CW Orders The Originals to Series; Renews Hart of Dixie, Beauty and the Beast

The CW has given a series order to The Vampire Diaries' spin-off The Originals, the network announced Friday.

The Originals, which aired as a backdoor pilot during this week's Diaries, centers on Klaus (Joseph Morgan) as he return to New Orleans, a town he once helped to form that has been taken over by his protégé Marcel (Charles Michael Davis). That episode drew 2.2 million viewers and a 0.9, down a tenth from Diaries' last new episode.

Fall TV Scorecard: Renewed or canceled?

Additionally, The CW has renewed Beauty and the Beastand Hart of Dixie for a second and third season, respectively.

"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," said CW President Mark Pedowitz.  "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."

TVGuide.com readers should be happy about the news. A whopping 79 percent of those polled voted for The Originals to become a series.

As previously announced, the network had already renewed Arrow, The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural for next season.

Are you excited about The Originals series?

(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by a joint venture between Lionsgate and CBS, the latter which also owns The CW in a joint venture with Warner Bros. Entertainment.)