In the least surprising pick-up announcement of the season, the CW has ordered a full season of the network’s highest-rated show, The Vampire Diaries.  Since the show regularly pulls in more than a million more viewers than any other show on the CW, The full season of The Vampire Diaries was expected.

In less expected news, the network also ordered five more episodes of Melrose Place.  While the show debuted with a ton of buzz, the ratings have been very low, dropping to 1.5 million viewers for last night’s new episode.  Next month Heather Locklear returns to the apartment complex, so perhaps the pick-up is a sign of faith that Amanda’s return will boost the sagging ratings.

However, if you’re a pessimist, you may wonder why the CW only ordered five more instead of nine more for the full season.  The signs are bad when you look at history.  Last season Privileged was struggling, but the network ordered five additional episodes after the original 13-episode run.  But there was never a full season and Privileged was canceled after 18 episodes.  

Perhaps Melrose Place will have the same fate, though hopefully, for fans’ sakes, the additional five episodes will allow the writers to finish the season-long story so we’re not left without an answer to the question: who killed Sydney?

Melrose Place air Tuesdays at 9[m and The Vampire Diaries airs Thursdays at 8pm.

Read More:
8 Possible Future CW Shows
Vampire Diaries Cast at the 2009 Scream Awards
First Look at Two New Vampire Diaries Characters

-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image courtesy of the CW)

John Kubicek

Senior Writer, BuddyTV

John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire DiariesSupernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.