Fresh off NBC’s drama renewals earlier today, the CW has announced a few pickups for its network.  The CW has officially greenlit the spinoff of The Vampire Diaries, titled The Originals, to series.  Last night’s episode of TVD acted as a backdoor pilot for The Originals, and the new show will premiere this fall seemingly under the tutelage of The Vampire Diaries executive producer Julie Plec.

Additionally, the network has renewed the drama series Hart of Dixie and Beauty and the Beast for a third and second season, respectively.  While not a ratings juggernaut, the CW has carved out a niche market with its original programming geared towards a younger audience.  The network has already renewed The Vampire Diaries, Arrow, and Supernatural for the fall.  Read the full press release after the jump.

With just three episodes left until the Season 1 finale of The CW drama series Arrow, things are about to get epic, and there are sure to be twists and turns and shocking reveals, as everything is coming to a head.  With life-threatening decisions, extreme danger, sacrifices and huge life questions, not everyone might make it out alive.

During this recent interview to discuss what’s to come, actor Stephen Amell (who plays billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, aka Arrow) talked about the journey he’s been on this season, why Oliver and Diggle (David Ramsey) have a bit of a falling out, that the Oliver-Laurel (Katie Cassidy)-Tommy (Colin Donnell) love triangle will be coming back into play, the inevitable showdown between Oliver Queen and Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), how close Thea (Willa Holland) and Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) might get to the vigilante, how big of a role The Undertaking will have, how much fun it was to do some pre-island flashbacks, the inevitability that individuals from the island will show up in the present day, the significant cliffhanger in the finale, just how much he actually knows about Season 2, and how excited he is for Comic-Con this year.  Check out what he had to say, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Fans of The CW network have reason to celebrate.  The CW announced today that they’ve given early pickups to their three most popular series: Arrow, The Vampire Diaries, and Supernatural.  The comic book adaptation Arrow was a bit of a gamble this year, but it appears to have paid off as the freshman series will be returning with new episodes next fall for a second season.  The smash hit The Vampire Diaries is the network’s highest rated series in the coveted 18-34 demo and will be returning next year for a fifth season, while the long-running Supernatural kicks off its ninth season (ninth!) next fall.

The latter series has enjoyed an uptick in ratings since being paired with Arrow on Wednesday nights, and it looks like the two will continue to be programming buddies next year.  The CW has thus far only cancelled one new series, Emily Owens, M.D., but will be kicking off a new show called Cult on February 19th.  Hit the jump for the full press release.

As part of The CW portion of the TCA Press Tour, network president Mark Pedowitz took some time to discuss current programming, upcoming series and shows in various development stages.  During the interview, he talked about how The Carrie Diaries came about, what attracted the network to Cult, the genesis for the possible The Vampire Diaries spin-off about the Originals (with Joseph Morgan and Phoebe Tonkin, and set in New Orleans), that The Selection and Wonderland are still in pilot contention, how the Wonder Woman project Amazon is progressing, their interest in other DC Comics characters, that they are no longer pursuing a Battle Royale series, and how they feel about current shows Supernatural, Beauty and the Beast, Nikita and Hart of Dixie.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Good news for a couple of popular series.  First up, hot off the network’s biggest ratings in years, The CW has picked up the superhero adaptation Arrow for a full season.  Much like Smallville, the show puts a television spin on the Green Arrow comic book character and has been met with a relatively enthusiastic audience response.  The series had an impressively strong hold from its premiere numbers of 4.02 million viewers and a 1.3 rating in the coveted 18-49 demo to the second episode, so the order was a no-brainer.  The CW’s pick-up is for a full 22-episode season.

Hit the jump for renewal news concerning the best show on TV, Homeland.

Last night’s series premiere for the new superhero show Arrow was a big win for The CW, giving the network its best ratings in three years.  As such, it sounds like Arrow will be sticking around for quite some time.  In case you weren’t one of the 4 million people that tuned in, The CW has now posted the full pilot online.  It sounds like the show was a hit with fans of the comics, and we already know that producers will be bringing in a number of familiar DC Comics characters throughout the show’s run, with Deadshot and China White already poised to appear very, very soon.

Hit the jump to check out the pilot, and be sure to check out our interviews with stars Stephen Amell (Oliver Queen) and Katie Cassidy (Laurel Lance) as well as producers Andrew Kriesberg and Marc Guggenheim.  Arrow airs on Wednesday nights on The CW.

The CW’s highly anticipated new drama series Arrow tells the story of billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who has returned home to Starling City after being missing and presumed dead for five years, following a violent shipwreck.  His devoted mother Moira (Susanna Thompson), much-beloved sister Thea (Willa Holland) and best friend Tommy (Colin Donnell) welcome him home, while his former girlfriend, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), is not so happy.  Now, along with reconnecting to those closest to him, Oliver has secretly created the persona of the vigilante Arrow, to right wrongs and restore the city to its former glory.

During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, actress Katie Cassidy talked about what she’s most excited about with the show, how she had pictured Stephen Amell as Arrow before he was cast (even though she had never seen him), her hopes that her character will take the Black Canary path, how she sees the relationship between Laurel Lance and Oliver Queen, and whether or not she thinks her character can ever forgive him.  Check out what she had to say after the jump.

The CW’s highly anticipated new drama series Arrow tells the story of billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who has returned home to Starling City after being missing and presumed dead for five years, following a violent shipwreck.  His devoted mother Moira (Susanna Thompson), much-beloved sister Thea (Willa Holland) and best friend Tommy (Colin Donnell) welcome him home, while his former girlfriend, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy), is not so happy.  Now, along with reconnecting to those closest to him, Oliver has secretly created the persona of the vigilante Arrow, to right wrongs and restore the city to its former glory.

