Super(girl) Media

[FurryFury]

Both a summer run and Sunday time slot are pretty sucky options. Sunday usually means a lot of sports competition or sports overrun, while summer is just bad ratings time.

[legaleagle53]

The show has officially been picked up for the 2015-2016 season:

 

http://tvline.com/2015/05/06/supergirl-series-cbs-season-1/

[MarkHB]

Excellent news!

[bmoore4026]

Still don't know why this isn't on The CW?

 

And, I said it before, I'm saying it again: Remember when superheroes wore bright colors?  Those days were nice :)

[MarkHB]

Three reasons I've heard regarding The CW not taking it: they didn't want to be the All-DC Network, the eternal tension over the balance between WB-owned and CBS-owned shows on the network, and they couldn't afford to fund the show the way it needs to be funded (flying, knocking down walls, etc.)

 

Also, Supergirl.TV has a nice post capturing the social media responses of much of the cast.  For those who want to hang in the spoiler thread, that site also has a slew of transcripts from the audition videos that came out over the winter.

[FurryFury]

the eternal tension over the balance between WB-owned and CBS-owned shows on the network

 

I'm starting to suspect it's a myth. There is very little balance right now, and the Flarrow spinoff (tentatively titled "Legends of Tomorrow") will also be WB.

 

It does seem weird that they chose a spin-off with lesser-known and rather unpopular Atom over a known property like Supergirl. The better reason could be that the next year can potentially be the last one for the network, so maybe CBS didn't want to risk a potential hit, I dunno. (Although I very much doubt it will become a hit on CBS).

Edited May 7, 2015 by FurryFury

[Kromm]

I'm starting to suspect it's a myth. There is very little balance right now, and the Flarrow spinoff (tentatively titled "Legends of Tomorrow") will also be WB.

 

It does seem weird that they chose a spin-off with lesser-known and rather unpopular Atom over a known property like Supergirl. The better reason could be that the next year can potentially be the last one for the network, so maybe CBS didn't want to risk a potential hit, I dunno. (Although I very much doubt it will become a hit on CBS).

Or they could just be wise to the fact that female led shows (especially action shows) tend to fail to grab viewers compared to male led ones.  Supergirl is inherently a big risk, the same way Wonder Woman always is.

[FurryFury]

I doubt The CW is afraid of it, actually. It does have quite a few female-led shows that seem to have OK male audiences. Pedowitz has said, for instance, that The 100 does OK with men, and that show is chock-full of badass women. (Of course its ratings are pitiful, but we have the obviously network influenced s1 with its stupid romance drama to thank for it). iZombie does well enough to get another season, and it's also a comic adaptation. Nikita got 4 seasons despite the low ratings... The network is actually much better with female leads than CBS (AFAIK, I don't watch any CBS shows except Person Of Interest).

[Kromm]

I doubt The CW is afraid of it, actually. It does have quite a few female-led shows that seem to have OK male audiences. Pedowitz has said, for instance, that The 100 does OK with men, and that show is chock-full of badass women. (Of course its ratings are pitiful, but we have the obviously network influenced s1 with its stupid romance drama to thank for it). iZombie does well enough to get another season, and it's also a comic adaptation. Nikita got 4 seasons despite the low ratings... The network is actually much better with female leads than CBS (AFAIK, I don't watch any CBS shows except Person Of Interest).

Yes, but remember the rationale behind why Arrow, and to even greater an extent The Flash, were really welcomed by The CW--their male viewer demo was really weak before those shows.  The direction they've really been pushing towards has been to get the male viewers they lacked for years.

[FurryFury]

Yes, and Supergirl would still give them male demo. Cast a really hot actress, use the Flarrow formula, film crossovers = instant hit. Maybe they wouldn't get The Flash numbers, but unless the casting/writing would suck, they'd settle on .8-.9 which is enough to qualify as a success. I really doubt The Atom & friends would get anything more. I mean, the network was iffy enough on The Atom himself and didn't want to create a spin-off centered around him until they've sweetened the deal by adding Caity Lotz's Sara Lance (a fan-favorite) and a few random characters from The Flash.

