When Do The Most Recent Cw Shows Get Uploaded To Stream

No network has a reputation quite like that of The CW. The broadcast aqueduct was formed in 2006 as a merger between amusement giants ViacomCBS and Warner Brothers, which previously had their own networks, The UPN and The WB. Together, they created The CW, which featured a new slate of original shows.

The CW started with clear goals: to appeal to an under-served viewer. Information technology aimed for a younger audience, originally tapping into the teenager demographic, specifically teenage girls. It became known effectually that time for Gossip Daughter, which was a potent departure from near other loftier school shows because it opted for a raunchier and more scandalous accept on the inner lives of teenagers. The network eventually expanded its demographic outreach with the premiere of Arrow, ushering in a steady stream of DC-based superhero shows. The near recent universe expansion has been Riverdale and its several spinoffs, a pulpy successor to the legacies of both Gossip Girl and Arrow.

But the CW has often become synonymous with cheesy, cheap, and perhaps even "impaired" shows. The network invests everything in the series that work, spawning five or more seasons of every show that gets consistent viewers—for better or worse. Riverdale is a prime example, often referred to online in less-than-positive terms every bit a "peak CW testify" due to its off-the-rails storytelling. A show simply airing on The CW has become grounds for dismissal for being of lesser quality than that of a cable behemothic or specialty developer. Information technology is the rare network that seems to have become associated with a very certain kind of show, despite having a roster that contains nearly every genre of TV imaginable.

This narrow view of The CW undercuts the wide diverseness of first-class series that have aired over its xv twelvemonth existence. Often shows aimed for younger people are dismissed for their plotting, only The CW is such a special network because of its ability to embrace pulp and melodrama to make entertaining TV. Every series feels like the bandage and coiffure are having fun making something enjoyable. It is a network full of everything from comfort watches to critically acclaimed hits, and deserves more credit than the reputation it has.

And then, if y'all're willing to give the infamous network a chance, beneath are the xv best CW shows, and where to stream them.

Annotation: Serial that aired at least one-half their run on The CW Network were eligible for this list, simply shows that were almost entirely on The CW were given priority.

xv. The Vampire Diaries

Created by: Julie Plec, Kevin Williamson
Stars: Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, Candice Rex, Matt Davis, Joseph Morgan

Picket on Netflix

If ever a TV show moved the needle on bourbon sales, I'm guessing it was The Vampire Diaries. Vampire brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore (Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder) have a seemingly endless supply of brown liquor and an impressive drove of glassware. And I'll admit, never earlier has a testify more than inspired me to drink forth with the leads. Only I digress… What began as an angst-filled teenage supernatural drama has actually adult into a compelling and oftentimes gruesome foray into the earth of vampires (and werewolves and witches and hybrids and siphons and …) aslope the men and women who beloved them. While CW shows are often painted as skewing towards melodramatic teen/YA fare, that's an increasingly unfair assertion and i that The Vampire Diaries did a swell task of dispelling, particularly once information technology grew out of its early "Dawson's Creek with vampires," phase. Flavor ane, while intermittently strong, was more or less one of those shows people refer to as a guilty pleasure. It was fun, only not really adept. Once creators Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson (creator of Dawson'south Creek, not a coincidence) really got a feel for where they wanted to take the show, all the same, it took off, and over the past seven years the bear witness has proven to be a reliably well-acted, creepy and ethically complicated hr of drama. The upcoming eighth season is the prove's last, and it'southward all the same potent. In the world of TV, at that place's zip worse than staying on also long. We're going to miss the gang just it'south fourth dimension and hopefully some of them will popular up in other spinoffs from time to time. (And yes, you should exist watching Legacies). —Mark Rabinowitz

14. Smallville

Created by: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Stars: Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk, Michael Rosenbaum, Eric Johnson, Sam Jones Three, Allison Mack

