The CW Announces Fall Schedule: The Originals Moves to Thursday, Reign to Friday, Comedy on Monday

The CW is reuniting The Vampire Diaries and spin-off The Originals on Thursday nights.

That’s the biggest change coming to the network this fall, which otherwise followed the lead of its competitors in sticking mostly with stability next season. Only one new show will premiere this fall (with others on the bench for midseason), while just two shows will shift timeslots.

The Originals, which currently airs Mondays at 8/7c, will move to Thursdays at 9/8c behind Vampire. That opens up a slot on Monday to pair a more compatible show with Jane the Virgin: The new series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Like Jane, The CW considers Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to be an hour-long comedy. It stars Rachel Bloom as a Manhattan lawyer who gives up everything and moves to West Covina, Calif., in search of love.

With The Originals moving to Thursday, that bumps Reign to Fridays at 8/7c.

The schedule also gives The CW several shows on the bench ready to air in midseason, when its regular scripted shows go on hiatus. That includes The Flash/Arrow spinoff DC’s Legends of Tomorrow; the virus thriller Containment (formerly known as Cordon) from executive producer Julie Plec; and the return of The 100 and Beauty and the Beast.

The CW says it will launch its fall season in October; premiere dates to come. Midseason shows like DC’s Legends of Tomorrow will premiere in January or February.

As for the future of The Vampire Diaries without star Nina Dobrev, Pedowitz said the focus will shift to brothers Stefan and Damon (Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder). Pedowitz pointed out that another show on The CW about brothers, Supernatural, has done quite well for the network, heading into its 11th season. As long as stars Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles want to continue, so will Supernatural, he said. Also: The CW still hopes to revisit plans to launch another Supernatural spinoff.

“This has been a terrific season for The CW, and is a result of a strategy we set in motion a few years ago to broaden out and grow our audience,” says The CW president Mark Pedowitz.

The CW will officially announce its schedule this morning in a presentation to advertisers, featuring a performance by Of Monsters and Men.

MONDAY: 8/7c Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (NEW); 9/8c Jane the Virgin

TUESDAY: 8/7c The Flash; 9/8c iZombie

WEDNESDAY: 8/7c Arrow; 9/8c Supernatural

THURSDAY: 8/7c The Vampire Diaries; 9/8c The Originals

FRIDAY: 8/7c Reign; 9/8c America’s Next Top Model

MIDSEASON: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (NEW); Containment (NEW); The 100; Beauty and the Beast; Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Here’s your first look at publicity shots for the new shows:

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: “Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom) is a successful, driven, and possibly crazy young woman who impulsively gives up everything – her partnership at a prestigious law firm and her upscale apartment in Manhattan – in a desperate attempt to find love and happiness in that exotic hotbed of romance and adventure: suburban West Covina, Calif. (it’s only two hours from the beach! Four in traffic). Crazy Ex Girlfriend stars Bloom (Robot Chicken), who also serves as executive producer.”

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: “Having seen the future, one he will desperately try to prevent from happening, time-traveling rogue Rip Hunter is tasked with assembling a disparate group of both heroes and villains to confront an unstoppable threat — one in which not only is the planet at stake, but all of time itself. Can this ragtag team defeat an immortal threat unlike anything they have ever known? DC’s Legends of Tomorrow stars Victor Garber (The Flash, Alias); Brandon Routh (Arrow, Superman Returns); Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who); Caity Lotz (Arrow); Ciarra Renee (Pippin); Franz Drameh (Edge of Tomorrow); with Dominic Purcell (The Flash, Prison Break); and Wentworth Miller (The Flash, Prison Break). Based on the characters from DC Comics.”

Containment: “When a mysterious and deadly epidemic breaks out in Atlanta, a vast urban quarantine is quickly enforced, forcing those stuck on the inside to fight for their lives while local and federal officials desperately search for a cure. Trying to keep the peace on the streets is police officer Lex Carnahan, who has quickly risen through the ranks of the Atlanta PD. But Lex’s job becomes even harder when he learns that his longtime girlfriend, Jana, and his best friend and fellow officer Jake, are trapped within the cordoned area. Containment stars David Gyasi (Interstellar); Christina Moses (Starship: Apocalypse, Starship: Rising); Chris Wood (The Vampire Diaries); Kristen Gutoskie (Beaver Falls); Claudia Black (The Originals, Farscape); George Young (Casualty); Hanna Mangan Lawrence (Spartacus: War of the Damned); and Trevor St. John (One Life to Live). Based on the original Belgian series.”