Sergei Bachlakov/The CW OMG. Jared and Jensen are here. Tee hee hee.
And yes, I'm officially releasing my inner teen today, 'cause it's CW day, and it's perfectly acceptable to, like, be all goo-goo-ga-ga over the cutie-patootie stars and shows. (Even though we know adults love 'em, too.)
For the time being, though, it's all about the CW prez Dawn Ostroff, who is now addressing us reporters, and I'm making it my mission to find out whether Ostroff plans on bringing back Veronica Mars, One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls and Supernatural for another season.
First show she mentions? One Tree Hill, which has "recently hit some of its highest ratings in two years." Second show? "Last night, Smallville had its best numbers of the season with the 'Justice' episode." Obviously Ostroff's feeling the OTH and Smallville love.
Oooh! News time! Ostroff says, "I would like to announce today that Veronica Mars, Supernatural, One Tree Hill and Everybody Hates Chris will be...streamed for free immediately after the episodes air."
Thought that was gonna be pickup news. Hmph.
And now the money Q: Will Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars come back for another season?
Ostroff replies, "Gilmore Girls is a show we're really proud of. It consistently comes in second in 18-34. And we are definitely talking to them. As for Veronica Mars—it's funny because I feel like I've answered that question every year. It's still on the air and I'm still here. Veronica is a show we are proud of, and I have to say that all your support for that show has meant the world, and hopefully we'll have good things to talk about. Veronica Mars has actually had its best numbers ever, and Tuesday night has definitely been a good move for the show."
Veronica Mars will go on hiatus and then come back with five stand-alone episodes.
When asked why VM is moving away from serialized stories, and whether that means the show is in trouble, Ostroff replies, "Absolutely not. We've been really happy with the show and the numbers are better than they ever were. [The reason for the format change] is to experiment and to make it close-ended, so people aren't afraid to come in...that's really what's motivating it."
Eek! A reporter just asked about Gilmore Girls' "creative downtick" (gaaah!) this season, and how Ostroff feels about it. Her answer: "Gilmore Girls has been on the air seven years, and any show that's on for that period of time creatively has its ups and downs. Clearly with the loss of Amy, we wanted to be able to maintain the quality of the show. David Rosenthal was one of Amy's top lieutenants, and was actually handpicked by Amy. The first half of the season was rocky as David found his way, and he was painted into a corner by the end of last season, but I think the second half of the season is much stronger and the audience will be pleasantly surprised."
O.C. fans—hope you're sitting down. The CW is not picking up The O.C. "Obviously, it came up," Ostroff says of the possibility of the move, "but we really didn't think it made sense for us for several reasons. And we're very excited about Josh [Schwartz]'s new show."
Ostroff, on whether 7th Heaven will end this year: "One thing I've learned is to never say never. Brenda has done a great job with the show. The cast has been reinvigorated, so I never say never."
Why only one pickup (Everybody Hates Chris) today? "We are not announcing all of our pickups today, because we need to do that at the upfronts. But Everybody Hates Chris is a show we feel really strongly about, and we want to send that message. So, we picked it up today."
Ostroff definitely sounds high on One Tree Hill, taking pride in the show's numbers, and the contest for the show to come to your hometown, which she calls "one of the best things I've heard about on any network."
A reporter did not even get out the full question, "Would you consider One Tree Hill a candidate for next ye—" before Ostroff firmly said, "Yes."
Ostroff, on Supernatural: "Supernatural is holding up really well. That is the toughest timeslot on television. Last night it had very, very strong numbers and creatively, the show is absolutely at its best."
Gotta go harass Dawn about picking up our other favorites. I'll be back later with an update from the Supernatural session—and no promises I won't be drooling.
2:35 Update: It's time for those Winchester boys we Supernatural fans love and adore—Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. They've taken the stage, along with the show's producers, Eric Kripke and Robert Singer, to field reporters' questions and heat this chilly room.
Scoop! Tricia Helfer—Battlestar Galactica's smokin'-hot Number Six—guest stars this season on Supernatural! (I wouldn't recommend staring directly at the screen if she's sharing it with Jared and Jensen 'cause your retinas might burn from the heat.) Helfer's episode airs Feb. 22, and she plays a woman named Molly, who is being chased by an evil-looking farmer on the highway. The farmer appeared on the freeway, and her husband swerved to avoid him, and now her husband is missing. Good stuff!
Kripke says the show will continue with stand-alone episodes, which are Supernatural's bread and butter, but every two to three episodes will be big mythology episodes, revealing something pretty major. His writing staff is "pretty much right on track" with what they planned to reveal at this point.
3:00: Jared's love interest in episode 17 has been cast, and Kripke says the two are having "crazy, hot sex." Me-ow! He says Jared paid them, so they had to cast someone beautiful. (She has a name, too, but I had no idea how to spell it. Anyone?)
[Important side note: The boys are wearing black suits with white, collared shirts. Looking even more insanely hot than usual—like the Doublemint commercial of my (naughty) dreams.]
Hmmm...veddy interesting. The character of Jo (Alona Tal) was originally supposed to be a love interest for Jensen, but producers felt she didn't come across as a sexy, smoldering love interest onscreen, and was more sisterly, so they changed the plan. Still, they do love her work, and Singer says she's coming back for a great episode very soon.
Producers also love Amber Benson (Buffy) and would love to have her back, but no plans as of yet.
That's it from Supernatural. I'll be back tomorrow with scoop from Fox! In the meantime, if you have any questions for the CW folks, please post them below. (And I'll bring you the CW party scoop very soon—promise.)