The CW: New same old same old

When new TV networks emerge, they invariably burble the usual gibberish about their innovative programming, the artistic freedom they’re allowing their creators and the fresh viewing experiences their audiences will enjoy. It's all BS, but it's comforting to know that networks at least recognize that they should tout originality.

Not The CW, which today sold its maiden lineup on the strength of a bunch of old shows. Entertainment president Dawn Ostroff trotted out the network’s fall 2006 lineup, which boasts a mere two new shows amidst seven series returning courtesy UPN (Ostroff’s old haunt) and six programs that survived The WB’s demise.

And the new shows hardly feel new. The sitcom “The Game� is a spinoff from UPN’s “Girlfriends.� The drama “Runaway� (isn’t that Monty Python’s code word for “retreat?�) is “The Fugitive� with a wife and kids – it’s about a guy framed for murder who takes his family with him when he goes on the lam. One imagines episodes will go a little like this:

Teen son: Dad, I have a date Saturday night.
Guy framed for murder: No, you don’t, son – the Feds are in town and we’re off to Idaho.
Teen son: Aw, Daaad!

Midseason replacement “Hidden Palms� (doesn’t that sound like a euphemism for, uh, self-abuse?) is another teen soap opera that looks like all the other teen soaps that have preceded it. (Not surprising as it comes courtesy Kevin Williamson, who’s done a few of these in the past, most notably “Dawson’s Creek.�)

This feels like a big misstep on The CW’s behalf. Its big moment in the spotlight and the network has boldly declared: We’re going to be just like The WB and UPN; we have no ambitions to grow much beyond them. Ostroff suggests that The CW will do better than its predecessors because it won’t have the competition they had. Well, there will be one fewer network, but if memory serves, there are dozens of other cable networks that target the same youthful audience The CW is after.

The network really needed a big, splashy new show it could call its own, and none of those introduced look up to the task. It had developed a series based on the comic book “Aquaman� (itself a running gag on “Entourage�) from the producers of “Smallville� that could’ve been stylish and ambitious, but declined to give it a series order. What this means is that when The CW launches in the fall, it will have only two shows that are guaranteed any coverage amidst a couple dozen premiering on the other networks. In other words, its debut is in serious danger of being overshadowed by the other networks’ more aggressive scheduling.