TCA 2011: CW chief Mark Pedowitz open to comedies on the network

Vampires, Upper East Siders and rogue CIA agents. Now witches and the return of Sarah Michelle Gellar. It can only be the CW.

Mark Pedowtiz, the newly minted president of the mini-network, appeared Thursday at the Television Critics Assn. media tour in Beverly Hills to discuss what’s in store for viewers: extended seasons for some of its shows, more reality series and ... maybe some comedy?

Four of the network’s series will have an extended season: “Gossip Girl” and “90210” will get an additional two episodes, bringing their total to 24; “Supernatural” and “Nikita” will get a one-episode boost, bringing their tally to 23. Not getting a supersized season, despite solid ratings, is “The Vampire Diaries” — but it’s due to the grueling post-production process on the series, Pedowitz insisted.

Fall TV: A video guide to what's new on television

All this is on top of the highly anticipated return of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” queen Gellar in the network’s new thriller “RInger,” inherited from CBS, which did not pick it up. And he said the show would not suffer “one bit” from the different budget of a smaller network.

And in addition to the Mario Lopez-hosted “H8er,” which pairs celebrities with their detractors, and the seemingly never-ending cycles of “America’s Next Top Model,” other reality fare is on the horizon: One, “Remodeled,” will come midseason to give “America’s Next Top Model” a rest, and “Frame” a competition series in the vein of “Big Brother,” will lock two people in a house for eight weeks.

But with a new president -- Pedowitz , a former ABC exec, replaced Dawn Ostroff earlier this year -- comes new possibilities. Pedowitz said he was a fan of remakes, citing “90210” as success, and said plans for a new superhero to charm audiences in a “Smallville”-less world was still to come. Ostroff had first hinted at last year’s TCA press tour that the network was looking to other DC superheroes to fill the void.

Fall TV season: Watch a sneak preview of CW's 'Hart of Dixie' from 'Gossip Girl's' Josh Schwartz [Video]

The CW unveiled its fall schedule Thursday at its upfront presentation in New York, announcing a new fish-out-of-water medical drama, "Hart of Dixie," starring "The O.C." alum Rachel Bilson.

The series, which will be paired with "Gossip Girl" on Mondays, will make a full prime-time block from writer/producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. (The two created "Gossip Girl" and "The O.C.").

"Hart of Dixie" transplants Bilson's sophisticated, type-A Dr. Zoe Hart from Manhattan to the fictional small Gulf Coast town of Bluebell, Ala., to practice medicine and learn life lessons. Also starring: Jaime King as a sweet-on-the-outside Southern belle, Scott Porter and Cress Williams.

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The CW's fall lineup includes the return of Sarah Michelle Gellar

 'One Tree Hill' and 'Nikita' renewed, 'Hellcats' nixed

At the Upfronts, the CW appeals to young people (and that includes Snooki)

-- T.L. Stanley

'Gossip Girl' season finale recap: Tonight, Chuck Bass is a man

"Gossip Girl" is not known for its subtlety, and that goes double for season finales. Even by that measure, Upper East Siders, this year went out with a bang. I had my doubts and reservations, largely concerning Blair and Chuck, but I am surprised and pleased to report that I found the end of "Gossip Girl" Season 4 both exciting and satisfying.

First things first: Like all great season finales, this one involved the return of a beloved character -- Georgina Sparks! Now ensnared in a marriage of convenience to a wealthy lawyer, the young mother is craving mischief. "I haven't been this bored since I believed in Jesus," she deadpans at one point. So, when she shows up at the Constance/St. Jude's benefit, she's ready to get her hands dirty again. "Please let me in on whatever scheme everyone seems to be a part of," she begs Serena.

The scheme, it turns out, is more of a rescue mission. Vanessa and Serena have compared notes and realize that an off-her-meds Charlie is attempting to "Single White Female" Serena the way she did her college roommate. (Seriously, guys? Is this not exactly the plot of the movie Leighton Meester starred in just this year?) Once they arrive at the party, Charlie is in top form, making a drunken scene and knocking over a waiter. She exits and sends a worrisome text message: "I'm sorry. Goodbye."

Georgina, of course, is on to Charlie right away. Instead of trying to save Serena's supposedly crazy cousin, she calmly directs her to an open window where she might well jump to her death. And, because she likes Charlie's style, Georgina doesn't bother to let Serena in on her suspicions, allowing S to dramatically talk Charlie down from the ledge.

But that's not all! This debacle, along with the events of this season in general, seems to have given S some perspective. Friends, she apologizes to Nate and Dan for leading them on and confesses to Charlie that her decision-making skills leave something to be desired! Even if lazy writing results in Serena falling into old habits next season, it's a pretty gratifying moment.

