(Note: Information in this story was subsequently folded into a longer overview. See the “stories” category.)
For impatient TV viewers, there’s a smidgen more of good news: Another network has announced specific dates to start its fall season.
This is a tiny network (CW), with a makeshift schedule (plus the final burst of the long-running “Supernatural,” shown here). Still, it joins Fox, which launches its own makeshift line-up on Sept. 21; ABC, CBS and NBC haven’t said when they’ll start.
(A previously written story rounds up Fox and other networks. It’s under “stories” and at the top of the main page.)
The CW had already pushed its main shows – “Batwoman,” “Riverdale,” “The Flash,” etc. – to January. This fall it will mostly have an odd lot of acquired or low-income shows, with one notable exception: “Supernatural” finally returns to finish its 15-season run.
The show planned to finish this spring, then had a coronavirus shutdown. Now it returns Oct. 8 and concludes Nov. 10 – tied, apparently, for the No. 4 spot among TV’s longest-running drama hours.
Surrounding it will be a collection of quirky shows. The Friday line-up starts Sept. 18 and there will be a four-hour “iHeartRadio Music Festival” on Sept. 27-28, but the rest begins in October.
CW doesn’t have Saturday shows and has been filling Mondays with “Penn and Teller: Fool Us,” preceded by “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” The other nights are:
– Fridays: “Masters of Illusion” continues at 8 and 8:30 p.m.; “World’s Funniest Animals” debuts at 9 and 9:30 on Sept. 18.
– Sundays: “Pandora,” a sci-fi show, is 8 p.m., starting Oct. 4. It was intended as a summer show, but CW held this second season to fall. It may be followed by “Two Sentence Horror Stories.”
– Tuesdays: “Swamp Thing” debuts with a 90-minutes episode at 8 p.m. Oct. 6. The next week, “Tell Me a Story” starts its second season at 9. Both have streamed previously – “Swamp Thing” on DC Universe, “Tell Me a Story” on CBS All Access.
– Wednesdays: “Devils” debuts at 8 p.m. Oct. 7; it’s a French/Italian financial thriller, but includes Patrick Depsey. “Coroner,” a Canadian drama, starts its secod season that night at 9.
– Thursdays: “Supernatural” returns at 8 p.m. Oct.8, with “The Outpost” – another fantasy show delayed from its summer run – at 9. On Nov. 10, “Supernatural” will have a retrospective hour at 8 and the finale at 9.