Not that this will be of much consolation to fans of “Everwood,” but Dawn Ostroff feels bad about letting the critically series go.

Not bringing the critically hailed WB show to The CW next fall “was honestly the toughest decision,” says Ostroff, the former UPN head who’s president of entertainment at the new network. “It was really, really hard, because the fans just love it.”

On the other hand, another WB series thought to be headed for the chopping block, “Reba,” may get a shot on the new network after all. It could be headed for a 13-episode order at midseason.

“Everwood” won’t be moving forward, despite the fact that it drew a bigger audience this season than two other dramas – “Veronica Mars” and “One Tree Hill” – that are moving to The CW. The network will also air one new drama, “Runaway,” in the fall.

“We knew we wanted to take “Veronica’ and make room for at least one new drama,” Ostroff says. “We could have launched with no new shows, but we knew that really wasn’t what we wanted to achieve in trying to establish an identity for the network.”

Going into the scheduling process, Ostroff and her team knew they had anchor shows in established UPN and WB series like “America’s Next Top Model,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Smallville” and, eventually, “7th Heaven.” It then became a question of which shows would be most compatible with those anchors. “Supernatural” will remain paired with “Smallville,” for instance, and “Veronica Mars” will team up with “Gilmore Girls” on Tuesday nights.

“We looked at what shows had duplication – in other words, were viewers watching both shows? That was a big consideration in putting the schedule together,” Ostroff says. “For instance, a lot of people who watch “Top Model’ (also) watch “One Tree Hill.’ So that was an easy fit for us.”

“Everwood” was harder to pin down, and that may have been what doomed it. “When we looked at shows that we were bringing back and what went with what, “Everwood’ was the hardest show to fit into the equation,” Ostroff says.

Anticipating that this season might be its last, the producers of “Everwood” filmed multiple endings to the show’s finale – including one that will now serve to wrap up the series. It’s scheduled to air June 5.

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