CW adds 3 new shows, including DC Comics spin-off ‘Legends’

NEW YORK (AP) — The CW network, aiming to please its target young-adult audience, is adding a fourth DC Comics-based series to its schedule next season.

“DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” will join CW’s 2015-16 lineup at midseason, CW said Thursday. The network is bringing back “The Flash,” ”Arrow” and “iZombie” this fall. The network has found success with a run of fantasy-based series over the past couple of seasons.

The CW is adding one new show in the fall, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” to pair with its sophomore standout “Jane the Virgin.”

“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” originally developed as a half-hour cable comedy, will air as an hour-long series at 8 p.m. Eastern Mondays before “Jane the Virgin.” The new show stars Rachel Bloom (“Robot Chicken”) as a lawyer who tosses over her job to go in search of love.

The broadcast networks presented their upcoming schedules to advertisers in New York this week.

WHAT’S NEW

“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” was originally developed as a half-hour for Showtime and picked up by CW. Network President Mark Pedowitz said only “modest” language changes were required to make a cable series fit broadcast’s more family friendly — and federally regulated — parameters.

Besides “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” the network will introduce in midseason “Containment,” about an epidemic that causes havoc in Atlanta.

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WHAT’S GONE

There’s a single cancellation: “The Messengers” a one-season-and-done sci-fi drama.

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‘SCANDAL’ EFFECT

Friday is a low-viewership night overall, so why is CW moving “Reign” there next season from Thursday? “It was pretty well getting hammered by (ABC’s) ‘Scandal’ and we figure this is a way for it to get a new life,” Pedowitz said.

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NOT THE END OF ‘LINE’

Although “Whose Line is it Anyway?” has yet to be scheduled for next season, Pedowitz says the show isn’t over “in any way, shape or form,” and will air midseason into summer.

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STAYING POWER

“Supernatural” will start its 11th season this fall and CW sees no end in sight for the saga of two intrepid monster-hunting brothers. “As long as the ratings hold and the boys want to do it, we’re in,” said Pedowitz, referring to stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. “We have no intention of this being its last season.”

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CROSSOVER WATCH

With three DC Comics series on the air at the same point during the season — new “Legends,” ”Flash” and “Arrow” — there’s big potential for shared characters and story lines. Universes could blend, the network said, without making promises.

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