The WB was always an also ran compared to Big Four broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. It lasted just 11 years, a span thats already a sliver of those other networks tenures. And it didnt provide much ratings competition, having never scored a top-20 show. But for those viewers of a certain age millennials, namely the sight of the WB logo or the mascot Michigan J. Frog provides a pang of nostalgia, even now, 25 years after the networks launch.
Time Warner teamed up with the Tribune Company to create The WB in 1993 after changes in television regulation meant TV networks could produce more of their own programming. Rather than worry about its programming getting pushed out by the other networks in-house studios, Warner Bros. decided to create a new home for its productions. And thus, The WB hit the airwaves on January 11, 1995, kicking off with the series premiere of The Wayans Bros.
The network picked up steam in August 1996 with the premiere of 7th Heaven. The family-friendly drama which starred Jessica Biel, Barry Watson, and Beverley Mitchell cultivated a young audience (and the support of conservatively-minded parents) and eventually ranked as The WBs top-rated show seven years in a row.
Months after introducing 7th Heaven, the network premiered Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedons retread of his 1992 comedy horror film. With teen star Sarah Michelle Gellar literally raising the stakes as the Chosen One, Buffy vaulted into critics lists of best showsof the year, of the decade, and even of all timeand spawned a popular WB spinoff, Angel. If we really are in a golden age of television, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a harbinger, Stephanie Zacharek wrote for The Village Voice in 2015. And in the words of PopMatters Robert Moore, TV was not art before Buffy, but it was afterwards.
Warner Bros./Getty Images
The following January, and with great fanfare, The WB launched Dawsons Creek, a teen drama with a quartet of then-unknowns James Van Der Beek, Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson, and Katie Holmes all bound for stardom. If 7th Heaven was one of the Parent Television Councils favorite series, Dawsons Creek was one of its biggest targets, a show that didnt shy away from the harsh, horny realities of teenage life. Young viewers swarmed to the series, so much so that The WB became the top network among teens after pairing Buffy with Dawsons Creek.
For The WB, [Dawsons Creek] was a springboard upon which to build an entire programming strategy, The A.V. Clubs Carrie Raisler observed in 2014. For a generation of young adults who grew up on The WB, it created a sort of safe space on television thatif not exactly at least somewhat mirrored their angst.
Timothy White/The WB
Then came other hits: Charmed helped The WB more than double its advertising revenue in two years; Felicity offered a love triangle for the ages and launched the careers of Keri Russell and J.J. Abrams; Gilmore Girls offered a quippy mother-daughter relationship and inspired a Netflix revival a decade later; Smallville became the top drama among teen viewers years before the superhero genre took off; and One Tree Hill, Roswell, and Everwood only furthered the networks millennial appeal. Plus, even in its twilight, The WB sagely gave the green light to Supernatural, a show thats only airing its final season now, 15 years later.
Colin Bentley/The CW
The WBs ratings eventually declined, however, and the network met its end on September 17, 2006, with select shows from both The WB and UPN moving to The CW, which launched the following day. The CW is endearing itself to Generation Z with Riverdale and the Arrowverse shows, but The WBs legacy looms large. Its no surprise The CW is currently airing reboots of both Charmed and Roswell, for example.
Indeed, for a network that lasted little more than a decade, The WB made an outsize impact on pop culture, on television as a medium, and on the hearts and minds of millennial viewers. To quote E! News Natalie Finn, From Dawsons crying face to the rapid-fire banter between Lorelai and Rory to the eternal question that is Angel vs. Spike, [The WBs] shows subtly shaped what we think about when we think about what gave millennials all the feelings.