Edited May 7, 2015 by FurryFury

[Kromm]

It's nice in theory, but in practice you often get Wonder Woman (not the original--the many revival efforts). Or Dark Angel.  Or Sarah Connor Chronicles.  Or Buffy (which in today's terms wouldn't have been allowed to stay on the air for that long).  

 

Think about the fact that a Caity Lotz LED series hasn't even been on the table--only one with her as a second banana.  And that's on the CW where it has a better chance than most places.  But they're still gun shy.

[FurryFury]

Or Buffy (which in today's terms wouldn't have been allowed to stay on the air for that long).

 

On The CW, totally would have been. Probably on most other networks, too. 18-34 demo means a lot these days, and even very low-rated shows survive (1.5 demo is considered a safe bet for renewal!) Plus, with streaming services and stuff, young-skewing shows with fandoms often get renewed via them. I'm sure, say, Firefly would have been picked up by Netflix or somebody if it were canceled today. With Buffy, it's a bit of a different story because it's only started to be awesome in season 2, but if The 100 got a renewal, I don't see why Buffy couldn't have.

 

Think about the fact that a Caity Lotz LED series hasn't even been on the table--only one with her as a second banana.  And that's on the CW where it has a better chance than most places.  But they're still gun shy.

 

That's because her character isn't a comic book superhero (and also, TBH, she's not that strong of an actress to handle a leading role. I actually think Melissa Benoist's better). Her (much maligned) sister is. For Flarrow, comic book roots matter the most, just look at Fight Club promo, it's all about masked comic book characters even if they are barely present on their shows.

Edited May 7, 2015 by FurryFury

[MarkHB]

This really isn't about the show, but Forbes has a piece on the 1984 movie.

[MarkHB]

Chyler Leigh (Alex) has tweeted that she is on her way to New York, presumably to appear at the CBS Upfront tomorrow or at least snarf free food at one of the parties.

[Trini]

From an interview with The Flash's visual effects supervisor:
 

You've got a lot of irons in the fire, since you're doing Supergirl as well.
 
We do The Flash, we finished the Supergirl pilot and we did a little thing for them for something else that's coming up.

 

I'm assuming the "little thing" is either something for the CBS upfront presentation, or ComicCon.

[MarkHB]

From an interview with The Flash's visual effects supervisor:

 

 

I'm assuming the "little thing" is either something for the CBS upfront presentation, or ComicCon.

 

I'm thinking it's the tease for Legends of Tomorrow, but either of those possibilities (where there would be more time to work with) would be awesome as well.

[Just Here]

CBS schedule announced (EW.com):

 

Supergirl will be on Mondays, at 8pm, opposite Gotham. starting in November.

 

 

(As far as other days, the Sunday schedule is Madame Secretary, The Good Wife, and CSI: Cyber.)

 

* * *

 

Quick thoughts on the scheduling:

• More than a bit surprised that CBS would put this up against Gotham
• A delayed premiere will allow for more promotion, especially during The Big Bang Theory, which initially starts in the Mondays @ 8pm slot, before moving to Thursdays, as well as Scorpion
• Supergirl will also be opposite NBC's The Voice and ABC's Dancing with the Stars, so that's a lot of competition for younger demos
• As far as ratings go, Scorpion is probably one of the best options for a lead-out pairing with Supergirl

 

(edit to add comments)

Edited May 13, 2015 by Just Here

[Just Here]

Here's the official description for the series (CBS press release):

SUPERGIRL is an action-adventure drama based on the DC Comics character Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist), Superman’s (Kal-El) cousin who, after 12 years of keeping her powers a secret on Earth, decides to finally embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be.

