The CW continues to hand out early renewals for 2015-16.
The youth-skewing network has renewed drama Beauty and the Beast for a fourth season — four months ahead of its third-season bow.
The drama, set for a 13-episode run, will return May 21 at 8 p.m., again helping to bolster the little-watched summer season.
See more Broadcast TV’s Returning Shows 2015-16
The Kristin Kreuk and Jay Ryan starrer becomes the latest series to score an early pickup. It joins Arrow, The Originals, Reign, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, The Flash and Jane the Virgin on the schedule for next year.
CW president Mark Pedowitz told reporters in January that he was planning a big summer scripted expansion — with season four of Beast likely to return to the schedule.
Still to be determined is the fate of veteran Hart of Dixie, with the network taking a wait-and-see approach to its future.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
