The first six weeks of the new TV season have offered an excess of hair-raising storylines and head-scratching mysteries.  For example…

Katherine sired the Salvatore brothers on The Vampire Diaries in 1864.  Wouldn’t you like to know how she became a bloodsucker, and whether she really died in that church fire?  Call us skeptical. 

Did you expect last week’s Supernatural slant toward The Omen, with the all-powerful little kid?  He’s gotta figure into future episodes.  Just like with Buffy’s “anointed one,” these evil children are creepy.  

Bobby possessed, then in a wheelchair?!  Jim Beaver wasn’t kidding when he teased a major twist with his Supernatural character this season. 

Ashlee Simpson-Wentz (Violet) totally pulls off the psychotic chick on Melrose Place.  Admit it:  her bizarre, unpredictable scenes are the highlight of every episode.

Fellow popstar Hilary Duff has rocked her role on Gossip Girl.  Really enjoyable.  And we pine for the return of Georgina, whose convoluted schemes are a welcome treat.  

Will Annie actually get away with murder on 90210?  This tangled web with Jasper has to end badly, you’d think.  Either way, “damaged” Annie is so much more fun to watch than the innocent farm girl.

Nathan and his family melting down amidst scandalous allegations on One Tree Hill gives us a new perspective of the media circus pro athletes and celebs face daily.  Can’t wait to see the accuser on Dan Scott’s TV show Monday.  And speaking of Dan—how shocking was his marriage reveal…to Rachel!?

O, Death!  Sydney (Melrose Place) and Vampire Diaries trio Logan Fell, “uncle” Zach Salvatore and Coach Tanner were gasp-worthy murders.  But hold tight!  There’s another Melrose corpse on the way—and two fan faves will face the end next month on Supernatural.

Hey, remember me?  Auggie (Colin Egglesfield) on MP is ready for a beefed-up story.  Ditto Jenny and Nate on Gossip Girl.  And are we gonna meet Serena’s evasive Daddy-O, or what?

TV viewers quickly fell in love with The Vampire Diaries, making it the most-watched series premiere in CW history.  But industry experts are raving about the show’s key art created in-house for print, billboards, buses, transit shelters, posters and online use.  The ad features lead actors Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley and Nina Dobrev lying on the grass, symbolically arranged to suggest both a love triangle and vampire lore.  “This was a tough one because there was a crowded marketplace of vampire-centric advertising,” says CW exec Rick Frey.  “Ideas that felt more predictably vampiric were rejected.”  The Hollywood Reporter awarded the ad its highest grade, following a top score last year for the network’s edgy Gossip Girl campaign.  Most marketers agree that The CW has been largely responsible for pushing innovation and creative boundaries of broadcast television key art, the trade notes.  “I can attract photographers I could never attract before,” says Frey, who previously produced theatrical art at Paramount.  “They want to work with us because they know they can get a great product they can be proud of and a launch platform for their work.” 

Have you missed any recent CW episodes or forgotten key plot points?  The network has assembled four incredible recap videos from this past season to help refresh our memories and whet our appetites for new episodes, which begin in just three weeks.  Watch the summaries of Smallville, Supernatural, One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl below.

• Mark Pellegrino will play the devil this fall on Supernatural, beginning with episodes one and three, but last season he was a finalist for the angelic role of Castiel, reports zap2it.  Series creator Eric Kripke says Misha Collins won them over just a little bit more, and he later offered Pellegrino the dark role without an audition.
• Michelle Trachtenberg (pictured) has another show in the works, but will always make time to portray the scheming troublemaker on TV’s most popular teen soap.  “Georgina (Sparks) isn’t going anywhere,” the actress tells Daily Intel.  “She’s always going to be an element of Gossip Girl.  She’s never gonna die; there’s nothing you can do to kill her.”
• One Tree Hill apparently did a U-turn on one romantic pairing.  “Owen and Brooke were originally scripted to wind up together,” Joe Manganiello reveals to TDW.  “We shot those scenes, but the producers had other plans for them and had us reshoot a different plot.”  Brooke (Sophia Bush) eventually fell for Julian, played by new series regular Austin Nichols.
• America’s Next Top Model will soon take us to the Hawaiian paradise of Maui.  People reports that Tyra Banks is staying at a private home on the island and driving to the opulent Grand Wailea resort for filming.  This is likely the site for Cycle 14, which will air in early 2010.
• Callum Blue teases a few details about his dual character, Mason/Zod, who appears in 16 upcoming episodes of Smallville.  “He’s a younger version of General Zod,” Callum tells KryptonSite.  “He hasn’t blown up Krypton yet, he’s not in the Phantom Zone.  All of that is to come, so they can play a bit with the idea—are they going to change the future?”