 

Twelve-year-old Kara escaped the doomed planet Krypton with her parents’ help at the same time as the infant Kal-El. Protected and raised on Earth by her foster family, the Danvers, Kara grew up in the shadow of her foster sister, Alex (Chyler Leigh), and learned to conceal the phenomenal powers she shares with her famous cousin in order to keep her identity a secret. Years later at 24, Kara lives in National City assisting media mogul and fierce taskmaster Cat Grant (Golden Globe Award winner Calista Flockhart), who just hired the Daily Planet’s former photographer, James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), as her new art director. However, Kara’s days of keeping her talents a secret are over when Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), head of a super-secret agency where her sister also works, enlists her to help them protect the citizens of National City from sinister threats. Though Kara will need to find a way to manage her newfound empowerment with her very human relationships, her heart soars as she takes to the skies as Supergirl to fight crime.

 

Greg Berlanti (“The Flash,” “Arrow”), Ali Adler, Sarah Schecter and Andrew Kreisberg are executive producers for Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. The pilot was directed by Glen Winter (“Arrow”).

(paragraph separation added)

[Kromm]

I guess we're getting the usual DC-TVU telegraphing with the name of the sister's boss.

[FurryFury]

Eh, I think Gotham is dying anyway (or should because it's awful, free Morena Baccarin and the guy who played Ryan in O.C.)

Still, weird choice.

[MarkHB]

David Harewood has already been reading up on Hank Henshaw's history. ;)

 

There was a report of some give-and-take in the negotiations between CBS and Berlanti that resulted in CBS giving a shorter guarantee; I'm guessing that's where the "don't start until TNF ends" came from.  Apparently what the producers got out of the deal was an earlier approval (less push-back?) from the network for pilot filming to go ahead with Melissa and Glen Winter as director.

 

Going by the NFL schedule, the show would premiere Nov. 2, which probably gives them 7 eps before Christmas week.

[MarkHB]

Also: we have an official Twitter account, complete with a logo and a new shot of Melissa!

 

And the very bare-bones CBS site is here.

[Just Here]

Zap2it has some quotes from the upfronts about the timeslot:

President of CBS Entertainment Nina Tassler jokes that it's OK because "Gotham" is "not a superhero [show]" and senior executive vice president of CBS Primetime Kelly Kahl quips that he hasn't "seen a cape on 'Gotham' yet."
 
But in all seriousness, Kahl says that "network scheduling isn't a zero-sum game anymore," meaning that in this digital age, viewers don't necessarily have to choose "Supergirl" over "Gotham" or vice versa.

"I think it's wrong to think if there's another superhero show or another genre show there we can't succeed," says Kahl. "I think we see ['Supergirl'] as a much broader show than just a genre show, just a comic book show. I expect, or certainly we hope to expect, [viewers] from all demographics. I hope this is a show that brings generations together. I hope to pull maybe not just a little from these other shows, but from cable as well."

[MarkHB]

Supergirl.TV has a couple of more photos that were released.

[Kromm]

Also: we have an official Twitter account, complete with a logo and a new shot of Melissa!

 

And the very bare-bones CBS site is here.

The outfit DOES look somewhat better in brighter lighting.  I remember how dreadful that SAME pose of her (or one so similar I can barely tell the difference) looked with what seemed to be darker colors.

[MarkHB]

WE HAVE A TRAILER!!!!!

 

[FurryFury]

So, here we have the main character with superpowers telling her sister about them in the pilot. Why exactly was it so hard for Barry Allen?

 

God, the actress playing the boss is awful.

 

PS Apparently, all important characters know who Kara is, so no annoying "Let's lie to her for her own good" trope. FINALLY.

Edited May 13, 2015 by FurryFury

[jaytee1812]

So, here we have the main character with superpowers telling her sister about them in the pilot. Why exactly was it so hard for Barry Allen?

It's a man thing?!

[seamusk]

Wow, that looks great. I like that it seems there are several in the know folks right from the start.

[VCRTracking]

 

God, the actress playing the boss is awful.

I still see her as Ally McBeal after all this time.

 

Berlanti loves those "My name is" intros.

[FurryFury]

Never seen Ally McBeal, but her delivery was beyond awful. Thankfully, she doesn't seem like a huge part of the show.

 

I'm already predicting ship wars between the two guys, Jimmy Olsen and the other one.

