Farewell to the WB

The WB goes off the air after once last hurrah tonight, as the network replays the pilots of its signature shows -- "Felicity," "Angel," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and of course, "Dawson's Creek" (ahh, has it really been that long since Katie Holmes was normal?).

Ten years ago, when I moved out to Los Angeles to cover TV (for Electronic Media, now known as TV Week), my very first day on the job I was sent to cover a WB affiliates meeting at the Warner Bros. lot.

I was 22 at the time, which, believe it or not, still put me below the WB's median age (which I believe was 25 at the time). I got older -- but so did the WB, which to the very end managed to outpace me in age (its final median age was around 35 or so).

Back then, the Frog network's calling card was "urban" comedies (industry code for African American-starring sitcoms), the cheesy Aaron Spelling soap opera "Savannah"... and well, that was about it. UPN appeared to have trumped them in ratings and stations -- but there was a swagger about the WB folk, like they knew things were about to change.

At the meeting, the executives talked about this vampire show they had in development called "Slayer." (Like the heavy metal band? Thankfully, that name changed.) And a year later, things did start to change. I've still seen few series launch campaigns better executed than "Dawson's Creek," which managed to turn the WB into the "it" network. Things just fell into place after that, as the network developed the most defined brand in broadcast TV.

Of course, that possibly also led to the WB's ultimate downfall. When you're so specifically defined, it's hard to break out beyond that. Also, success doesn't last forever in TV, and as the WB's viewership aged, so did the WB. The whole business also changed, and it just didn't make sense in the eyes of Warner Bros. -- which didn't own any of the WB's stations -- to keep it going.

So the WB disappears from the air after tonight (UPN officially vanished last Friday with absolutely no fanfare). And the CW begins tomorrow. A moment of silence for the Frog, and even for UPN, both of which now join Dumont under the list of deceased broadcast networks.