The CW Boss on Starting Up Sundays Again: We Wanted ‘Shows That Empowered Women’

Network’s new night of programming puts “Supergirl” and “Charmed” reboot back-to-back

Supergirl
The CW

CW Sundays are for the girls.

The network’s new Sunday night of original programming begins with the hit “Supergirl” and will be followed by the new “Charmed,” and the decision to put those two shows back-to-back had everything to do with empowering women, according to The CW president Mark Pedowitz.

“We wanted to have an established show on Sunday night,” Pedowitz told reporters during a conference call ahead of its 2018 Upfronts presentation to advertisers Thursday. “We wanted name value with ‘Charmed,’ on there. We felt that it was two shows that empowered women and were making a statement that we were not kidding, we were not going to phone it in on Sunday nights — That we were going to compete.”

“So we believed with ‘Supergirl’ and ‘Charmed,’ we will have those two assets that will do that,” he said.

Pedowitz added that this year, 30 of the network’s 37 series regulars are women and/or people of color, and all five new series have female writers and executive producers. “Jane the Virgin” creator Jennie Urman is behind the reboot of the early ’00s teen-witch drama.

When the reboot was initially picked up, some fans of the original series — and members of the original cast — were skeptical. But Pedowitz says there are still “many similarities” and urged fans to watch the series before giving up on “Charmed.”

“Hopefully, [critics] would give this new cast a chance,” he said. “There are many similarities, and hopefully they’ll give it a shot.”

“We are happy with who we’ve casted, think its a nice mix. Jennie Snyder Urman has reimagined it somewhat, and I can only say to fans: before you make a decision, watch the series.”

You can find The CW’s complete fall schedule here.

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