The stars of Gossip Girl are among the most photographed actors in the world.  And every fan of the drama seems hopelessly devoted to one of the three leading men: Chuck (Ed Westwick), Nate (Chace Crawford) or Dan (Penn Badgley).  In the second season finale, however, we were introduced to yet another teen who could give our mainstays some competition.  Chris Riggi (left) is keeping his real identity under wraps, as his character, Scott, is the presumed dead son of Lily and Rufus.  Lily gave her baby up for adoption at birth nearly two decades ago.  Now Scott has enrolled at NYU, where he befriends his secret half-brother, Dan, and begins a romance with Dan’s best friend, Vanessa.  He appears to have a concealed agenda in wanting to get close to the Humphrey clan.  So what do you think of the new guy?  Does Chris bump the other male stars down a notch in your power rankings?

It’s always great to see The CW add characters to their dramas, especially when the roles involve obvious antagonism.  What are your thoughts on this week’s six casting moves?

John Schneider: Meet the mean step-father who had Liam (Matt Lanter) hauled off to reform school in the middle of the night on 90210.  He’s a Hollywood plastic surgeon whose war at home will continue this fall.  CW fans remember John as Clark Kent’s dad on Smallville.

Kelly Carlson: What’s Melrose Place without scandal?  Kelly (Nip/Tuck) is a high-priced Hollywood madame who crosses paths with Stephanie Jacobson, the med-student who happens to need cash for her tuition.

Brooke Burns: She’s married to Dr. Michael Mancini (Thomas Calabro)—so you know how that’s gonna turn out!  They have a younger son, but how long before she’s a suspect in the Melrose Place murder mystery…or has eyes for estranged stepson Shaun Sipos?

Sebastian Stan: Okay, he’s not exactly new to Gossip Girl, but Carter Baizen will stick around NY for awhile, nurturing a strange romance with Serena (Blake Lively)!  As you’ll recall, he located the golden girl’s long-lost father in the season finale.

Nacho Figueras: The hunky Argentine polo star for team Black Watch is a real-life member of Manhattan’s social scene.  He plays himself in a Sep. 14 Gossip Girl episode filmed at the Greenwich Polo Club.  Coincidentally, Nacho is also a model for Polo Fragrances.  Next up, tortilla chips?

Adam Bertrand: This one’s intriguing. The 17-year-old model is famous for being famous.  He’s a rising reality star who hangs with the West Coast society crowd and just signed on as the face of German fashion house Escada’s fragrance and men’s brands.  Adam brings a definite edge to the young models on The Beautiful Life, and this fall he’ll also release his debut single, “World Keeps Turning.”

We see them briefly, sporadically…and then, suddenly, they’re gone.  Sometimes for years, sometimes forever.  They’re characters who become residents of TV’s mysterious ‘land of the lost.’  We’re talking about grandma Tabitha Wilson (Jessica Walter) on 90210, who’s away on the longest film-shoot in history.  Martha Kent, whose senatorial duties have apparently distracted her from an alien superhero running the farm in Smallville.  Or Dan and Jenny’s mother on Gossip Girl, the definition of “absentee parent.”  One Tree Hill folks are regular losties, with Karen, Andy and Lily circling the world on a yacht, Peyton’s brother and three fathers far, far away, and Haley’s parents a distant memory.  Amusingly, Sam’s younger brother on Reaper went off to school one day and never came home.  Television series are filled with unusual stories like that; it’s what fuels trivia game questions.  But at least two familiar faces have clawed their way back from the forgotten zone and will return to The CW this fall.  Ellen the demon hunter (Samantha Ferris) wandered the West on her own after the Supernatural season finale back in 2007.  Now she’ll lend a hand to the Winchesters in their war with the devil.  And Brooke’s unpredictable pal/nemesis Rachel (Danneel Harris, pictured) will stick around Tree Hill for at least seven new episodes.  Are there other characters you’d like to see again on the small screen?

There’s no shortage of great roles at The CW, and casting directors have been working overtime to fill out the series rosters with regulars and guest-stars.  Below are some of the recent announcements, in case you missed them.  And we’re still awaiting news on three major characters: the devil on Supernatural, new heartthrob Teddy on 90210, and wild model Alexis on One Tree Hill.

