For CW, it’s a near-total makeover this fall

Dealing with duo forces – new owners and the ongoing writers strike – the CW is tossing out most of its schedule.
Gone next season will be the superheroes that filled the mini-network. Only two scripted shows will be back: “All American” arrives this fall, paired with Courtney B. Vance’s “61st Street” (shown here); “Walker” is expected at mid-season.
The rest of the line-up has reality shows, plus scripted ones that have already started airing in other countries, mainly Canada.
The approach is similar to two other networks that are planning for a long strike: ABC announced a fall line-up with only non-fiction shows, plus “Abbott Elementary” reruns. Fox didn’t set a specific schedule, but has announced enough shows to also go entirely non-fiction, if needed. By comparison, CBS and NBC will need some adjustments if the strike persists.
For CW, there’s an additional factor: Until recently, it had co-owners – including Warner Brothers, which owns the DC comic book characters – that were happy to launch their shows modestly on the network, then sell them overseas.
Now, however, a new owner is skipping that. It hired Brad Schwartz – who had scored with the Canadian “Schitt’s Creek” – as its new programming chief. His first schedule has:
— “All American” on Mondays, followed by “61st Street,” a taut Chicago crime-and-court drama with Vance. The first season was on AMC, drawing praise from critics, but the network never aired the second one.
— Comedies, mainly Canadian, on Tuesdays. That starts with “Son of a Critch,” which Schwartz has compared to “Schitt’s Creek.” It’s followed by “Run the Burbs,” “Children Ruin Everything” and “Everybody Else Burns.”
— Two Canadian dramas on Wednesdays. “Sullivan’s Crossing” has a doctor retreating to her family’s home town, to rebuild her life. “The Spencer Sisters” has a mystery writer (Lea Thompson) start a detecitive agency with her daughter.
— Three days of non-fiction. Thursday has the dating show “FBoy Island,” formerly a streaming show, with the previous episode at 8 p.m. and the new one at 9. Fridays and Saturdays have current CW shows – “Penn & Teller: Fool Us,” “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” “Masters of Illusion” and “World’s Funniest Animals.”
— Documentary movies Sunday from the “I Am” series. They have focused on such disparate people as Alfred Hitchcock, Burt Reynolds and Jacqueline Onassis.
By mid-season, CW hopes to have the new “Walker” season, plus a reality spin-off, “FGirl Island.” It also plans to go beyond Canada for a mini-series on jewel thief Joan Hannington, a spin-off series from “The Librarians” and “The Swarm,” which it describes as a “global eco-thriller.”
It’s also planning some more non-fiction shows: One follows Patti Stanger, the “millionaire matchmaker..” … Another gives hometown bakeries a makeover … A third, from the “Jersey Shore” creator, follows police.