WB's "Supernatural" New Offerings

Despite buzz and renewed fan fervor for shows like Gilmore Girls, Everwood and the TRL crowd's fave, One Tree Hill, the WB's ratings are down almost 10 percent this season, and the network will likely end the 2004-05 season at the bottom of the network ratings race behind longtime nemesis UPN.

So it's no surprise that when the network unveiled its 2005-06 schedule on Tuesday, the name of the game was new shows--eight of them, to be exact--and some big time-slot shakeups.

WB It Boys Jensen Ackles (Dawson's Creek and Smallville) and Jared Padalecki (Gilmore Girls) are among the teen-friendly network's "new" stars. Meanwhile, teen Superman saga Smallville will face one of its toughest foes in the always competitive Thursday, 8 p.m. time slot, while two of the network's other stalwarts--dramas Everwood and One Tree Hill--also get new prime-time homes.

"The blend of A-list executive producers that have come to the network for the first time, along with our homegrown superstars, form the creative backbone of our new schedule," says David Janollari, the WB's top programming exec.

Among next season's most buzzed about new offerings are the drama Supernatural, produced by Charlie's Angels director McG and starring Ackles and Padalecki as brothers who travel around investigating unexplained phenomenon (a '67 Chevy Impala is their version of the Mystery Van), and Pepper Dennis, starring Rebecca Romijn as an ambitious Chicago TV reporter juggling work, romance and a quirky family. The Romijn series, which costars North Shore's Brooke Burns and Boy Meets World's Rider Strong, won't premiere until midseason.

Here's a rundown of the WB's other new shows:

Just Legal: Prolific producer Jerry Bruckheimer joins the WB with this drama about a teen prodigy attorney (Million Dollar Baby's Jay Baruchel) with a cantankerous mentor (Miami Vice's Don Johnson).
Related: Friends' Marta Kauffman is the executive producer of this dramedy about four sisters who live in New York City. Just Shoot Me's Laura San Giacomo and Spin City's Jennifer Esposito star.
Twins: Roseanne's Sara Gilbert and former daytime soap star Molly Stanton (good witch Charity on NBC's wacky Passions) play the titular sibs who don't really bond, but are thrown together when they inherit the family lingerie business. The series, from Will & Grace cocreators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, also stars Melanie Griffith as the twins' mom.
Bedford Diaries (midseason): Oz mastermind Tom Fontana created this drama about students at a liberal arts college in New York. Matthew Modine is the professor of a sexuality course, and another WB It Boy, Gilmore Girls' Milo Ventimiglia, is one of the students.
Misconceptions (midseason): Frasier's Jane Leeves stars as a woman who freaks out when her daughter meets the anonymous sperm donor who fathered her.
Modern Men (midseason): The L Word's Eric Lively stars in a comedy about three single pals who hire a life coach (Jake in Progress' Wendie Malick) to help them get dates. The show is the very first TV sitcom produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.

Two bubble shows that will live to see another season are the Sunday night witchy drama Charmed, which is back for an eighth season, an the Friday night Fran Drescher comedy Living with Fran, back for a second go-round.

And then there are the shows headed for the scrap heap: Jack & Bobby, the drama about a future President's childhood was one of the most hyped shows from last year's WB upfront; the Lori Laughlin soapy drama Summerland, which does return to burn off a few new episodes in June; and the oddball variety-ish series Steve Harvey's Big Time.

The following is a night-by-night look at the network's fall schedule:

MONDAY: 7th Heaven; Just Legal

TUESDAY: Gilmore Girls; Supernatural

WEDNESDAY: One Tree Hill; Related

THURSDAY: Smallville; Everwood

FRIDAY: What I Like About You; Twins; Reba; Living with Fran

SUNDAY: Charmed; Blue Collar TV