It’s a busy day for news around here, huh?  Today, THE CW announced a season 3 renewal for HART OF DIXIE, a season 2 renewal for BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and their first official pilot pickup – no-brainer THE ORIGINALS (the VAMPIRE DIARIES spinoff starting pretty people in New Orleans).  That leaves two shows waiting their fate on the network – THE CARRIE DIARIES and NIKITA (with CULT pretty much a guaranteed goner) – and we likely won’t hear about them for sure until Upfront Week in May (t-minus two weeks).

Said Mark Pedowitz, the CW prez:

“As soon as we saw last night’s episode of The Vampire Diaries, we knew we wanted more of The Originals — Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson have done a fantastic job with The Vampire Diaries, which is as fast-paced and well-written as ever, and Julie has created an equally compelling world for The Originals,” CW president Mark Pedowitz said in a statement making the announcement Friday. “We’re also very excited to bring back Beauty and the Beast and Hart of Dixie for next season — both series continue to be creatively strong and compelling, and their fans are incredibly passionate. I’m very happy to have all three series on the schedule for next season.”

What do you think?  Excited about these renewals and pickups? The Pilots/Renewals page has been updated with this news!