(and somebody will probably call those who dislike Jimmy Olsen racist)

Edited May 13, 2015 by FurryFury

[VCRTracking]

People have been saying it looks like that Black Widow romcom parody that SNL made with Scarlett Johannson and I can't NOT see it:

[Kromm]

Cat Grant being that much of a Rich Bitch means they really reinvented.

 

I mean the bitch part, sure.  But Cat's always been written before as something of a scrambler.

 

So, here we have the main character with superpowers telling her sister about them in the pilot. Why exactly was it so hard for Barry Allen?

To be fair, she's not telling her sister about them. It's made clear that Kara's had them as long as she's been on Earth, and that her sister already knows.

 

Now her telling that other guy (the one who isn't Jimmy Olsen)?  That's something most shows would stretch out.  And I just noticed that by the end we see that Jimmy knows too.  And the military guy knows too clearly, with that crack about going back to carrying coffee. Cat is the only one who doesn't, and of course that makes total sense, because the general public doesn't know and Cat is too self-interested to ever keep a secret.

 

This is clearly going to suffer from FX budget issues though. That plane sequence looked ridiculous.

 

One thing I DO like is they aren't trying to do clever dodges around Superman.  It might suck if they play games not SAYING "Superman", but in that one trailer we already saw "my cousin/your cousin" said a dozen times, acknowledgement of the family crest, her outfit clearly being a riff on his, Ally McCat all but saying they know she's like Superman, etc.  Good on them.  It would have been utter garbage if they tried to play some game where Superman didn't exist (even if now the game will clearly be how to never have him show up and guest star).

 

Other than the effects, I actually don't dislike anything I saw in that.  I don't even mind the Cat Grant scenery chewing, because other than the twist of her being super-rich now and the owner rather than just a reporter, it's totally the right vibe (over the top) for the character.  

 

The sister could be an Achilles heel.  Even with her clearly in the know, she's the kind of character these shows always struggle to find a long-term purpose for.

 

And you can clearly see that Melissa Benoist knows what she's doing.  Supergirl is traditionally maybe a little more glamorous/eye candy than Benoist (who's attractive but not into goddess territory), but Melissa makes a kind of goofy interpretation work.  I mean like Clark Kent her civilian personality is already supposed to be nerdy, but I think they make it clear that her Supergirl persona is not that different.  And the outfit works better than I thought it would too. It makes SENSE in the context that she's not an exhibitionist/is a bit of a square to have it kind of a bit old-fashiony.

Edited May 13, 2015 by Kromm

[AzureOwl]

Berlanti loves those "My name is" intros.

 

I'm liking what I'm seeing in that trailer, but I'll be damned if it hasn't Berlanti's fingerprints all over it.

[Kromm]

Never seen Ally McBeal, but her delivery was beyond awful. Thankfully, she doesn't seem like a huge part of the show.

 

I'm already predicting ship wars between the two guys, Jimmy Olsen and the other one.

(and somebody will probably call those who dislike Jimmy Olsen racist)

FurryFury, that's been going on since he was cast.

 

That said, please understand that I agree.  4 out of 5 people digging up lots of vague "I dunno... I just don't like that Jimmy Olsen" are going to be doing it because they secretly (or in some cases not so secretly) can't STAND that he's black. So not everyone who bitches about him.  But enough of them--particularly those who yelled and screamed about it before seeing even a moment of footage with him in the role.

[FurryFury]

Personally, I don't really find the guy very attractive (which may matter for some people when evaluating a character as a love interest), but it's just too early to judge him (or anyone else) as actual characters. I'm just sick of all people who dislike Iris West being called racist in The Flash forum (and I actually like Iris West, her actress is one of the strongest on that show, too bad she gets pretty bad material).

Overall, I just hope there won't be any heavy-handed fated romances going on. It already has ruined The Flash for me.

Edited May 13, 2015 by FurryFury

[pootlus]

Callista Flockhart was definitely the weakest part of the trailer for me. And much as I dislike her character/performance on Arrow, I can't help but think that Katie Cassidy would have done 'gorgeous but entitled bitch' a lot better.

