CW Shows

In fact, overall, One Tree Hill consistently sees more views than Gossip Girl on Monday nights. Smallville got shuffled to Firday nights (considered the television death slot) but is having one of its best seasons ever. Supernatural is equally dominating in what is rumored to be their final season. Meanwhile, Melrose Place dropped two main characters and is struggling to find a fanbase, 90210 is just hanging on and Gossip Girl has, well, lost the gossip. Currently the only CW show that can truly be said to be living up to its promotion is the Vampire Diaries. There are two primary reasons for that. 1) The cast of the Vampire Diaries are active in promoting the show and interacting with fans. 2) Between True Blood and Twilight, it was easy to see a success with a non-adult vampire show. Throw in fanbases for several cast members and the mystery is solved.

The Vampire Diaries Cast

Not so solvable are the rest of the shows. Why are some working and others failing? Now I can’t answer why Dawn Ostroff (CEO of CWTV) and the rest of the network aren’t giving stronger promotion to the successful shows. I can offer a few theories as to why certain shows do so well.

One Tree Hill’s resident villain, Dan Scott (Paul Johanssen).

1) Villains. Every good story needs a villain and a clear villain at that. Smallville and Supernatural have an easy job at that one thanks to their fantasy nature. But consider the difference between Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. One Tree Hill has always had a distinct villain in Dan Scott. Oh, there are other struggles and bad people but Dan has remained a villain. It gives fans someone to root against. As well, when other villains are introduced; Derek/Ian, Jack’s brother, Nanny Carrie, they’re seen as genuinely bad people. Time isn’t wasted on justifying their actions.
In comparison, can you find a villain on Gossip Girl? With Bart killed off (though he was never that bad) and Georgina MIA, the villain pool seems to have dried up. Otherwise, any other character who acts momentarily evil either repents or is justified.

Georgina (Michelle Trachtenberg) isn’t much of a villain.

One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl air on the same night. One Tree Hill has more viewers. We need a villain.

2) Cast. The cast is a tricky one. Its not so much about the names on the show. The Beautiful Life had Mischa Barton & Sara Paxton and it tanked within 3 episodes. Smallville started with no recognizable names and is in its 9th season. Melrose Place is struggling yet they too started with several recognizable names. The key isn’t in the name of the cast member but in the fanbase he/she has or can create.

Shenae Grimes at a fashion launch.

Let’s take Shenae Grimes from 90210 for example. Google her name and 3 fansites show up. One is updated on a daily basis. If you are looking for news on her though, you can find a number of appearances at parties, clubs, and fashion launches.

Katerina Graham

In comparison, Katerina Graham (Bonnie from the Vampire Diaries) has only one fansite that appears on the first page of a search. 6 of the other results are her personal sites. She still runs her own myspace, facebook and twitter, just opened a personal website and is one of the favorite characters on the show. The difference I see is that while Shenae is happily showing up at parties and events, Katerina is talking to her fans. She regularly answers questions, says hello or happy birthday, and posts updates to her twitter account. Take a look at the successful shows of the CW. You’ll find the best ones have the cast that cares more about their fans than their celebrity status.

3) Characters. Every show needs characters to believe in. To rally behind and to obsess over. I will give Gossip Girl some credit on this one. Chuck and Blair make for one of those great couples you want to live happily ever after. But is there anyone else on the show who does the same? Nope. Serena, Dan, Jenny; all are there at best and annoying normally. Even Blair and Chuck are at their strongest as a couple. We don’t obsess over them.

Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) and Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester).

Then take Smallville, a show tossed away to Friday nights. In couples alone, fans have their work cut out for them. There’s Lois & Clark, a couple that Tom Welling and Erica Durance make magical, the strong fanbase love remaining for the original Lana & Clark pairing, and you’ll even find major support for a Chloe & Oliver couple (something that has yet to happen on the show itself, although spoilers say its coming). But individual characters are embraced as well. Erica can easily be argued as the best Lois Lane on screen but its Allison Mack’s portrayal of Chloe that is most impressive. Ask most Smallville fans and they will name Chloe as their favorite character. Chloe Sullivan is smart, spunky, gorgeous, opinionated, and fiercely loyal. She also doesn’t exist in the Superman world. But the right character goes from a name on a page to one beloved by fans.

Fan Favorites: Chloe Sullivan, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Oliver Queen.

4) Story. Finally, we have the story. A story is a powerful concept. It’s taken the Winchester brothers through five seasons on Supernatural. A show that at its base is a 45 minute horror movie, has brought stories to last five seasons. More importantly, it’s a show that tells stories of family relationships, not romance.

The heart of the Supernatural story: Dean & Sam.

Or One Tree Hill. Some of the stories are out there (Nanny Carrie) and some are deep, raw, and real (Sam’s shuffling through foster care or Nathan & Haley struggling in a young marriage). OTH seems to say what if this one thing happened, how would characters react? The show doesn’t say what if this happened, then this, then this! It takes one crazy moment, say a nanny who thinks Nathan loves her, and then explores how the characters would react. And in these stories, fans have fallen in love with the show, helping One Tree Hill to survive time slot changes, jumping years ahead in the story, and losing two main characters.

One Tree Hill finds the heartwarming stories.

In contrast, Melrose Place & 90210 can’t seem to sell a storyline without bringing back cast members from the original show. 90210 had to bring back Jennie Garth into a starring role while Melrose Place enlisted the help of Heather Locklear. These are supposed to be shows primarily on teens and 20-somethings. We should be interested in their stories. Viewers aren’t though, so its time to recycle apparently.

90210 returns Jennie Garth.

The stories a show tells are key to its success but its important to remember that story and characters tie strongly together. Every show has the romantic couple story, whether or not it’s a couple we believe in depends on the characters. The two belong together.

So what’s the point? That the only CW shows that work are the ones that have been around for years? Hardly. The Vampire Diaries blows that theory out of the water as its ratings are beating every other show on the network.

Vampire Diaries Cast

The key is in the concepts mentioned before. Viewers don’t love a show (and keep loving it) for the fashion, big names, or celebrity drama off camera. We want solid characters whose struggles we can identify with. Or a story that makes us want to watch the next episode so much, we’ll cancel other plans. We want a cast who cares about the fans and shows it (as in twitter, not promoting a new purse at a party) on a regular basis. Finally, we want the CW to take notice of what works and give us more quality shows. When the CW can do that, every show will be a hit.