Nellie Andreeva

For the first time in its history, the CW’s fall schedule won’t include series reruns, with fresh episodes cwairing Monday through Friday. The schedule features two new series, Nikita and Hellcats, which are getting launching pads behind the network’s biggest hits: Nikita will air behind The Vampire Diaries on Thursday and Hellcats behind America’s Next Top Model on Wednesday. Other notable pairings next season include bubble series One Tree Hill and Life Unexpected, which for a while competed for one slot on the schedule before both getting last-minute reprieve. Now the two dramas will air together on Tuesday. And former long time night-mates on Thursday Smallville and Supernatural are back together, now on Friday, with CW officially announcing the upcoming 10th season of Smallville will be its last. The network labels its new Monday lineup as “the Left Coast/Right Coast pairing of 90210 and Gossip Girl”. Additionally, the network said it will launch new reality series Plain Jane in July and another new reality series, Shedding For The Wedding, in midseason.

MONDAY
8:00PM 90210 (New Night)
9:00PM GOSSIP GIRL

TUESDAY
8:00PM ONE TREE HILL (New Night)
9:00PM LIFE UNEXPECTED (New Night)

WEDNESDAY
8:00PM AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL
9:00PM HELLCATS (New Series)

THURSDAY
8:00PM THE VAMPIRE DIARIES
9:00PM NIKITA (New Series)

FRIDAY
8:00PM SMALLVILLE
9:00PM SUPERNATURAL (New Night)

NEW SERIES
HELLCATS is a coming-of-age story about Marti Perkins, a young, pre-law student at Lancer University inhellMemphis, Tennessee. Marti is cool, hip and alt, but her world flips upside down, literally and figuratively, when she loses her scholarship, and realizes the only way she can stay in school is by reigniting her dormant teen gymnastic skills to win a place on Lancer’s legendary cheerleading team, The Hellcats. Against her every instinct, Marti goes for it and makes the squad, and is thrust into a world of camaraderie, backstabbing and the intersection of sports, backroom academia and big money. Marti’s new roommate, Savannah Monroe, a petite, peppy Texan, is among the diverse cast of athletes, undergrads, family and friends, all set on the sprawling campus of a powerhouse college football program in the deep South. The series stars Aly Michalka as Marti Perkins, Ashley Tisdale as Savannah Monroe, Heather Hemmens as Alice Verdura, Robbie Jones as Lewis Flynn, Matt Barr as Dan Patch, with Sharon Leal as Vanessa Lodge and Gail O’Grady as Wanda Perkins. HELLCATS is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Tom Welling Productions, Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios with executive producers Kevin Murphy (“Desperate Housewives”), Tom Welling (“Smallville”) and Allan Arkush (“Heroes,” “Crossing Jordan”). The pilot was directed by Allan Arkush.

NIKITA When she was a deeply troubled teenager, Nikita was rescued from death row by a secret U.S. agencynikita known only as Division, who faked her execution and told her she was being given a second chance to start a new life and serve her country. What they didn’t tell her was that she was being trained as a spy and assassin. Ultimately, Nikita was betrayed and her dreams shattered by the only people she thought she could trust. Now, after three years in hiding, Nikita is seeking retribution and making it clear to her former bosses that she will stop at nothing to expose and destroy their covert operation. For the time being, however, Division continues to recruit and train other young people, erasing all evidence of their former lives and turning them into cold and efficient killers. One of these new recruits, Alex, is just beginning to understand what lies ahead for her and why the legendary Nikita made the desperate decision to run. The series stars Maggie Q as Nikita, Lyndsy Fonseca as Alex, Shane West as Michael, Aaron Stanford as Birkhoff, Ashton Holmes as Thom, Tiffany Hines as Jaden, with Melinda Clarke as Amanda and Xander Berkeley as Percy. NIKITA is from Warner Bros. Television in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision, with executive producers Craig Silverstein (“Bones,” “K-Ville”), Danny Cannon (“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “Chuck”), McG (“Supernatural,” “Chuck,” “The O.C.,” “Charlie’s Angels”), and Peter Johnson (“Supernatural,” “Chuck”). The pilot was directed by Danny Cannon.

PLAIN JANE (Summer Series) is a new summer reality series that transforms one woman from the inside out to reveal a brand new woman. Each of the eight episodes will feature a new “Jane” searching for the change of a lifetime. With the help of British fashion expert Louise Roe (“Fashion Police: The 2009 Grammy Awards”), each Plain Jane will receive a head-to-toe style transformation, including new wardrobe and confidence-building exercises. Once the transformation is complete, the formerly Plain Jane will surprise her unsuspecting crush with the new look and reveal her true feelings to him. A love connection is – or isn’t – made. Hosted by Louise Roe, PLAIN JANE is executive produced by Allison Grodner (“Big Brother”), Rich Meehan (“Big Brother”) and Amy Palmer (“You’re Cut Off”) for Fly on the Wall Entertainment. The series is distributed by Sony Pictures Television.

“SHEDDING FOR THE WEDDING” (working title, midseason series): They are two of the most stressful things in life – planning a wedding and losing weight.  Ten overweight engaged couples will live together and battle for the wedding of their dreams over a three-month period.  Every episode, the couples will face off in a big physical challenge, competing to win one element of their wedding – from the invitations, to the cake, to the rings.  Whatever they win will be theirs to keep.  Together, they will plan their weddings with the help of the nation’s top wedding planners, they will take a vow to eat right and exercise, and world-class trainers and nutritionists will completely overhaul their bodies.  At the end of each episode, the couples will step on the scale and be weighed together – the couple who lost the least amount of combined weight that week will be eliminated.  In the end, one couple will win their fantasy wedding – a once-in-a-lifetime event – that America will attend.  SHEDDING FOR THE WEDDING (working title) is from Raquel Productions Inc. with executive producers Dave Broome (“The Biggest Loser”) and Rick Hurvitz (“Pimp My Ride”).

Get the latest Industry news sent straight to your Wall.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.