During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, show star Stephen Amell talked about how he won the role, the challenge of taking on such an iconic character, what it’s been like to already get such positive feedback from fans, how quickly the chemistry happened with the cast, how the Queen family dynamic will evolve, how quickly fans will get to see some of the other DC characters making appearances, and the level of physical training he has to do for the show.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Though Smallville has come to an end, The CW is taking another shot at a superhero series this fall with Arrow.  For those unfamiliar, the show is an adaptation of the Green Arrow comics character with Stephen Amell starring as Oliver Queen, an eccentric billionaire who was recently discovered alive on a deserted island after having been presumed dead for five years.  We’ll likely see a number of familiar characters pop up in the series from time to time (China White appears in episode 2), but today we have our first look at Michael Rowe as the DC Comics assassin Deadshot.

The character has a long history in the comics, so it’ll be interesting to see how the CW puts their own spin on his story.  Hit the jump to check out the images, and look for Deadshot to appear in the third episode of the season. .  Arrow premieres on the CW Wednesday, October 10th at 8 ET/PT.

Though a TV iteration of Wonder Woman failed to make it to series just last year, it looks like the character might be returning to the airwaves sooner rather than later.  David E. Kelley filmed a Wonder Woman pilot for NBC early last year, but the network decided to pass on the project after getting a look at the full episode.  Now it appears that the character could be resurrected on a more superhero-friendly network: The CW.

A Green Arrow TV series called Arrow debuts on The CW this fall and the network was home to the Superman origin series Smallville, and now it looks like they’re eyeing a similarly origin-centered approach to the Wonder Woman character.  Hit the jump for more.

The CW has released some posters for three of its new series that are debuting on the network this fall.  Briefly:

• Arrow – The television series iteration of the DC Comics character stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, an eccentric billionaire who was recently discovered alive on a deserted island after having been presumed dead for five years.  Queen returns to Starling City and begins moonlighting as a cimr fighter.  Arrow premieres on Wednesday, October 10th.
• Beauty and the Beast – This update of the classic story pits Kristin Kreuk’s no-nonsense homicide detective and Jay Ryan’s war-wounded doctor as the titular romantic duo.  Beauty and the Beast premieres on Thursday, October 11th.
• Emily Owens, M.D. – Mamie Gummer stars as a first-year surgical intern who is determined to put her “geeky awkward school years” behind her.  Emily Owens, M.D. premieres on Tuesday, October 16th.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.

On the new drama series Beauty and the Beast, premiering on The CW on October 11^th, Catherine Chandler (Smallville’s Kristin Kreuk) is a smart, no-nonsense homicide detective haunted by the murder of her mother, which she witnessed as a teenager.  She would have been killed as well, if a mysterious beast hadn’t been there to save her.  Years later, a case leads her right to Vincent Keller (Jay Ryan) and possibly some of the answers that she has been waiting for.

While at The CW portion of the TCA Press Tour, actress Kristin Kreuk talked about the concept of everyone having a dark side, the challenges of playing a cop, getting to do fight scenes, what she loved about the original Linda Hamilton/Ron Perlman series, how she would love for Linda Hamilton to do a guest appearance on the show, working with Jay Ryan and developing their chemistry, the possibility of other love interests, what she’s currently watching on TV, and what it’s like to be a part of this generation’s Superman, with her work on Smallville.  Check out what she had to say after the jump.

As part of The CW portion of the TCA Press Tour, network president Mark Pedowitz took some time to talk about their new fall (including Arrow and Beauty and the Beast) and mid-season line-ups (including The Carrie Diaries and Cult).  During the interview, he spoke about what went into the decision to cancel Ringer, the possibility of The Selection still getting ordered to series, the rumors that they’re planning to do something with Battle Royale, how Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along ended up airing on the network, and what fans can expect from the upcoming seasons of Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, Nikita and Hart of Dixie.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

The popular internet hit Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, created by Joss Whedon in 2008, has been available online and through streaming since its inception, but to continue preaching its gospel to the masses, The CW will be broadcasting it in full October 9th starting at 9PM.  The three-part musical stars Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) as the title character, Nathan Fillion (Castle) as his nemesis Captain Hammer, and Felicia Day (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as their shared love interest.

Though Whedon had hoped to shop his project around to a bigger venue at the time in order to pay the cast and crew (who worked on it for free), subsequent DVD sales have reportedly paid those bills.  Still, the popularity of Dr. Horrible continues both in book form (with essays from the main actors, the shooting script, sheet music, etc) as well as in college and cult theaters, so while this broadcast may feel behind the times, it shouldn’t.  Dr. Horrible is certainly a classic.  For details on the CW broadcast, hit the jump.

Though The CW’s Hunger Games-esque pilot The Selection didn’t move forward this year (they put the show back into development), the network is now eyeing a different series that centers on kids murdering kids.  Specifically, The CW is apparently mulling over adapting the 2000 Japanese hit Battle Royale for the small screen.  When Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games book trilogy hit shelves, it drew quite a few comparisons to Battle Royale given that both properties revolve around teenagers living in an authoritarian state, fighting for survival in a government-sanctioned “murder everyone” competition.

The similarities really stop there, as The Hunger Games and Battle Royale have strikingly different tones and characters.  That said, Hunger Games is—to borrow a phrase from Mugatu—“so hot right now,” so a similarly plotted television series looks pretty attractive from a financial standpoint.  Hit the jump for more.