In the makeshift world of the CW network, there’s some good news:
Scripted shows are making a modest comeback. They include:
— An OK one at 8 p.m. Mondays. The seventh season of “All American” is almost a reboot – a workable mix of old and new characters.
— A good one at 8 p.m. Wednesdays. “Wild Cards” is a fun blend of a quiet cop and a zestful con woman.
— And an even better one, added to Wednesdays on Feb. 19. “Good Cop/Bad Cop” (shown here) has clever ways of plugging mismatched siblings into mysteries.
That’s a small list, but it boosts the shrinking world of scripted shows on broadcast networks.
The CW started with two mini-networks, stuffed with scripted shows. UPN gave us “Veronica Mars,” “Girlfriends.” “Everybody Hates Chris” and some “Star Trek” series. WB had “Buffy,” “Gilmore Girls” and “Supernatural.”
They merged in 2006 and fell into a groove. There were a few wondrously fresh shows – “Jane the Virgin” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” both Golden Globe winners – and lots of competent shows with DC Comics characters.
That crumbled when Discovery bought Warner Brothers (a CW co-owner) and was wallowing in debt. The CW was sold to a station group, which planned to have lower-cost shows. The makeshift phase began.
Now CW is an odd-lot assortment — true-crime, game shows, magicians, old movies (especially the solidly crafted “I Am” biographies) and lots of sports. There’s golf, wrestling and NASCAR, plus deals with the Pac-10 .– which temporarily consists of two teams – and the Atlantic Coast Conference.
And there are these scripted shows. This fall brought second season of “Sullivan’s Crossing”; coming now are:
“ALL AMERICAN” (8 p.m. Mondays)
Most shows from the previous owners were quickly evicted. This one, however, gets a chance to rework itself for its seventh season.
It still focuses on two high schools – in upscale Beverly Hills and hard-scrabble Crenshaw – and their football teams. But the cast was re-shuffled.
There’s still Jordan (now quarterback coach at Crenshaw), his glamorous wife Layla (now a nightclub owner) and Coop (starting law school).
Others pop in briefly, but the focus is on the newcomers, several of them stereotypes, but one of them a terrific character.
That’s KJ, the new Beverly Hills quarterback and the son of the new coach. In a show that sometimes gets tangled in cliches and self-help talk, he offers a fresh focal point.
WILD CARDS (8 p.m. Wednesdays, starting Feb. 5)
In the first season, a quiet cop was reluctantly linked to a vibrant con woman.
Cole (Ciacomo Gianniotti, who was Dr. DeLuca in “Grey’s Anatomy”) wasn’t happy about it. Max (Vanessa Morgan, who was Toni in “Riverdale”) was happy to not be in prison like her dad.
That season flowed with clever scams, including a double one at the end: Max managed to catch the thief, then grab the treasure for herself.
Now, alas, the show has to virtually start over, as Cole fumes about her deception. Also, it slides away from its scam concept, instead tackling standard stories – street-racing getaway drivers on Feb. 5, a ranch on Feb. 12, an amnesiac on Feb. 19.
These lack the slick moves of the first season. Still, they’re fun stories with two great characters. We’ll settle for that.
“GOOD COP/BAD COP” (9 p.m. Wednesdays, starting Feb. 19)
CW’s cost-cutting idea is basic: Share shows with a Canadian network.
That has worked for “Wild Cards,” “Sullivan’s Crossing,” “Moonshine,” “Spencer Sisters” and more. But here’s a variation – an American show, shared with the Roku streamer.
And it’s a good one, rippling with clever twists and fun characters.
Leighton Meester (Blair Waldorf in “Gossip Girls”) is a small-town police detective, working for her dad (Clancy Brown), the police chief. Then her brother (Luke Cook) is hired as the junior detective.
She’s 5-foot-4, he’s 6-foot-5. She has great people skills; he seems to have none. She’s a good cop, he seems to be a bad one … until he flashes his Sherlock-like mind.
He’s a tad stiff, but the show is otherwise a delight. Even in the opener – with a shoot-out and a killing – the villains have a small-town charm. Paired with “Wild Cards,” this will give us a fun night.