The fall season is well underway, but where are all the new episodes for The CW shows?
As the smallest of the broadcast networks, The CW has to watch out for the fall stampede or it'll be trampled. The CW only programs two hours a night, Monday through Friday. That's pretty small.
Each fall, The CW usually waits until the big boys -- ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox -- have pretty much finished their premieres before it comes out of its hidey hole with new episodes of its shows.
The emergence begins this week, with fresh episodes of current programs. It'll wait until Oct. 12 to roll out its one and only new show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which will be paired with Jane the Virgin. More about those next week.
Being so small, The CW (a corporate cousin of CBS and Showtime) seems perfectly satisfied behaving almost like a niche cable network with a target audience of younger viewers. That would explain the lineup heavy on comic book characters, zombies, vampires and monster hunters.
The CW won't produce any ratings champions. It does, however, serve a specific audience that is passionate about their favorites.
Our cover photo this week highlights The Flash, and that fun show is as good a place as any to begin an overview of the new season on The CW.
• The Flash, 7 p.m. Tuesday. The basics: After being struck by lightning, geeky CSI investigator Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) wakes up from a nine-month coma to discover he has the power of super speed.
But Barry isn't the only "metahuman" with superpowers now. And some are evil.
Teaming up with S.T.A.R. Labs (Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Labs), Barry takes on the persona of The Flash to protect Central City.
Where we left off: A giant wormhole was about to eat the world. Can The Flash save humanity? Will he get his dad out of prison?
• iZombie, 8 p.m. Tuesday. Olivia "Liv" Moore (Rose McIver) was an over-achieving medical resident until she attended a party that turned into a zombie feeding frenzy. Now she's a zombie, but trying to blend in by going "Goth" and working in a morgue, where she has all the brains she can munch on.
The twist: For every brain she eats, she retains a portion of that person's memories. Liv finds purpose by posing as a psychic to help solve their murders.
• Arrow, 7 p.m. Wednesday. Former billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) fights a one-man war on crime in Starling City with the help of his trusted chauffeur/bodyguard John Diggle (David Ramsey) and the computer-hacking skills of Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards).
Where we left off: The hint is that "a new era of heroes is coming to Star City." Hmm. Note the town gets a shortened name.
• Supernatural, 8 p.m. Wednesday. It's hard to believe, but this will be Season 11 for the paranormal-busting Winchester brothers. Sam (Jared Padalecki, 33) and Dean (Jensen Ackles, 37) have walked the fine line between good and evil that long.
Where we left off: Witch Rowena (Ruth Connell) magically removed the Mark (of Cain) and unknowingly released The Darkness, which took over the brothers. Yikes! Evidently we're all doomed.
• The Vampire Diaries, 7 p.m. Thursday. It's Season 7 for the series that began by following the adventures of Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev). She fell in love with vampire Stefan (Paul Wesley) only to have things complicated by the arrival of Stefan's nastier older brother, Damon (Ian Somerhalder). Both then became obsessed with Elena.
Where we left off: Dobrev has left the series, so this season should be interesting.
• The Originals, 8 p.m. Thursday. The Originals is a complicated Gothic soap opera with a bite -- a spin-off from The Vampire Diaries.
The series revolves around Klaus Mikaelson and the "Original Family" of vampires in New Orleans, a town they helped build. When Klaus returns to town, stuff happens. It's complicated.
Ah, for the simpler days of Dark Shadows and Barnabas Collins.
Where we left off: Rebekah turned into a human again and left town. Season 3 begins six months later and will be "flashback heavy" as the Mikaelson siblings face the Trinity, their first offspring.
• Reign, 7 p.m. Friday. Season 3 of the quasi-historical costume drama still has no vampires, werewolves or monsters. Instead, it continues to follow (with a lot of imagination) the early years of Mary, Queen of Scots (Adelaide Kane) as a royal fiancee and young wife in a world "of love, lust and arranged marriages."
Where we left off: Mary and Francis joined forces to take down Conde and save France. This season, the action will head to England where we'll get to know Queen Elizabeth.
Style on 10/04/2015