The CW gives ‘Beauty and the Beast’ full season; shocked?

Apparently, getting okay ratings is more of a deciding factor for The CW this year than losing a huge chunk of your lead-in audience. Then again, the ratings for some other shows across their schedule may have been enough still for the network to force their hand and give “Beauty and the Beast” a full season.

So what the debate here with this show? Take for instance last night, as “The Vampire Diaries” scored a 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Meanwhile, this series drew just a 0.7, which is still an improvement from last week. Would a struggling show like “90210” or “Emily Owens M.D.” (the only new series from the network to not earn a renewal) get the same sort of thing in this timeslot? This is the way that some of those other shows would probably try to make in an effort to justify their own potential inclusion on the schedule.

Nonetheless, “Beauty and the Beast” fans have something to smile about here. The show got off to a pretty terrible start, but has gradually improved when it comes to quality. Strange as it seems, the trajectory here is rather similar to what happened last year with “The Secret Circle,” which also became stronger as the season progressed, but by the time it mattered most of its original viewers were already gone. Can this show correct that problem? The biggest thing it will have to do is keep pushing out episodes that are so good, viewers will want to tell their friends to watch.

What is your take on this renewal?