Sentry on Hulu

At present that pop culture is so saturated with superhero media, it's hard to imagine what a awareness Smallville was when information technology get-go aired in 2001. While the series started on the at present-defunct The WB network (moving to The CW for its concluding five seasons), its long-standing run and ultimate cease on The CW marks it as belonging to both networks. Starring Tom Welling every bit Clark Kent, who carried the show for a decade, Smallville worked both as an origin story for Superman and, eventually, a full fledged DC series nigh the beloved character. Smallville may have started every bit a villain-of-the-calendar week show, simply it eventually evolved into a much grander story connecting all aspects of the DC mythos. The exploration of Clark Kent as a character still makes for a fascinating journeying that even holds up two decades after. The show always held fast to its roots, and even when Smallville became bigger in scope it ever kept Kansas in its heart. While newer and older iterations of the Superman characters may supersede Smallville'southward depictions in the collective consciousness, information technology remains an impressive feat and one of the most inspired takes on creating a live-activeness superhero show. Even though the Arrowverse, shows like Gotham, and even aspects of the MCU, have all ready out to create grand origin stories and watch characters become legends, Smallville remains one of the outset great achievements in superhero media in the 21st century. —Leila Jordan

thirteen. Superman and Lois

Created by: Greg Berlanti, Todd Helberg
Stars: Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Hashemite kingdom of jordan Elsass, Alex Garfin, Erik Valdez, Inde Navarrette

Watch on HBO Max

Subsequently years of edifice up its superhero roster with more unknown DC heroes, the CW finally tackled the big man with Superman and Lois. Greg Berlanti and Co. approached the legendary character from a more grounded perspective, adopting the melodrama that has defined the structure of the Arrowverse, and calculation a more cinematic perspective. The serial follows an older Clark Kent (Tyler Hoechlin) and his wife Lois Lane (Elizabeth Tulloch) as they struggle to raise their teenage sons while dealing with otherworldly threats. The series immediately stands apart from the CW shows that came before it, filled with the optimism of sometime school comics and the charisma of a cast perfectly fit for their characters. While many filmmakers have been lacking inspiration for what to practise with the character of Superman, Superman and Lois energizes him by centering the story on his family and understanding him at his cadre. The end result is one of the most interesting CW initiatives to date, and a new version of these love characters to live on. —Leila Jordan

12. Reaper

Created by: Michaele Fazekas, Tara Butters
Stars: Bret Harrison, Tyler Labine, Missy Peregrym, Ray Wise, Rick Gonzalez

Spotter Complimentary on ABC

Reaper follows the misadventures of Sam (Bret Harrison), a twentysomething white male child slacker who has to come to terms with the fact that—cheers to his parents selling his unborn soul to the Devil (Ray Wise)—he's now saddled with existence Hell's least likely bounty hunter. A little more than a twelvemonth later the pilot script was commissioned, the cult-favorite supernatural one-act made its debut. And a month after that, the Writers Guild of America, following a summertime of failed contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television set Producers, staged a walkout. Reaper—which finished its debut season with a healthy (for the fourth dimension) xviii-episode run—did get renewed for a second flavor. That said, it ultimately failed to score a third. And while creators Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas were eventually able to bring ii of its stars back to cameo in a single 2018 episode of another doomed high-concept project, Kevin (Probably) Saves the Earth, Reaper's early demise just came too soon in the "new media" historic period for even the most fervently run fan campaigns to have had any hope of finding it a new home. That Butters and Fazekas were able to put such a unique twist on the circulate procedural formula—something they were both well-versed in, having but come up off of several seasons as co-EPs on Law & Order: SVU—remains equally impressive now as it was and then, every bit is how firsthand and idiosyncratic the cadre bandage'due south chemistry was, fifty-fifty in the airplane pilot. —Alexis Gunderson

xi. All American

Created by: April Blair
Stars: Daniel Ezra, Taye Diggs, Bre-Z, Greta Onieogou, Samantha Logan, Michael, Evans Behling, Cody Christian, Karimah Westbrook, Monét Mazur, Jalyn Hall, Chelsea Tavares, Da'Vinchi

Lookout man on Netflix

More or less the Ideal ideal of the American High Schoolhouse Drama, the CW'due south All American is a vivid spot of explicitly diverse virtually*-realism (*I'm looking at you lot, all you unreasonably fit xx-something Adonises) in a still generally white network sea of superheroes, the supernatural and the comically stylized.

