The CW fall 2017 schedule offers two new shows, the military mystery Valor and a reboot of Dynasty.
My favorite CW series, “iZombie” doesn’t return until the midseason along with veteran shows “The 100” and “The Originals,” as well as new comedy “Life Sentence” and new superhero drama “Black Lightning.”
The addition of “Black Lightning” gives The CW five superhero shows based on DC Comics characters. Read more about “Black Lightning” here.
“Valor” and “Dynasty” both are part of a two fall trends: military dramas and reboots. I’m not big on remakes, but “Gossip Girl” producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are part of the “Dynasty” creative team, so the new version might fly.
Check out the fall schedule as well as descriptions and trailers for the news shows below.
The CW fall 2017 schedule
All times Central
MONDAY
7 p.m. Supergirl
8 p.m. Valor (new series)
TUESDAY
7 p.m. The Flash
8 p.m. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
WEDNESDAY
7 p.m. Riverdale (new night)
8 p.m. Dynasty (new series)
THURSDAY
7 p.m. Supernatural
8 p.m. Arrow (new night)
FRIDAY
7 p.m. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (new time)
8 p.m. Jane the Virgin (new night)
New shows
Valor
9/8c Mondays this fall
An elite unit of U.S. Army helicopter pilots called the Shadow Raiders are sent on a top secret mission to Somalia. The mission goes terribly awry. Only two members of the team return safely: Warrant Officer Nora Madani (Christina Ochoa), one of the unit’s first female helicopter pilots, and her commanding officer, Captain Leland Gallo (Matt Barr). Their comrade, Jimmy Kam (W. Tre Davis), remains missing in action.
Back in the U.S., Madani and Gallo are the only ones who know the truth about what really went wrong in Somalia. Nora’s boyfriend, First Lieutenant Ian Porter (Charlie Barnett), suspects she’s not telling him the full story. Jess Kam (Corbin Reid), Jimmy’s wife and Nora’s friend, grows frustrated and furious at being kept in the dark.
Meanwhile, Thea (Melissa Roxburgh), the enigmatic CIA officer charged with investigating the failed mission, grows suspicious about what occurred.
With Nora still recovering from a gunshot wound suffered during the mission, Shadow Raiders commander Col. Robert Haskins (Nigel Thatch) grounds her from flying. But when the unit learns that ruthless terrorists captured Jimmy and he is still alive, Nora fights to join Gallo to rescue their friend.
As preparation and training intensify, Nora and Gallo grow closer. They soon find themselves torn between duty, honor and desire as they wonder who they can trust, and whether the secrets they’re hiding will help save Jimmy—or put them all in terrible danger.
CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television produce. Bill Haber, Anna Fricke, Kyle Jarrow and Michael Robin serve as executive producers.
Dynasty
9/8c Wednesdays this fall
Charismatic and cunning Fallon Carrington (Elizabeth Gillies) believes her father, Blake Carrington (Grant Show), wants to appoint her as the new COO of his global energy empire.
When he summons Fallon and her brother, Steven (James Mackay), to the family compound in Atlanta, Blake as other news to share: He introduces them to their stepmother-to-be, Cristal (Nathalie Kelley).
The stunning Cristal is almost as young as Fallon, as Fallon quickly points out. But Cristal isn’t just some flimsy gold-digger to be scared off. A driven, principled and savvy publicity maven at Carrington Atlantic, she truly loves Blake.
However, the wealth and privilege of the Carringtons’ world proves challenging to her as she clashes with the staff, including Blake’s butler Anders (Alan Dale). They and Fallon make it very clear: Cristal doesn’t belong here.
Family dynasties flow through blood, and Fallon would sooner draw blood than call Cristal “Mom.” Fallon asks Culhane (Robert Christopher Riley), the family’s chauffeur and Fallon’s secret lover, to help expose Cristal for the fraud Fallon thinks she is. But that backfires and Blake chooses Cristal over his own daughter.
