you perceive it and make good strong choices." (15 going on 50!)
The CW has a corner on casting with Lori Opened, their new Senior Vice President of Talent and Casting. Openden comes to her current position after more than twenty years of broadcast network experience. In 1985 she began in the casting department of NBC and by 1999, had risen to Senior Vice President of Talent and Casting. During that time, in addition to her involvement with over 500 long-form projects, she also supervised the casting of hundreds of pilots and top series from such comedies as Frasier, Friends, Seinfeld and Will & Grace to dramas like Homicide: Life on the Street, e.r., The West Wing and the many incarnations of the Law & Order franchise.
Later, as a freelance casting director, she worked on myriad pilots and series such as ABC's 8 Simple Rules as well as other broadcast and cable network projects. By July of 2003, she was working as a consultant and casting executive at UPN, before joining the network as Senior Vice President, Talent and Casting, in August 2005. "But this is actually my first time ever working on the launch of a network and it's truly exciting," she said enthusiastically. Openden will oversee the casting of all regular and recurring roles plus guest programming stars for all CW shows and is also in charge of developing new talent for the new network.
"My office covers everything that has to do with actors on the network — from all the series' regulars to the various guest stars as well. That means I'm always meeting with actors while at the same time, I'm tracking actors' careers to see who might be ready for a series." In the past there were very different requirements for television versus other forms of acting. "But those lines have blurred today," Openden explained. "You're dealing with movie stars who are interested in doing a series and/or guest spots. And of course there's always the stage — more so in New York, but there's lots of good theater here in L.A. too. Stage training is especially helpful if you're shooting in front of a live audience. A good casting director always tries to be aware of all the available talent."
Although the CW is headquartered on the West Coast, Openden doesn't see that as a barrier for East Coast actors. "Most actors interested in episodic television usually come out for pilot season [normally the first quarter of the year, from January to April] and of course we receive audition tapes all the time. I also cast from existing series so that means watching the soaps plus lots of re-runs on TIVO. I also have to be aware of any soap actors who want to come off soaps. For instance, I met Justin Hartley just after he left NBC's Passions, and we chose him to star in our Aquaman pilot. Although Aquaman never made the fall schedule, Justin has been cast and will appear in several episodes of Smallville this season, as Oliver Queen (a.k.a. The Green Arrow) from the D.C. comics.
She also mentioned how UPN and the WB jump-started the careers of several actors including Keri Russell (Felicity), Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls) and currently, Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars.) "Right now, actors should be aware of the CW and the kind of shows we're doing. We're committed to diversity in our casting and our programming which is geared to our 18-34 year old audience. We know that at least a third of our audience identifies themselves as a minority and we want them to see themselves reflected on our network."
"We often develop new shows based on a particular actor," she continued. "So it's also my job to make a sales pitch for an actor to the powers-that-be and the development people." She reports directly to Dawn Ostroff, with whom she first worked with at 20th Century Fox television. "I knew Dawn as a network development exec when she was Senior Vice President of Creative Affairs.
Openden offered some advice to actors interested in auditioning for the new CW. "Never forget, at a network audition, the casting director is your best friend. We're on your side because if you do well, it makes us look good. And always remember that work begets work, so never assume a part is too small, especially for actors who are new to L.A. I tell actors to take any job they can get." And to all actors who'd like to work in television: "Make sure you actually watch television!"
Mara Brock Akil, the creator/show runner of both Girlfriends and her new show The Game, watched a lot of television realizing, I wasn't seeing my friends or me on that screen." And that's how Girlfriends eventually came to be. Girlfriends was the show I wanted to watch about women like me and I felt we weren't finished after six seasons. I'm so glad the CW agreed with me."
A native of Los Angeles, she began writing for the FOX series South Central in 1994 and then moved on to Moesha at UPN, where she first earned the title of producer. She followed up as Supervising Producer of the WB's long-running hit The Jamie Foxx Show, before creating her first show Girlfriends for UPN in 2000. (Kelsey Grammer is co-producer on both of Akil's original series.)
"I've had a blessed career in this business," said the award winning Akil. Even when I was a writer," she recalled, "Being a show runner was always my ultimate goal. I think I've become good at juggling the time and the responsibility." Married to writer/director/Executive Producer Salim Akil (Soul Food), she explained, "We carve out time for ourselves and our son — weekends are for the family.
On Girlfriends, the idea is your friends are your chosen family, but on The Game, it's more like a sorority where everyone's thrown together plus I've also included much more of the male point of view and some couples stuff too," said Akil.
The pilot of The Game introduces the women behind the men of football (Pooch Hall, Coby Bell and Hosea Chanchez), including wives (Brittany Daniel), girlfriends (Tia Mowry) and mothers (Wendy Raquel Robinson). Tracee Ellis Ross from Girlfriends visits the pilot of The Game, as the cousin of Tia Mowry (Sister, Sister). As the men jockey for position on the field, the women jockey for position off the field.
Girlfriends is the lead-in to The Game, giving Akil's two shows back-to-back during the CW's new 8:00 to 9:00 pm time slot on Sunday nights (see full schedule below). "I'm really excited about the CW and so proud to be one of only two new shows on the inaugural schedule," Akil enthused. "Like the CW, 'I've always firmly believed in diversity and besides, it's just good business. Our writing/production team is at least 50% women (sometimes a little more) and we're very ethnically mixed as well. We're hoping to pull in new audiences ready for a new comedy about couples, friendships and race relations offered in universal stories."
Co-star of The Game, Coby Bell agrees. The Game combines his two main loves from high school — sports and acting. "Actually I played basketball and acting was my fall-back," he joked. As for the CW, Bell called it, "a brilliant idea to cancel out the competition. My wife's a huge fan of Mara's show Girlfriends, so she was thrilled when I got The Game. I play Jason, a wide receiver that's stinking rich but cheap as hell and not ashamed of it in the least! And I love working with Mara. She sets up this real family vibe," Bell continued. "Just the other day she told us about the kid's room she's got planned. Well, I have two three year old twin daughters, so you know I like that idea.
Bell has acting in his DNA — his dad is Tony nominee, Michel Bell (Show Boat). After co-starring as Officer Tyrone Davis, Jr. for the last few seasons of Third Watch, shot on location all over New York City, the actor is happy to be back on the West Coast for his new CW series. "I was born and raised in San Clemente, so New York was a culture shock. The Game is my third series in nine years [he's just 31] but I've done mostly drama. This is a real transition for me and it takes some getting used to. But it's also fun. The main thing I've learned about comedy is play it real and then it's funny."
"My whole career all happened really fast. Starting right after college graduation I landed a guest spot on e.r., which was [producer/show runner] John Wells' show, and later on he called me in for Third Watch. I know how lucky I am," Bell remarked. "I know the odds against getting even one series, but it sure was a cool way to spend most of my twenties."
Like most working actors, Bell has several tips for auditioning. "What works best for me is try to get my sides as early as possible. Sometimes you can connect to a character effortlessly, but most of the time it takes work. Whatever happens, make your own choices, and don't play mind games with yourself. If the casting director wants to see something else, he or she will say so. Besides, I always feel if I'm the guy, then I'm the guy, if not, not. Fear can only do you harm at an audition."
The CW is feeling lucky too. It knows its audience and has chosen the best skeins from the WB/UPN library to attract them. The CW's ready for the strongest possible debut of a new network ever.