Taylor Momsen, Jessica Szohr dropped as 'Gossip Girl' regulars

Spotted: Little Miss Jenny Humphrey and Vanessa Abrams getting the pink slip from the CW.

OK. Not really. But a source close to the show did confirm that Taylor Momsen (Jenny) and Jessica Szohr (Vanessa) will not be returning to “Gossip Girl” as series regulars.

The news is hardly shocking. It’s no secret that the eyeliner-addicted Momsen has made her rock band Pretty Reckless her main focus.  And Szohr hasn’t been involved in any major plotlines for a while -- plus, her character recently revealed that she was leaving town to study abroad (always the perfect solution for getting rid of a character).

But the rest of the GG gang -- Blake, Leighton, Chase, Ed and Penn -- remains intact. And Kaylee DeFer, who plays Serena’s cousin Charlie, has been promoted to series regular.

ShowTrackers, are you sad to see Jenny and Vanessa go or sad that it took so long for them to be dropped? Will you continue to tune in?

-- Yvonne Villarreal
Twitter.com/villarrealy

Photo: Actresses Leighton Meester, left, Jessica Szohr, Taylor Momsen and Blake Lively attend the 2009 CW Network UpFront ad sales conference at in New York. Credit: Bryan Bedder / Getty Images

'Gossip Girl' recap: They tried to make Chuck go to rehab

Her engagement to a prince of Monaco is certainly bringing out the retro, '50s girl in Blair Waldorf. Last week's Grace Kelly kicks off this week's episode as a wannabe Audrey Hepburn, joyriding through New York on the back of Louis' Vespa. But her idyllic, black-and-white dream sequence quickly becomes a nightmare when B looks in the rear-view and sees Chuck Bass staring back at her.

Unfortunately, this will not turn out to be Blair's only contact with Chuck. After last week, when he lunged at her, punched through a window and ended up cutting her, I had hoped she would stay away from him until he got some help -- because what's happening between them looks a whole lot like an abusive relationship.

Josh Safran, an executive producer of "Gossip Girl," doesn't see it this way. He told E! Online, "We feel it's very important to know that [Blair] is not scared -- if anything, she is scared for Chuck, and what he might do to himself -- but she is never afraid of what he might do to her. Leighton and I were very clear about that." Considering how terrified Blair looked at the end of their encounter, and how quickly she got out of there, the show is sending a mixed message at best. As Jezebel points out, the Chuck-Blair relationship may have crossed a line in conflating violence with romance. We have no right to expect "Gossip Girl" to be a paragon of morality, or even realism, but the idea that true love requires taking a shard of glass to the face is disturbing even in this alternate, soap-opera dimension.

Even so, because finale time is almost upon us, the writers couldn't even give Blair a single Chuck-free week. In fact, the incident only seems to increase her loyalty to him. Early on, she shows up at his new construction site in Brooklyn to warn Chuck that his evil uncle Jack is in town. Does he apologize? Nope. "Look who finally came to her senses," he greets Blair. She icily informs him that her engagement is still on, but the fact that she's there at all destroys any hope we may have held out that she's bound for wedded bliss.

'Gossip Girl' recap: Grace Kelly and Mr. Hyde

With only three episodes to go in Season 4, "Gossip Girl" is finally fun to watch again. The writers pulled out all the stops this week: Glass shatters! Blood spills! Engagement rings gleam! Friends and near-strangers double-cross each other! A disastrously drunk Chuck Bass revives his catchphrase, "I'm Chuck Bass"! Even Nate earns his screen time.

After a few days of fairy-tale romance, Blair and Louis' relationship suddenly gets real when his mother, the queen of Monaco, bursts in to break them up. To Blair's horror, she announces that Louis is about to get married. He won't officially be the heir to the throne until he's hitched, and mom is dead-set on her son wedding a fellow royal. To make matters worse, Serena -- who is still angry about Blair and Dan's kiss and is also apparently a diehard member of Team Chuck -- is the one who tipped off the royal parents to Louis' new girlfriend. It's a pretty evil, slightly out-of-character move, and S spends most of the episode looking conflicted over what she's done.

But Blair, being Blair, doesn't even consider giving up on Louis, even after the queen pulls out B's sizable Gossip Girl dossier. (Serena strikes again.) She makes a great speech: "I've had a past. But all my wrongdoings, all my secrets are right there in front of you. ... I can be the next Grace Kelly." And that's all it takes for Blair to earn a spot among the monarchy at the bizarre, "Millionaire Matchmaker"-style cocktail party the queen throws to help Louis meet -- or, more accurately, help her choose -- the woman he'll marry.

