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Even though The CW concluded two of its female-led series this season with the end of Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Boyfriend, it’s sticking with women with the three new series it’s adding to its 2019-20 slate: Batwoman, Supergirl and Katy Keene.
Earlier this year, The CW renewed 14 of its series, which didn’t leave much room for new shows.
“The CW heads into next season riding a wave of creative momentum and expansion, with more original programming all year round, and a new Fall line-up boasting scripted series in every single time period across our six-night schedule,” said Mark Pedowitz, president, The CW. “As the original multiplatform network, combining our linear broadcast and our best in class Ad-supported digital services with our ability to harness social like no one else, The CW’s distinct brand and programming strategy perfectly positions this network to grow and thrive in the current media landscape.”
Sundays will be female empowerment night with new series Batwoman, starring Ruby Rose, leading into Supergirl, starring Melissa Benoist. Batwoman on Sunday night pushes The CW’s reboot of Charmed to Fridays, where it will lead into another reboot, Dynasty.
Mondays will see All American followed by Black Lightning, while The Flash and Arrow, entering its final season, will remain back to back on Tuesdays. On Wednesdays. Greg Berlanti’s modern take on Archie, Riverdale, will be paired with new supernatural-tinged detective drama Nancy Drew. Finally, Supernatural, which will finish out its 15-season run next year, will air with Legacies on Thursdays.
In the meantime, The CW’s very lucrative content deal with Netflix is coming to an end as WarnerMedia prepares to launch its own direct-to-consumer service. As opposed to selling its shows to Netflix in an overall deal, which reportedly was worth as much as $1 billion, The CW’s shows will be shopped individually to streaming services by their producing studios. That could mean they will end up on Netflix, just not as part of an overall deal.
Here’s a look at The CW’s three new series, with trailers and key art for all three:
Batwoman
Ruby Rose stars as Kate Kate (not to be confused with Katy Keene) aka Batwoman, who takes over as Gotham’s resident vigilante now that Batman has disappeared for three years without a trace.
The series also stars Dougray Scott as Kane’s father and the leader of Crows Private Security, Meagan Tandy, Elizabeth Anweis, Nicole Kong, Campus Johnson and Rachel Skarsten.
Batwoman comes from Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television with executive producers Greg Berlanti, Caroline Dries, Geoff Johns and Sarah Schechter. David Nutter and Marcos Siega executive produced the pilot.
Nancy Drew
Like Riverdale, which will precede it this fall, The CW’s version of Nancy Drew is decidedly different than the girl detective many grew up with. In this retelling, Nancy (Kennedy McMann) still digs into local crimes but things get mysterious when a supernatural presence begins to haunt her investigation.
Besides McMann, Nancy Drew also stars Scott Wolf as her father, Leah Lewis, Maddison Jaizani, Tunji Kasim, Alex Saxon and Alvina August.
Nancy Drew is executive produced by Noga Landau, Melinda Hsu Taylor, Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage and Lis Rowinski. It’s a production of CBS Television Studios in association with Schwartz and Savage’s Fake Empire.
Katy Keene
Coming at midseason, Katy Keene is a spinoff of Riverdale and tells the story of the titular character, played by Lucy Hale.
Katy is a good friend and designer for Josie (Ashleigh Murray), lead singer of the up-and-coming band Josie and the Pussycats. Katy, Josie and their friends Jorge Lopez/Ginger (Jonny Beauchamp), who’s trying to make it in the drag scene, and the mysterious Pepper Smith (Julia Chan) all have come to New York City to chase their dreams.
The series also stars Lucien Laviscount, Camille Hyde, Katherine LaNasa and Zane Holtz.
Executive produced by Greg Berlanti, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Michael Grassi, Sarah Schechter and Archie Comics Publisher & CEO Jon Goldwater, Katy Keene is from Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios.
Tags: batwoman katy keene nancy drew the cw upfronts upfronts 2019