• MELROSE PLACE: Josie Bissett reprises her role as Jane Andrews Mancini, the sibling of diabolical Sydney (Laura Leighton).  Thomas Calabro (Michael) is the ex-husband of both sisters—twisted!  He and Laura are series regulars.
  Series Premiere:  Tue., Sep. 8
• AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL: Reality star Kim Kardashian is signed as a guest-judge for Cycle 13, which features contestants all 5-foot-7 and under.
  Season Premiere:  Wed., Sep. 9
• SUPERNATURAL: Remember Sam’s girlfriend, Jessica, who died on the ceiling in the series pilot?  Adrianne Palicki returns for an episode this fall.  Rob Benedict (Chuck the prophet) and Julie McNiven (Anna the angel) are also back to help the Winchesters in their new war with the underworld.
  Season Premiere:  Thu., Sep. 10
• ONE TREE HILL: Robert Buckley (Lipstick Jungle) will play Nathan’s sports agent, Clayton.  And newcomer Shantel VanSanten (The Final Destination) moves to the stump as Haley’s sister, Quinn.  Hall of Fame receiver Jerry Rice drops by as himself in an early episode.
  Season Premiere:  Mon., Sep. 14
• GOSSIP GIRL: Joanna Garcia (Megan on Privileged) is the new love-interest for Nate.  And Chris Riggi has his own secret agenda, returning as the supposedly-dead-but-really-alive offspring of Lily and Rufus.  Who will be cast as Serena’s long-lost father?
  Season Premiere:  Mon., Sep. 14
• THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE: Corbin Bleu (HSM) was originally slated to appear in the first episode, but he’s wisely been upped to series regular.  Corbin is the wingman to fellow model roomie and resident party-machine Jordan Woolley.
  Series Premiere:  Wed., Sep. 16
• SMALLVILLE: Callum Blue (The Tudors), pictured, has been cast as General Zod, the Kryptonian military leader sentenced to the Phantom Zone for his crimes.  The legendary DC Comics villain found an escape in the season finale, and he’ll be trouble all year.  Brian Austin Green (BH: 90210) will be introduced as Daily Planet reporter John Corben, alias Metallo—a cyborg villain powered by the green rock.  Both Metallo and Zod make their debut to kick off the new night.
  Season Premiere:  Fri., Sep. 25

Summer’s the time when fans look forward to their favorite TV shows arriving on DVD. Seven CW series have disc releases over the next ten weeks, so we’ve compiled a convenient list of dates and extras included in the box-sets. All are available for pre-order at amazon.com.

• 90210: Season 1 release on Aug. 11. Includes cast commentaries on select episodes, plus behind-the-scenes featurettes about the show’s music, fashion, sets and more.
• Gossip Girl: Season 2 release on Aug. 18. Includes nearly four hours of special features, such as unaired scenes, a gag reel, the ‘Chasing Dorota’ webisodes, and a downloadable audio-book of Gossip Girl: You Know You Love Me, read by Christina Ricci.
• Everybody Hates Chris: Season 4 release on Aug. 18. The comedy’s final season set will include commentary by creator Chris Rock, deleted scenes, featurettes and bloopers.
• Smallville: Season 8 release on Aug. 25. Available on DVD and Blu-ray. Bonus material includes cast and creator commentaries, unaired scenes, and two featurettes, Doomsday: The Making of a Monster, and Director’s Chair: Calling the Shots with Allison Mack.
• One Tree Hill: Season 6 release on Aug. 25. In addition to the unaired scenes and gag reel, the set includes commentary on two episodes by series creator Mark Schwahn and key cast members; and featurettes on recreating the 1940s (for episode 11); playing the new sport of SlamBall; shadowing first-time directors Chad Michael Murray, Bethany Joy Galeotti and James Lafferty; and guest singers discussing the role of music in the series, with a spotlight on the USO concert (episode 10).
• Supernatural: Season 4 release on Sep. 1. Available on DVD and Blu-ray. Anticipation is always great for this series’ gag reel—those guys just have fun at work, period. It will be accompanied by extended/unaired scenes, commentary on three key episodes by exec producers and writers, and a featurette on The Mythologies of Supernatural.
• The Game: Season 1 release on Sept. 1. This popular dramedy just completed its third and final campaign, and the show finally comes to DVD with all 21 episodes of its freshman year, plus the sixth-season episode of Girlfriends which served as a back-door pilot for The Game spinoff.
• Reaper: Both seasons are currently available on DVD.

WBNX stars and series garnered 34 nominations when the 11th annual Teen Choice Awards released its first wave of categories this week.  A glaring omission for the second straight year is Supernatural—coming off arguably its best season—which was again edged out for a nod as Best Drama by the cancelled Terminator, and for Drama Actor by Dustin Milligan, who was axed from 90210.  So there are flaws in the system.  However, 25 primetime CW nominees is impressive, led by 10 for Gossip Girl, six for 90210, five for Smallville, and three for America’s Next Top Model.  Gossip Girl racked up more nominations than any other show on television, and continues to be one of the most-viewed series online, in addition to its devoted Monday night audience.  Fans between the ages of 13-19 can now vote daily for their Teen Choice favorites by clicking here.  Winners will be announced August 10.