'Gossip Girl' recap: Paris mismatch

Bad news, Upper East Siders: "Gossip Girl" is now officially in a rut. Poor pacing ruined the episode that preceded nearly two months of hiatus, and last week's comeback story lines left me (and other viewers) both bored and disappointed. Now, the show has resorted to sheer randomness.

Chuck and Dan are both out of the running for Blair's heart, so the writers have brought back Louis. Oh, you don't remember Louis? Don't beat yourself up; he's fairly forgettable. Louis is the European royal Blair picked up in France before returning to New York for several months of Chuck-related, hurt-so-good torture. She didn't seem to have any qualms about leaving him then, but now that Louis has conveniently decided to dodge his handlers to rekindle their relationship in Manhattan, Blair is all his. Such is the power of an expensive pair of shoes (or an unconscious urge to rub your ex's face in your shiny, new relationship).

The only problem is that Louis' royal parents don't approve of Blair. "You are a commoner," he explains to the queen bee of the Upper East Side. So Blair and Louis must sneak around because his high-end babysitter, Lucien, has hired Dan to keep tabs on the couple. Meanwhile, poor, principled Lonely Boy thinks his surveillance gig is a stealth reporting assignment for Paris Match. If you're not confused yet, congratulations -- and hang on, because things are about to get really crazy.

Because sad, old Vanessa spilled the beans about Dan and Blair's kiss to Serena last week, S is poised to do some detective work. (Is anyone else confused about why, having broken up with Ben, she feels like she still has a claim on Dan?) She sends Charlie to follow him, and S's long-lost cousin spots Dan at Veselka, a downtown diner, just before Blair walks in. B is there to meet Louis in secret, since the East Village is so far from home it might as well be Siberia; Dan is there because of his bogus assignment. But that's not what Charlie sees.

'Gossip Girl' recap: The new Jenny Humphrey?

Oh, Upper East Siders. We don't ask much of "Gossip Girl," do we? (We are, after all, still faithfully watching it.) After a seven-week hiatus that ended with Dan and Blair finally, suspensefully locking lips, we wanted only two things: a few weeks of "Dair's" impossible love affair and some answers about the rest of the characters. But guess what? April 18 has come and gone, and we still don't have either of those things.

When we last left our characters, Serena and Ben had reluctantly parted ways. Although last night's episode takes place a mere week later, Ben might as well be dead, because we hear nothing about him.

Chuck, meanwhile, had learned that his father was responsible for Raina's mother's death. Since Blair was too busy testing out her feelings for Lonely Boy to console him, our antihero seemed on the brink of another debaucherous breakdown. Now, he's apparently sobered up, gotten over Raina and (sigh) ready to get Blair back again. Raina, for her part, only shows up in a few short scenes, to underline the awkwardness of her jump from Chuck's bed to Nate's and wonder aloud about her mother's whereabouts. Why hasn't Chuck clued her in about what Russell was hiding? Your guess is as good as mine, but I won't be surprised if we never know for sure.

We've also spent the past several weeks wondering what will happen to Lily, who turned herself in for getting Ben locked up. At the end of that episode, Billy Baldwin -- er, Serena and Eric's dad, William Van der Woodsen -- showed up and intimated to poor, naive Rufus that the family was going to come together and scheme Lily out of serving time. But we don't hear much about that this week. The phone does ring at the end of the episode, just when news of Lily's sentencing is due -- but she decides to ignore it.

Now that Dan and Blair are a romantic couple, who else will 'Gossip Girl' hook up?

Blair spent most of high school with Nate, then moved on to a tumultuous, multi-season romance with Chuck -- who has also gotten with Vanessa and (shudder) Jenny. Nate has swapped spit with Jenny and dated Vanessa (who gave it a shot with Dan) and Serena for a while. Then, of course, there's the love that dare speak its name far too often, between Dan and his stepsister, Serena.

It has become so difficult to keep the main "Gossip Girl" cast's hook-ups straight that, back in October, the CW had to provide us with a chart.

And now, the unthinkable has happened: Dan and Blair have finally kissed, despite his obsession with Serena and her lingering feelings for Chuck (although we won't find out whether they liked it or not until the show returns from hiatus April 18). With only one notable exception, every one of the show's original teenage characters has now shared a bed, or at least a lip lock, with every other cast member he or she might conceivably be attracted to. So, for the rest of "Gossip Girl's" run, the writers will either have to bring in quite a few new love interests or get very creative in throwing together the characters they already have.

With this in mind, I've imagined some of the unlikely flings that may be coming our way and how they might come to pass.