Inspired by the life of professional American football game player Spencer Paysinger, All American tells the story of Spencer James (Daniel Ezra), a star football player from South 50.A. who's recruited by a motorbus (Taye Diggs), an expat of the aforementioned neighborhood to come play for him in Beverly Hills—a plan which necessitates Spencer moving in with the coach and his family unit in social club to get around the school's hyper-strict zip code requirements. Much of the drama that follows, both in Beverly Hills and back in South L.A., is what you'd look: The rich kids have expensive pill addictions or are spiraling into depression after being left solitary in their mansions for months on cease by their oblivious jet-setting parents, while the kids in Due south L.A. are trapped in a school that is chronically underfunded and over-policed, and are at take a chance for falling into gang life.

But the compassion and grace with which All American handles all of these problems, matched with the grounded performances each of the young actors puts in, gives the show ample opportunity to transcend primetime melodrama. As the lead, Ezra is excellent, as compelling in tender moments of private vulnerability as he is in able-bodied feats on the field, just equally absorbing are Bre-Z as Spencer's fast-talking, bar-spouting queer all-time friend Coop, and Samantha Logan as the fragiley sober Olivia Bakery, Autobus's daughter and the first friend and confidante Spencer makes in Beverly Hills. Throughout the existent-time run of each of its first two seasons, All American hasn't made much of a splash, simply given how immediately it rose to the Tiptop 10 in Netflix's new internal ranking organisation one time its latest season was added, and how long it held a spot there, even weeks after beginning being made bachelor, it's clear that teens streaming at home know exactly where the skilful shit's at—and at present you do, likewise. —Alexis Gunderson

10. Everybody Hates Chris

Created by: Chris Rock, Ali LeRoi
Stars: Tyler James Williams, Terry Crews, Tichina Arnold, Tequan Richmond, Imani Hakim, Vincent Martella

Watch on Peacock
Watch on Hulu
Watch on CW Seed

Chris Rock is one of the funniest comedians of all fourth dimension. This is far from a controversial opinion. Upon developing a menstruation sitcom about his Brooklyn childhood for the (at present defunct) UPN back in the mid-2000s, however, the question emerged of whether or not his make of knowing, acerbic comedy could survive the transition to network Television. The answer proved to be both yeah and no. From the opening seconds of its pilot, Everybody Hates Chris positions itself every bit an incisive, utterly confident comedic bout-de-forcefulness that is perfectly in line with Rock's make. And yet, in the easily of co-creator/showrunner Ali LeRoi, the bear witness aimed to exist much more than simply the comedian's stage work reformatted into Boob tube storylines. The result was a family sitcom that both harkened back to the Norman Lear comedies of old, while nonetheless retaining the rapid pace and tight construction of the best single-camera productions. The show was never more than successful, however, than when information technology came to its casting, with Tyler James Williams demonstrating immense charisma and comic timing as a immature Chris; meanwhile, Terry Crews and Tichina Arnold would promptly enter the pantheon of bully Tv set couples as Chris' larger-than-life parental units. And though low ratings and frequent schedule shifts would ultimately snuff Chris out after four seasons, it rapidly sketched out its place every bit one of the greatest sitcoms of the new millennium. —Mark Rozeman

9. Riverdale

Created past: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Stars:: One thousand.J. Apa, Cole Sprouse, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Madelaine Petsch, Marisol Nichols, Ashleigh Murray, Mädchen Amick, Luke Perry