Read more here:
The WB Launched 25 Years Ago, and Millennials Will Never Forget - TVInsider
- Civil War is beating vampires, spies, and big gorillas in its second week at the box office - The A.V. Club - April 22nd, 2024
- Meet Alisha Weir, The 14-Year-Old Breakout Star Of Universals Vampire Flick Abigail - Deadline - April 22nd, 2024
- Transylvania Is Famous For Vampires, But Also Has Lots Of Grizzlies And Wolves - Cowboy State Daily - April 22nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire Cast Explains Why Your Friends Should Watch - Bleeding Cool News - April 22nd, 2024
- Marvel 'Blade' Reboot With Mahershala Ali Going Back To Basics Of "Killing Vampires - Bounding Into Comics - April 22nd, 2024
- Interview With The Vampire Got A Sequel 22 Years Ago, But Not Like You Think - Screen Rant - April 22nd, 2024
- First Trailer for Reginald the Vampire Season 2 Teases a Vampires vs. Angels Showdown - Syfy - April 22nd, 2024
- Kathryn Newton Talks Sinking Her Teeth Into Vampire Thriller 'Abigail' - Forbes - April 21st, 2024
- 'Vampire' bacteria thirst for human blood and cause deadly infections as they feed - Livescience.com - April 21st, 2024
- Some Microbes Are Tiny 'Vampires' With a Deadly Attraction to Human Blood - ScienceAlert - April 21st, 2024
- Common gut bacteria behave like vampires to target human blood - Earth.com - April 21st, 2024
- Now Playing in Memphis: Vampires, Sasquatches, and Monkey Man - Memphis Flyer - April 21st, 2024
- Dancing Vampires, Furry Families and More in Movies - Columbus Underground - April 21st, 2024
- New 'Interview with the Vampire' teaser reveals the laws of being a vampire - Mashable - April 21st, 2024
- The Vampire Rules In Abigail (And How They Change The Horror Game) Explained - SlashFilm - April 21st, 2024
- Blade's MCU Problems Ignore How Easy It Should Be To Make His Perfect Movie - Screen Rant - April 21st, 2024
- Being Human Werewolves, Vampires, and Ghosts! Four Seasons Streaming Right Now on SCREAMBOX! - Bloody Disgusting - April 21st, 2024
- Upcoming horror movies: Where and when to watch werewolves, vampires, and assorted monsters, oh my! - Popverse - April 21st, 2024
- One of the Very First Horror Westerns Started Out as a Joke - Collider - April 21st, 2024
- "Blade killing vampires..": Marvel is Giving Fans What They Exactly Want With Mahershala Ali's MCU Movie, Industry ... - FandomWire - April 21st, 2024
- Reports Reveal the Original Concept of the Blade Movie Before it was Simplified to Blade Just Killing Vampires - imdb - April 21st, 2024
- Who Lives? Who Dies? And Was That [Spoiler]? The Ending of Abigail, Explained - Syfy - April 21st, 2024
- THESE vampires drawn to human blood could be inside your body Know how they can kill you - The Financial Express - April 21st, 2024
- Concern over Vampire Bacteria and more - WGN TV Chicago - April 21st, 2024
- The Vampire Diaries' Stefan Without One Key Factor - CBR - Comic Book Resources - April 21st, 2024
- Abigail Takes a Bloody Delightful Bite Out of the Vampire Genre - Gizmodo - April 21st, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire: Reid, Anderson Walk Us Through Season 1 - Bleeding Cool News - April 21st, 2024
- Woman's blood-drained corpse is found in Italian church where she had been searching for ghosts: Victim, 22, - Daily Mail - April 12th, 2024
- My latest Game Pass obsession is a vampire-punching action game that could be Red Dead Redemption 2's wacky ... - Gamesradar - April 12th, 2024
- Lindy Ryan on Setting a Vampire Novel in a Small Texas Town - CrimeReads - April 12th, 2024
- 14 Actors Who Appeared In Both Supernatural & The Vampire Diaries - Screen Rant - April 12th, 2024
- Coachella 2024: How to Stream Every Performance on YouTube - Vulture - April 12th, 2024
- Back to the 80s: 'Lost boys' The State Hornet - StateHornet.com - April 12th, 2024
- Slay the Spire 2, Vampire Survivors meets Contra, and other Triple-i games - Ars Technica - April 12th, 2024
- How Vampire Weekend Mastered The Five-Albums Test - UPROXX - April 12th, 2024
- Abigail Directors Tease A Fresh Spin On Vampires That's "Very Much Us" - Screen Rant - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend Livestreamed Their Solar Eclipse Album Release Show: Watch - Stereogum - April 12th, 2024
- Fan favorite vampire films among those coming to a theater near you - WAPT Jackson - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend Reckon With the Divine (Again) on Only God Was Above Us - Spin - April 12th, 2024
- Review | Vampire Weekend have grown into their boat shoes - The Washington Post - April 12th, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire season 2: Release date, cast, and more - Android Authority - April 12th, 2024