Serena and Chuck
It seems odd that the dream girl and the playboy have never spent a debauched night in each other's arms, doesn't it? Perhaps it's because his dad married her mom -- but it's not like that stopped Serena and Dan. Surely they will get together as a result of Dan and Blair's forbidden romance. Serena will walk in on her best friend and ex-boyfriend canoodling in the Brooklyn loft's living room during a routine visit to torture Dan into ruining his life just a little bit more on her behalf. She'll make a teary-eyed retreat to Manhattan, where Chuck will catch her sobbing, sexily, at a hotel bar. When Serena tells him what she's just seen, the jealous pair will make an awful, drunken mistake and never speak of their night together again.

'Gossip Girl' recap: The excruciatingly long kiss goodnight

For heaven's sake, "Gossip Girl." Here's what you did to us this week: You opened on an alarming scene in which Rufus and Lily meet an assistant D.A. so she can give a deposition. Then, as I figured out so much later I don't know whether to be embarrassed for the writers or myself, you jumped back in time and spent two-thirds of the episode plodding along at an elderly snail's pace. In the final 20 minutes, you threw three episodes' worth of twists and shockers and unresolved plot points at us. And you closed with a cliffhanger that is going to torture every single one of your loyal viewers for the seven long weeks until the next episode airs.

In the most tangled story line of the week, Chuck has won over Russell Thorpe's former backer, Bradley Kidd, and is a day away from finalizing the deal that will save Bass Industries. He's so sure of his success that he's ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange and planning to throw a blowout party that night. This, of course, means he's in for some big, horrible surprise.

Enter Ben's mom. Serena swings by the loft, only to find Mrs. Sharpe is visiting her son -- and although S tries to make nice with the lady whose son she unwittingly helped incarcerate, Mama just isn't having it. Over what is supposed to be a conciliatory, get-to-know-you lunch, Serena overhears Mrs. Sharpe tell Ben that he's put himself in an impossible situation: he wants to become the kind of man Serena Van der Woodsen could see herself with, but he can never be that person until he gets his criminal record expunged, which will mean turning in Lily and destroying S's family.

Since Ben has proven to be entirely too ethical (well, aside from that whole getting-Nate's-dad-pummeled business), his mother steps in to make the decision for him. She steals the forged affidavit Serena has been hiding and strikes a deal with Russell: If she hands over the proof of what Lily did to Ben, he'll make sure her son gets a fresh start in life. Russell will, in turn, use the evidence to blackmail Lily and Chuck into surrendering Bass Industries.

'Gossip Girl' recap: Eric's not-so-sweet 18

There were so many twists and turns in this week's "Gossip Girl" that the first few minutes alone could give you whiplash: Eric's having an 18th birthday party. (They grow up so fast!) No, he isn't; he's sick with the flu. But wait! Eric isn't sick at all -- he's lying because he has to make a drug pickup for Damien, who's blackmailing him.

Then there's Chuck and Lily. First, they're at each other's throats at a bar, in a scene worthy of the cheesiest daytime soap opera. He apologizes for selling her out to Russell Thorpe. She isn't having it. When Chuck gets angry and says he's sure that since Lily cheated on his dad, she's capable of betraying Rufus with Russell, she slaps him. Later, in the privacy of a car, we learn that their tiff was pure charade. Lily and Chuck are back in cahoots, and they've cooked up a wonderfully elaborate scheme to save Bass Industries.

Last week, Capt. Archibald passed Chuck a list of Russell's security codes and computer passwords. All he has to do is make sure Thorpe is out of his office for long enough to snoop around for some helpful information. And that's where Lily comes in. Over drinks to distract Russell, she agrees to let bygones be bygones and tells him her marriage is a sham. "Maybe husband number six will be the charm," he suggests.

'Gossip Girl' recap: St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Upper East Side-style

Call me cynical, but as long as we've been watching Chuck and Blair play nice in the aftermath of their latest breakup, I've been waiting for the other Louboutin to drop. They've been kind and respectful to each other, and last week, Blair even saved Chuck from losing Raina. Could she possibly, finally have let go of him? Is Blair moving on with her life, free of pettiness, jealousy and obsession? Well, of course not. Because "Gossip Girl" without pettiness, jealousy and obsession just wouldn't be "Gossip Girl."

And so, it turns out Blair never sincerely wanted Chuck and Raina's relationship to work. In fact, she only urged Raina to take him back because she didn't realize Chuck had genuinely fallen for her. Now, given the opportunity to shadow a Manhattan It Girl on Valentine's Day for W, Blair picks Raina. Because what's saner than choosing to spend the most romantic day of the year following your ex-boyfriend's new lady love?

Instead of sitting back and watching everyone involved get hurt, Serena puts the kibosh on Blair's plan, confidentially advising Raina that a Valentine's Day spent with Chuck and Blair would inevitably involve "weirdness." (That may well be the understatement of the century.) But when B discovers that S went behind her back, it's Serena who finds herself in her best friend's crosshairs.