The CW prefers them young, hot and serious

NEW YORK — Last season was do-or-die for the CW -- and it did not die. The two scripted shows the young network needed the most, the freshman "90210" and the sophomore "Gossip Girl," both succeeded well enough to show that the CW can reach its target audience of 18- to 34-year-old women as well as create a brand. And veteran series "One Tree Hill," "Supernatural" and "America's Next Top Model" continued to perform well.

Next season, the network, which canceled its only comedies, "The Game" and "Everybody Hates Chris," will air only dramas and reality shows starring young, attractive people in alluring settings. The network announced three new dramas for fall and one for midseason, and will order new reality series for midseason, CW President Dawn Ostroff said during a news conference after her presentation to advertisers at Madison Square Garden.

"Honestly, I think we've had a lot of disappointments in comedy," Ostroff said. "It's not to say that we couldn't find the right comedy. But we did several shows, like 'Chris' and 'Aliens in America,' which we were really proud of. We thought they were different. They were about something. The writing was wonderful, and we just couldn't make a go of it. So we decided to stick with what's working for us now and then at maybe some point later on, we will branch out."

Of the new series, the most highly anticipated is the remake of "Melrose Place," the Fox hit and spinoff of the original "Beverly Hills, 90210." Fans of the Heather Locklear-starring series will be pleased about the return of Laura Leighton, as the resurrected Sydney -- does anyone really die on TV anymore? -- and Thomas Calabro as Michael Mancini. From the clip shown at Madison Square Garden, there is a love triangle of sorts involving Sydney, Michael and his son, and a death in the pool. "Melrose Place" will air on Tuesdays after "90210."

Also on the fall roster is "The Beautiful Life," set in the high-fashion modeling world and, yes, it's full of beautiful people. "The Vampire Diaries," is centered on two vampire brothers vying for the same woman and, again, the cast is very good-looking. But, despite the attractive nature of the casts, and the seemingly glamorous worlds that surround most of them, which is in keeping with "Gossip Girl" and "90210," Ostroff said each series was distinct tonally. "The Vampire Diaries" is set in a small town, and the models in "The Beautiful Life" hail from Middle America and are struggling to make it in the New York rat race, she said.