Fallon then sidles up to Blake’s biggest rival, Jeff Colby (Sam Adegoke). She mixes business and pleasure to seek her revenge, but leaves a jealous Culhane to watch from the sidelines.
Another problem threatens Cristal’s happiness when her nephew, Sammy Jo (Rafael de la Fuente), arrives with a suitcase full of secrets from Cristal’s past. Now Cristal’s carefully concealed history could bring her future crashing down—and who knows who else she might take down with her.
CBS Television Studios produces in association with Fake Empire. Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, Sallie Patrick and Brad Silberling serve as executive producers. Esther and Richard Shapiro, creators of the original “Dynasty,” also executive produce.
Midseason
Black Lightning
Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) is a man wrestling with a secret. As the father of two daughters and principal of a charter high school that also serves as a safe haven for young people in a New Orleans neighborhood overrun by gang violence, he is a hero to his community.
Nine years ago, Pierce was a hero of a different sort. Gifted with the superhuman power to harness and control electricity, he used those powers to keep his hometown streets safe as the masked vigilante Black Lightning. However, after too many nights with his life on the line, and seeing the effects of the damage and loss that his alter ego was inflicting on his family, he left his Super Hero days behind and settled into being a principal and a dad.
Choosing to help his city without using his superpowers, he watched his daughters Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) grow into strong young women, even though his marriage to their mother, Lynn (Christine Adams), suffered.
Almost a decade later, Pierce’s crime-fighting days are long behind him—or so he thought. With crime and corruption spreading like wildfire, and those he cares about in the crosshairs of the menacing local gang The One Hundred, Black Lightning returns to save not only his family, but also the soul of his community.
Berlanti Productions and Akil Productions produce in association with Warner Bros. Television. Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter serve as executive producers. Salim Akil and Mara Brock Akil also serve as executive producers. “Black Lightning” is based on the characters Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden created at DC Comics.
Life Sentence
Stella (Lucy Hale) spent the last eight years living like she was dying—because she was. Just like the “manic pixie dream girl” heroines in her favorite sappy cancer movies, Stella traveled the world, faced her darkest fears and found true love on a whirlwind trip to Paris. But when Stella finds out that her cancer has been cured, she is suddenly forced to face the long-term consequences of the “live in the moment” decisions she made, including marrying a total stranger.
And if that’s not enough, she also finds out that her “perfect family” isn’t so perfect after all. Turns out everyone in her life hid their problems from her because she was dying.
Now that she’s well, all bets are off. Stella is shocked to learn that her parents, Peter (Dylan Walsh) and Ida (Gillian Vigman), have fallen out of love. Peter spent their retirement helping Stella make the most of her final days while Ida fell in love with her best friend and Stella’s godmother, Poppy.
Stella’s sister, Elizabeth (Brooke Lyons), gave up her own dreams to take care of Stella. She also started a family with her husband, Diego (Carlos PenaVega), just to give her parents something positive to focus on.
Then there’s Stella’s often overlooked brother, Aiden (Jayson Blair), who’s pushing 30 and still lives above the garage, sells Adderall to soccer moms and uses Stella’s cancer to guilt them into sleeping with him.
And lastly, she has to figure out what to do about her husband, Wes (Elliot Knight), a handsome Londoner whom she agreed to spend the rest of her life with thinking that would only be six to eight months, tops. Now that their forever got a whole lot longer, Wes begins to worry that he can’t continue to pretend to be her perfect husband for the rest of his life.
With a real future suddenly in front of her, Stella’s cinematic life snaps into reality, and instead of living like she’s dying, she will have to learn to live like she’s living, and help her family and friends do the same.
This multi-generational, coming-of-age story proves that we all end up living somewhere between our dreams and reality—and maybe that’s OK.
Doozer Productions produces in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios. Erin Cardillo, Richard Keith, Bill Lawrence, Jeff Ingold, Oliver Goldstick and Lee Toland Krieger serves as executive producers.