Watch on Netflix

This is the way I've been selling Riverdale to friends who have not still wised up and started watching it: it's Gossip Girl meets Twin Peaks, but with the characters from Archie Comics. That lonely should exist enough to suck them in, just if they need more convincing, I add together that the belatedly Luke Perry plays Archie's dad, Molly Ringwald plays Archie's mom, Skeet Ulrich plays Jughead's creepy hot dad (who is also the caput of the local gang, the Southside Serpents), and for the first tertiary of the season, Archie is boning his music teacher, Ms. Grundy—who, dissimilar in the comics—where she'south an elderly white-haired lady—goes around wearing heart-eyed sunglasses and picking up teen boys. Information technology's ridiculous and campy in all the right ways (hey, this is a CW teen drama, later all), but there's as well a compelling murder mystery driving the plot ("Who killed Jason Flower?" is Riverdale's "Who killed Laura Palmer?"), with new twists and turns peppered in along the fashion. —Bonnie Stiernberg

8. Black Lightning

Created by: Salim Akil
Stars: Cress Williams, Red china Anne McClain, Nafessa Williams, Christine Adams, Marvin "Krondon" Jones III, Damon Gupton, James Remar

Picket on Netflix

Greg Berlanti's Arrowverse (just recently valorized past a $400 million greenbacks contract fabricated to keep the universe-runner around until 2024) has been an undeniable success for The CW—and for the DC universe on screen. But it has not, historically, had a dandy deal to say about the deeply rooted prejudices of the real world that take conspired to create the violence and terror that shape places similar the Glades in Green Pointer'due south Star City, or that are mirrored in the bigotry metahumans face by "normal" gild. Salim Akil and Mara Brock Akil's improver to the fold, Black Lightning, takes that challenge head on, positioning owned racism and systemic inequity as the central evils a real superhero would find himself (or, in the case of Nafessa Williams' Thunder, herself) upward against. Information technology then uses those injustices, and the tensions they cause within not just communities but individual families (Blackness Lightning, as played by Cress Williams, is male parent to ii superpowered daughters), to tell a compelling, heady story nearly what it means to practise what is right in a world that resembles our ain more than than any superhero story to appointment. Plus, its soundtrack? Double platinum. —Alexis Gunderson

seven. The 100

Created past: Jason Rothenberg
Stars: Eliza Taylor, Marie Avgeropoulos, Bob Morley, Isaiah Washington, Henry Ian Cusick, Lindsey Morgan, Richard Harmon, Zach McGowan

Watch on Netflix

The 100 is what happens when y'all combine a classic CW teen drama (or to throw it back a lilliputian further, a WB teen drama) full of dynamic characters with fancy sci-fi terminology, vivid visuals, and really complicated storylines. The series, which premiered on the CW in September 2014, is set 97 years post-nuclear apocalypse, when thousands of survivors are now living in an impossibly big space station called the Ark. As a last-ditch attempt to figure whether or not World is actually notwithstanding inhabitable or not, the powers that be send 100 juvenile detainees down to the planet to essentially survive or die trying. While on Earth, the actually bonny cohort encounters a few unlike groups who've really weathered the apocalypse: the grounders, who've organized themselves into clans; the Reapers, grounders who are now cannibals, thanks to the Mountain men; and the Mount Men, who are substantially the descendants of the ultimate doomsday peppers, those who locked themselves away prior to the apocalypse. Chaos ensues whenever the different groups collide, but by the cease of the seventh season, there's another group the juveniles have to worry nearly: humans from another world, the Disciples. The sort of series that sucks you in and spits y'all back out in some other reality, The 100 is non for those looking to just dip their toes into a new series. Go in or go lost. —Joyce Chen

half-dozen. iZombie

Creators: Rob Thomas, Diane Ruggiero-Wright
Stars: Rose McIver, Malcolm Goodwin, Rahul Kohli, Robert Buckley, David Anders, Aly Michalka, Robert Knepper

