Tuned Imports

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The CW basically renewed its entire 2015-16 lineup — save for the virus drama “Containment” — so it has space for only two new series this fall, the meh “Frequency” (9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5), inspired by the 2000 movie, and “No Tomorrow” (9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4, pictured above), a cute but too-slow pilot about a woman who falls for a guy who believes the apocalypse is coming in eight months.

Perhaps the bigger news is the shift of “Supergirl” (8 p.m. Oct. 10) from CBS to The CW, joining The CW’s “Arrow, ” “The Flash” and “Legends of Tomorrow.”

Greg Berlanti, executive producer of all four series, said a four-way crossover will occur in late November or early December. And late in the 2016-17 TV season, “Supergirl” and “The Flash” will do a pair of crossover musical episodes. He said the musical mostly will use pre-existing songs and possibly will include one or two original songs.

“We’re happy to take requests throughout the year, what songs from what musical you’d like to see, ” Mr. Berlanti said, suggesting fans tweet him their ideas at @GBerlanti. “My sense is we’ll be sensitive to how they break into song; it may be an element of being in the character’s head at the time. We’ll be delicate in terms of how we navigate those waters.”

Cast members on both shows have musical theater backgrounds, and Mr. Berlanti said Victor Garber of “Legends” has been pitching songs in hopes that he might be included in the musical episodes of “Flash” and “Supergirl.”

A character on one of the four series will explore his or her sexuality in a coming out storyline.

Dolph Lundgren will play a villain on “Arrow, ” Sharon Leal (”Recovery Road”) will play Miss Martian on “Supergirl, ” Chris Wood (”Containment”) will play Mon-El on “The Flash” and Lance Henriksen (”Millennium”) will play Obsidian, a member of the JSA.

On “Frequency, ” a New York police detective (Peyton List) communicates with her father (Riley Smith, “Nashville”), who died in 1996, via a ham radio. In the movie, it was a father-son story, but executive producer Jeremy Carver said making it a father-daughter story for the TV series felt like more of a challenge and an opportunity to avoid “daddy’s little girl” cliches.

“I was very interested in exploding that trope and presenting a very different kind of father-daughter relationship, ” he said. “And as a writer [that relationship] made the project much more exciting to envision the first season and beyond.”

In the pilot, timelines get changed, but Mr. Carver said the butterfly effect won’t result in major changes.

“It’s meant to be very personal, ” he said. “If history is a rope, we’re changing fibers on that rope episode to episode, mainly seeing how it affects our main characters or guest cast.”

Channel surfing

A new season of Investigation Discovery’s “Homicide Hunter” starring Western Pennsylvania native Joe Kenda returns for a new season at 10 p.m. Aug. 25. … Cable’s Up will air a new season of Canadian import “Heartland, ” premiering three episodes Wednesdays at 8, 9 and 10 p.m. beginning Sept. 7. … “Criminal Minds” star Thomas Gibson was suspended from the series for two episodes after reportedly kicking a writer on set. … “Saturday Night Live” star Leslie Jones, an Olympics super fan, tweeted her way into covering the Olympics in Rio. After reading her enthusiastic tweets, NBC Olympics executive producer Jim Bell invited her to come to Rio and she accepted. … Disney Junior ordered a second season of “Elena of Avalor.”

Tuned In online

Today’s TV Q&A column responds to questions about “The Night Shift, ” “Zoo, ” “The Great British Baking Show” and changes coming from Comcast. This week’s Tuned In Journal includes posts from the TV critics press tour. Read online-only TV content at

This week’s podcast includes conversation about new fall series on broadcast channels. Subscribe or listen to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette podcasts at iTunes or at

A portion of this column originally appeared online in the Tuned In Journal blog. Post-Gazette TV writer Rob Owen is attending the Television Critics Association summer press tour. Follow RobOwenTV at Twitter or on Facebook. You can reach Rob at 412-263-2582 or rowen@post-gazette.com.