CW's "Nancy Drew" series, new to the prime-time schedule this fall, and Warner's direct-to-video "Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase," released last March, offered two competing ways to modernize the classic teen sleuth. But it seems that CW's racier version has won.

CW renewed "Nancy Drew" for a second season just three episodes into its first season -- a pretty clear declaration of support.

"The Hidden Staircase," on the other hand, came and went without making much of an impression, and without generating interest in a sequel. And at this point, a sequel is unlikely for one very important reason: Warner would be competing with itself.

Warner Bros., which produced "The Hidden Staircase," also co-owns CW (that's what the W stands for, in fact). So it's not likely to risk confusing audiences by continuing to put forward two different actresses playing two different Nancy Drews.

And they are indeed very different. Variety's review of "The Hidden Staircase" summed the movie up by saying it "updates Nancy Drew just enough for a new generation."

There's no such subtlety at work in CW's series, which stars Kennedy McMann ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"). It continues the network's tradition (a very successful one, it should be noted) of taking classic young-adult characters and raising the stakes they face -- the romances are intense sexual ones, and the crimes they face are murders.

For an idea of what might be in store for CW's Nancy going forward, look to its lead-in on the schedule, "Riverdale," an even more dramatic transformation of the "Archie" universe into a hard-boiled soap opera (and, again, a smash hit). 

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