Spotter on Netflix

Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Veronica Mars is the best way to describe this delightful drama. iZombie, from Mars creator Rob Thomas, draws on the strengths of both of these iconic series while carving a distinct path for itself. Liv Moore (Rose McIver) was a promising medical student until 1 bad night of partying turned her into a zombie. At present she works in the morgue solving murders on the side, all while keeping the true nature of her condition from her loved ones (she'southward not that pale because she uses sunscreen, people). Every bit the 2d flavor progressed more than were let in on Liv'southward secret, and she assembled a Scooby gang of her very own, while struggling to protect those that she loves. Much of the prove's success stems from its great humour—witness all the delectable means Liv serves upward brains. But the ghoulish and voracious zombies offer real frights and Steven Weber's nefarious CEO Vaughn Du Clark is truly terrifying. However it'south the evidence's overarching premise—that whatever of us could find ourselves among the undead trying to control our most basic instincts while our normal life remains just out of our grasp—that will go along you up at dark. —Amy Amatangelo

5. Supernatural

Created past: Eric Kripke
Stars: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, Katie Cassidy, Lauren Cohan, Mark A. Sheppard, Marker Pellegrino, Alexander Calvert

Picket on Netflix

Even though Supernatural aired its showtime flavour on the defunct The WB aqueduct, the testify is broiled into the cadre of The CW as a network. Supernatural was the show that could not be killed, airing for 15 seasons and featuring perhaps every working actor in Vancouver. And it'southward no surprise with such an eternal premise: two brothers bulldoze around America hunting all kinds of supernatural creatures. Over its run the creatures grew from vampires and skinwalkers to demons and angels and somewhen biblical figures alongside God himself. The bear on Supernatural had on the new era of internet fan culture has yet to bee fully tallied, but perhaps even more impressive is but how well much of the bear witness holds upwardly. The commencement five seasons remain some of the best of any risk show, finding a perfect mix of humor, horror, and quality storytelling. By the finish of its run Sam (Jared Padalacki), Dean (Jensen Ackles), and Castiel (Misha Collins) had conquered just about every battle imaginable. Supernatural'southward meta-understanding of itself always saved it from reaching the depths of quality it ever teetered on. While the quality of Supernatural was not always consistent, the evidence at its all-time somehow overpowers information technology at its worst. In that location are countless episodes that can always be returned to, jokes that even so manage to crack a smiling, and heartbreaking moments that yous won't ever forget. The main cast embodied their roles perfectly, and over fifteen seasons the chemistry between them could non be overstated.

While Supernatural may have ended, its impact volition live on forever. The show was with The CW at the very beginning and made the careers of much of its cast. Merely the show will always be near special because of how bright information technology was capable of being. Supernatural turned episodes with shoestring budgets into some of the all-time of TV horror. It's a comfort lookout man that will endear for years to come up, whether you're returning to a favorite episode or starting from the beginning. The Winchesters will e'er exist saving people and hunting things. I mean, it's the family business! —Leila Hashemite kingdom of jordan

4. Gossip Girl

Created by: Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage
Stars: Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Penn Badgley, Chace Crawford, Ed Westwick

Watch on HBO Max

Slick, uber-wealthy and almost unbearably white, Gossip Daughter was adroitly dubbed the "hockey fights video of teen romance drama" past the New York Daily News. While I tend to like my Tv a little weightier and with a less blinding palette (seriously, yous could set your white balance on most of this bandage) I was, despite myself, chop-chop won over past this absurdist look at insanely wealthy New York teenagers. When the reactionary Parents Goggle box Council referred to the show every bit "heed-blowingly inappropriate," I was sold. Anything that pisses off a group of backwards tight-asses that much has got to be supported. And you know what? Information technology was inappropriate. But so what? It was like Bugsy Malone with martinis and sex toys. Its tongue was planted firmly in cheek, and the show had wit to spare. And lest you think information technology was all modern fluff and wastoid teens, the show did have over-arching literary pretensions that often paid off. How else practice you explain episode titles like "Pret-a-Poor-J," "You've Got Yale!," "The Witches of Bushwick" and "The Treasure of Serena Madre"? Sure the "Who was Gossip Girl" reveal makes much of the 5 years one giant plot hole, but who cares? You know you lot love her… XOXO, Gossip Girl! —Mark Rabinowitz