- Upcoming horror movie Nosferatu debuted a trailer behind closed doors, and apparently Bill Skarsgrd's vampire is ... - Gamesradar - April 12th, 2024
- Vampire Weekend's 'Only God Was Above Us': All 10 Tracks Ranked - Billboard - April 12th, 2024
- Abigail Has Screened, And Critics Are Calling The Bloody Vampire Horror One Of The Best Movies Of 2024 - CinemaBlend - April 12th, 2024
- When Kirsten Dunst revealed the special gift Interview With a Vampire co-star Tom Cruise sends her every year - Hindustan Times - April 12th, 2024
- He is cooking with this cast: Ryan Coogler's Vampire Movie With Michael B. Jordan Casts Another Marvel Star Hailee ... - FandomWire - April 12th, 2024
- Ryan Cooglers Untitled Vampire Thriller Adds 2 More to Cast - ComingSoon.net - April 12th, 2024
- The Vampire Diaries Improved After This Character Left the Show - CBR - Comic Book Resources - April 2nd, 2024
- Paul Wesley Shares Only Way He'd Appear in Another Vampire Diaries Show - E! Online - E! NEWS - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview With the Vampire Releases New Season 2 Trailer Ahead of May Premiere Watch - Yahoo Finance UK - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire season 2 drops second trailer at AMC - Sportskeeda - April 2nd, 2024
- A Major 'Twilight' Star Is Down To Return For The TV Show, So Bring On The Sparkly Vampires - Yahoo! Voices - April 2nd, 2024
- 'Vampire' neutron star blasts are related to jets traveling at near-light speeds - Space.com - April 2nd, 2024
- Louis Is Haunted by the Past in New 'Interview with the Vampire' Season 2 Trailer - Collider - April 2nd, 2024
- A Vampire's Face Has Reemerged From a Centuries-Old Shroud - AOL - April 2nd, 2024
- Video: AMC Networks Releases a Second New Trailer and Key Art for Season Two of "Anne Rice's Interview with the ... - The Futon Critic - April 2nd, 2024
- Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person Presents a Rather Different Kind of Teen Angst - Reactor - April 2nd, 2024
- Shiki And 7 Other Vampire-Themed Anime Series For A Blood Curdling Binge-Watch - AugustMan Thailand - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Trailer: Memories of Claudia - Bleeding Cool News - April 2nd, 2024
- Harvey Guilln Says Goodbye to the Mansion in 'What We Do in the Shadows' Season 6 Set Image - Collider - April 2nd, 2024
- Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Trailer Set for Sunday Night - Bleeding Cool News - April 2nd, 2024
- Vampire Weekend share new single 'Mary Boone' and announce UK and European tour - NME - April 2nd, 2024
- The Vampire Diaries Cast: Where are they now? From Ian Somerhalder to Nina Dobrev - 9Entertainment - April 2nd, 2024
- Zendaya Starring in Remake of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'? - Snopes.com - April 2nd, 2024
- The Best Vampire Movie Never Says The Word 'Vampire', Stream This Dark R-Rated Horror Hidden Gem - Giant Freakin Robot - April 2nd, 2024
- V Rising gets the crossover every self-respecting vampire wants: Castlevania's Simon Belmont is coming to try and kill ... - PC Gamer - April 2nd, 2024
- Canadian imperialism and the Gaza genocide: The contrived, right-wing furor over a cartoon depicting Netanyahu as a ... - WSWS - April 2nd, 2024
- Is This a Real Photo of Vampire Queen 'Madam Violet,' Voted UK's Scariest Woman Alive in the 1880s? - Snopes.com - March 16th, 2024
- The erotic 70s horror where lechy men turn into bloody-hungry vampires - Dazed - March 16th, 2024
- The vampires ball is coming to an end - Meduza - March 16th, 2024
- Oregon son, 56, who is accused of killing his mom by shoving a huge makeshift stake through her throat claims - Daily Mail - March 16th, 2024
- Muni Bond Games and the IRS' Lurking Arbitrage Vampires - Governing - March 16th, 2024
- Ball of vampires', nuke warning: Key takeaways from Putins interview - The Times of India - March 16th, 2024
- Putin compares western elites to 'VAMPIRES' who 'fill their bellies with human flesh' - GB News - March 16th, 2024
- Every Time Alaric Died In The Vampire Diaries & Legacies - Screen Rant - March 16th, 2024
- V Rising declares a 1.0 release date, climbing from the grave of a years-long early access to become your next time ... - Yahoo Movies UK - March 16th, 2024
- 15 Actors That Could Play Edward Cullen in the Twilight TV Series - MovieWeb - March 16th, 2024
- BLOOD HUNT #1 Preview Releases A Horde Of Vampires On The Marvel Universe's Greatest Heroes - CBM (Comic Book Movie) - March 16th, 2024
- Man accused of killing mother in Siletz believed she was a vampire - Yahoo News - March 16th, 2024
- Stephen King approved 'Salem's Lot' movie to stream on Max this year - Yahoo Movies Canada - March 16th, 2024
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero