 This is the SF Productions Podcast Network. We're proud to present on the WB another bad show that no one will say. From the Pop Culture Bunker, I'm Mindy. And I'm Mark. You can check out our audio podcast, How I Got My Wife to Read Comics on iTunes, or on our website SFPodcastNetwork.com. We've mentioned in passing three television networks, with the last being a merger of the first two, UPN, the WB, and the CW. Let's talk about how they came to be and what happened after. Paramount had attempted multiple times to create their own network, going back to early TV. There was even a regional Paramount network in the late 40s, plus they had a stake in Dumont. Now, you can check out episodes 185, the history of Paramount Pictures, and episode 99, a rundown of attempts to create a fourth TV network for more info. Paramount also planned in the mid-70s to create a fourth TV network, using a new Star Trek series called Phase 2, with most of the original TOS cast. It was actually in pre-production when Star Wars hit, and TV sci-fi plans were upgraded to movies. It would end up as part of Operation Primetime, a series of TV movies sold as a set to independent stations. Moving up to 1994, Viacom purchases Paramount, winding up with a handful of TV stations. A joint agreement was put in place with ChrisCraft Industries to further booster a potential fledgling network. Now, if ChrisCraft sounds like a boat company, you're right. The company had been bought and sold a few times, winding up as a TV concert. After a few more station acquisitions, Paramount Viacom announced the United Paramount Network, premiered in January 1995. Just as in the 70s, the flagship series came from Star Trek, in this case, Voyager. Paramount had a huge amount of success selling Star Trek in first-run syndication, PNG and DS9, so going back to that well-made sense. The other inaugural series were Platypus Man, Pigsty, Legend, Marker, and The Watcher. They never made it past their first seasons. Meanwhile, over at Warner Brothers... By 1993, it was clear that the Fox network was successful enough that there was more room for a TV network. WB was already running the Primetime Entertainment Network, along with partner ChrisCraft Industries. However, this was more of an organized syndication effort than an actual network. ChrisCraft would jump ship over to UPN. The WB spent the next two years collecting affiliates for a new operation, partnering with Tribune and their affiliates. This eventually included Chicago's WGN, which became their flagship station. The new network, called The WB, premiered on January 11, 1995, about two weeks prior to UPN. Their mascot was Michigan J. Frog, the classic Looney Tunes character. Hello, my baby, hello, my honey, hello, my ragtime girl. The WB had a lot more initial success than UPN, including inaugural shows The Wayne Brothers, The Parenthood, Unhappily Ever After, and Muscle, the only flop. Sister Sister was snapped up from ABC a few months later. During this first year, however, it became clear that UPN and the WB could not coexist long-term. There simply wasn't enough of an audience to sustain six national networks. Ironic considering how many streaming options we have today. Both networks lost money. Discussions were held within a few months after their debut about a possible merger, but nothing came of it. Both networks started small in terms of their schedule, just as the Fox Network had, building up one night at a time as they had viable shows. Most of them are questionable in terms of being viable. The only shows that made it past one season between 1995 and 2000 on UPN, Deadly Games, The Sentinel, Malcolm and Eddie, Seven Days, and Dilbert. The WB fared a bit better during those years. Nick Fresno, licensed teacher, The Steve Harvey Show, 7th Heaven, The Jamie Foxx Show, Kelly Kelly, Dawson's Creek, Felicity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Charm. There were also rejects from other networks that got a new home and lasted more than one additional season. You had on UPN, Moisha, there was a CBS rejected pilot, Clueless from ABC, and on the WB, you had For Your Love from NBC. A major shake-up occurred at the end of the 90s. Biacom merged with CBS, which resulted in Biacom exercising a contractual clause that forced ChrisKraft to sell their portion of UPN. This also resulted in major affiliates leaving the network since they were part of ChrisKraft. A year later, UPN jumped into sports, specifically WWF SmackDown. They also continued some successes in urban sitcoms, The Huglies from ABC, Girl Friends, One on One, Half and Half, Eve, and all of us. In 2002, UPN went into a bidding war with two of WB's hits, Buffy and Roswell, pulling them both over. They also went back to the trek well for Enterprise. It wasn't merely the hit, the other trek series were. UPN jumped into the reality show wave with Chains of Love, America's Next Top Model, and Iron Chef America. UPN's last hit was Veronica Mars in 2005. Meanwhile, the WB leaned into quirky dramas and soaps with shows like Angel spun off from Buffy, Popular, Gilmore Girls, Everwood, One Tree Hill, and Supernatural. In what would later become their bread and butter, Smallville kicked off a series of shows set in the DC Comics universe. There were also a few comedies, Mickey, Reba, Grounded for Life, Living with Fran. However, both networks were losing money, two billion in losses by 2005, and it became imperative to form a merger. Successful shows from the two existing networks will be pulled over to the new entity, from the WB, 7th Heaven, Beauty and the Geek, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Reba, Smallville, and Supernatural. And from UPN, America's Next Top Model, Veronica Mars, Everybody Hates Chris, Girl Friends, All of Us, and WWE Smackdown. As many TV markets had both UPN and the WB affiliates, this merger turned a lot of stations back into independent status. Many of these became my network TV affiliates, part of an effort by Fox to create an all repeats network. The newly merged network, The CW for CBS and Warner Brothers, went on the air on September 16, 2006. The old networks had gone off the air two days earlier, with only the WB actually making anything of it on the air. Many of UPN's affiliates had already moved to my network TV by that time. The CW originally designed their setup to appeal to women 18 to 34, so there were a lot of soaps. Unfortunately, the network and the rest of the industry was badly heard due to a writer strike one year later. They leased a Sunday night schedule to a third party due to too much competition, which did not work out, and it took some time to get new programming in place. Wrestling was let go because they were aiming at women, and my network TV snapped it up, beating the CW in the ratings. A daily animation block, the remnants of the WB, were dropped. Despite a few new hits, 90210 and Melrose Place Reboots, The Boss of Girl, Reaper, The Vampire Diaries, the CW was mostly running on fumes and shows pre-merger. In 2011, a change in management and a move away from a female lead audience turned the tide. Arrow resumed a DC Comics line from Smallville and would eventually grow to cover much of the CW's schedule. The Flash, 2014, iZombie from DC's Vertigo Division, Supergirl 2016 from CBS, Legends of Tomorrow 2016, Black Lightning 2018, Batwoman 2019, Stargirl 2020, with Swamp Thing from the collapsing DC Universe streamer and Superman and Lois on the way. The rest of the CW's schedule involves supernatural soaps, Roswell, Rain, the originals, the Archiverse of Riverdale, Katie Keen and quirky soaps, Jane the Virgin, the Carrie Diaries, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, with a lot of reality shows and reruns of whose line is it anyway. With the re-merger of CBS and Viacom late last year, we'll see how this actually affects the CW going forward. Perhaps more hand-offs from CBS, more movies from Paramount. Who knows? Who knows? While you're waiting to find out, you can check out our audio podcast, how I got my wife to read comics on iTunes or on our website. I said podcastnetwork.com. From the Pop Hifter Bunker, I'm Mindy. And I'm Mark. Thanks for watching.