3. Legends of Tomorrow

Created by: Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, Phil Klemmer
Stars: Brandon Routh, Caity Lotz, Dominic Purcell, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Nick Zano, Tala Ashe

Watch on Netflix

And here is the lonely Arrowverse series to brand the listing (since it only got meliorate and better with each season, a trajectory not shared by its brethren). "Joyful" is an underused and underrated term when it comes to Television dramas. Too many series conflate "prestige" with sorrow, violence, and horror when it tin (and should) also mean happiness and splendor. Legends of Tomorrow, though, is a drama that truly understands the meaning of joy. The series—which follows a rag-tag agglomeration of misfits through space and fourth dimension trying to "fix" historical anomalies caused by villains and supernatural beings—tin can exist flippant and glib, but it tin can besides be devastatingly emotional. The bottom line is that it's just adept. For those who were turned off past its first episodes or even first flavour, dive in to Season 2 (or even Flavour 3, if yous're really strapped for time) and go from at that place. It gets much, much better. Legends is the rare series that learns from its mistakes, always fix to abound and innovate to bring us the most bonkers only wonderful television. And dissimilar most other series (especially those dealing with superheroes), information technology isn't afraid to change out its cast members when things aren't working, which keeps each season feeling fresh while the stakes remain high.

Legends of Tomorrow is funny, foreign, bizarre, beautiful, and silly. It incorporates puppets and unicorns and sentient lopped-off nipples, but besides explores the devastation of losing loved ones, of advocating for those who demand a vocalism, and an ever-developing journey of self-discovery. Bring together the states for the ride.—Allison Keene

ii. Jane the Virgin

Created by: Jennie Snyder Urman
Stars: Gina Rodriguez, Justin Baldoni, Yael Grobglas, Jaime Camil, Andrea Navedo, Ivonne Coll, Anthony Mendez

Watch on Netflix

A virgin perfectionist with a heart of aureate shouldn't be this watchable. However, add a pinch of the ol' impregnated-by-artificial-insemination storyline, mixed in with the possible threat of a grandmother's deportation, all while the protagonist is trying to stone both a writing career and motherhood, and you lot've got one of TV's nigh fascinating characters. What's dandy about Jane is that she handles everything with an impressive sensibility, and y'all tin can't help but fall for her optimistic outlook on life. If there'southward a will, in that location'due south a way, and Jane takes the cards she'south dealt in life while never forgetting or forsaking the deep goodness Abuela instilled within her. We watched every bit this character celebrated life'south big moments with everything from dance-offs to earnest weeping, without any embarrassment for her vulnerability—only don't go on her bad side. —Iris A. Barreto

1. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Created by: Rachel Flower, Aline Brosh McKenna
Stars: Rachel Bloom, Vincent Rodriguez Iii, Santino Fontana, Donna Lynne Champlin, Pete Gardner, Vella Lovell, Gabrielle Ruiz

Picket on Netflix

Don't let the name go along you from tuning into this one—creator / star Rachel Flower (who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her work on the bear witness) addresses it before the theme song is fifty-fifty over, responding to choruses of "she'due south the crazy ex-girlfriend" with lines like "that's a sexist term" and "the situation'south more than nuanced than that." And it is: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a clever musical-comedy (think Flight of the Conchords, if they leaned more heavily on musical theater) about Rebecca Bunch, a lawyer who turns down a partnership at her New York firm to follow her ex-boyfriend Josh to W Covina, California and effort to win him dorsum. Simply information technology's more than complicated than that: forth the way Rebecca learns to address some of the neuroses she's been carrying around since childhood and gets sidetracked (depending on how yous look at it) by a sort of Sam and Diane "will they/won't they" affair with Josh'south friend Greg. Her "crazy" is sometimes funny, sometimes sorry, only always presented smartly and sensitively—never what you might expect from a bear witness called Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. —Bonnie Stiernberg

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