Friday, May 11, 2012

The CW Picks Up 'Arrow,' 'The Carrie Diaries,' 'Cult,' 'Beauty and the Beast' & 'Emily Owens, MD'; Renews 'Nikita,' 'Gossip Girl' & 'Hart of Dixie'; Cancels 'Ringer' & 'The Secret Circle'

        Today, The CW has given series orders to five of their new drama series. The five series making the cut are the Sex and the City prequel, The Carrie Diaries; the Green Arrow-themed, Arrow; a reboot of the 1980s series, Beauty and the Beast; the dark mystery thriller, Cult; and the medical drama, First Cut. 4:50 PM - New Updates on returning series as well.

        Ordering five new scripted series is a record for The CW which lately, under the new leadership of Mark Pedowitz, has vowed to increase the amount of originals on the air at any time during the year - thus avoiding long periods of repeats where the network doesn't do so well.

        The large number of new series pickups does not bode well for the network's many bubble series but chances are still good that Hart of Dixie, Gossip Girl, The Secret Circle and possibly Nikita could make the cut for next year.

        Arrow stars Stephen Amell in a modern-day retelling of the Legendary DC Comics character Green Arrow. David Ramsey, Katie Cassidy and Colin Donnell co-star. Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg will executive produce.

        The Carrie Diaries is based on the novel of the same name by Candace Bushnell and stars AnnaSophia Robb as a young Carrie Bradshaw as she comes of age in the 1980s, asking her first questions about love, sex, friendship and family while exploring the worlds of high school and Manhattan. Austin Butler, Brendan Dooling and Ellan Wong co-star. Amy Harris, Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, Len Goldstein and Candace Bushnell executive produce.

        Cult follows an inquisitive young female production assistant (Jessica Lucas) on a wildly popular television show as she joins a journalist blogger (Matt Davis) in investigating the show's rabid fans - who might be re-creating crime scenes from the show in real live which include disappearances and a murder. Alona Tal and Robert Knepper co-star. Rockne O'Bannon, Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, Len Goldstein and Jason Ensler will executive produce.

        Beauty and the Beast is loosely based on the CBS series of the same name from the 1980s as a modern-day romantic love story with a procedural twist. Kristin Kreuk is the Beauty to Jay Ryan's Beast. Austin Basis and Nicole Anderson co-star. Jennifer Levin and Sherri Cooper wrote the pilot and will join Paul Witt, Ron Koslow and Bill Haber as executive producers.

        Emily Owens, M.D. (formerly First Cut) stars Mamie Gummer as a newly minted doctor eager to leave her nerdy past behind for a fresh start in the adult professional worlds who discovers that sadly and comically life at the hospital is no different than high school. Justin Hartley, Jack Coleman and Necar Zadegan co-star. Jennie Snyder Urman and Dan Jinks serve as executive producers.

        UPDATE 4:50 PM - Just as the network has decided which new pilots to pick up, they have also decided which veteran series should return next year. Action drama Nikita has been renewed for a third season while freshmen series Hart of Dixie has been given a second season order. The order for Hart of Dixie is for 22 episodes while Nikita's order is still unclear.

        UPDATE (2) 4:55 PM - The network has also announced that they are cancelling the Sarah Michele Gellar-led drama, Ringer, and the witch-based drama, The Secret Circle.

        UPDATE (3) 5:00 PM - In what will probably be the last bit of renewal news for the network today, Gossip Girl has been renewed for a sixth and final season comprised of only 10 or 11 more episodes.