[Kromm]

Callista Flockhart was definitely the weakest part of the trailer for me. And much as I dislike her character/performance on Arrow, I can't help but think that Katie Cassidy would have done 'gorgeous but entitled bitch' a lot better.

Katie Cassidy is not only employed, but she's also at LEAST a decade too young (if not more) to play Cat Grant (who even in her youngest interpretations has been a slightly older "cougarish" divorcee character who was a few years older than Lois).

 

Moving the target so that Cat is now an owner instead of a reporter, I actually think it makes sense to age her to her 40s (although Flockhart is actually 50, there's no way Cat is supposed to be that old).

 

Also, IMO Cassidy can't handle comedy.  Flockhart, for all her hammyness, can. And clearly this is meant to be a comedic character, so while I'm positive the show probably could have done better for Cat, I also think they probably could have also done much worse.

Edited May 13, 2015 by Kromm

[NorthstarATL]

Whatever fault I might have found with Glee, the casting was always spot on, and Melissa and Grant Gustin both work in the comics-to-tv department. I donj't much care if Arrow never crosses over with Supergirl, but Flash would be a missed opportunity. I hope the show delves into things like why Kara knows what the blanket Kal came to Earth in looks like, but doesn't seem to have interacted with him enough to know her abilities. In any case, it looks to be a bit of fun, and not as heavy as the CW shows, which may turn out to be a good thing. My only problem so far is Jimmy "James" Olsen, and that's because I have a thing for redheads. I guess in a year where Gingers swept the Adademy Awards there was bound to be a backlash. Perhaps we'll get a redheaded Jerro? Or Comet? (Though network TV will probably never touch that particular piece of Supergirl history!)

[Kromm]

I hope the show delves into things like why Kara knows what the blanket Kal came to Earth in looks like, but doesn't seem to have interacted with him enough to know her abilities. 

I didn't take the "I can fly... I think" as ignorance of her abilities. I took it as a callout that its a difficult power to master (and that previous to that, maybe she'd never done so).

 

While this show is not in the Smallville-verse, I kind of was taking it as a nod to that established aspect (that flying was a later blooming power--something that's in line with the original Golden Age comics too).

 

Further evidence was the way later in the preview that we saw her fly. Shaky to start and kind of astonished that she did it (but successful because in that moment she was super-motivated).

[MarkHB]

My impression is that she isn't a mystery to Clark, and that the two of them have had a relationship at some level as she's grown up.  In fact, if you manage to step frame-by-frame through the section of quick cuts between the time her rocket takes off from Krypton and when we see the National City skyline, you'll see some interesting things.

[Kromm]

I think the "why didn't he tell me" was a fairly direct statement that a familial relationship, some level of contact I mean, already exists between them.  While that phrase COULD be used otherwise (as a sort of "why didn't he find me"/contact me/etc.) it's clearly NOT in this case, because of her personal knowledge of his blanket.  She knows him already.  Clearly. Although not THAT well, since she seems to not know Jimmy (which she probably would if she'd extensively hung around with Superman enough to be introduced into his daily Clark Kent existence).

 

The various reboots of the DCU have different origins for Supergirl and totally different first meetings with Superman/Clark, but to me this seems to be the one where Kara is actually chronologically older than Clark, but her rocket takes longer to get to Earth--and either due to time dilation or suspended animation they go from leaving Krypton at roughly the same time with her around age 12 (Earth age) and him a baby, to him arriving on Earth, still a baby but decades before her ship arrives.  So she shows up a few years into his Super-career (so he's in his mid 20s by that point), while she's still biologically around 12. Then this show would be set I think when she's biologically in her early 20s and Superman in his mid-30s, which is what he roughly was portrayed around for the majority of his existence in the comics (although the most recent reboot has had him much younger).

 

At this point I think there are a few different interpretations possible as to why she's with a different family other than the Kents (or Clark himself). But I think this one has gone with the idea that he somehow missed her crash landing on Earth, she got adopted, but then he found her a few years later and didn't want to remove her from an established family (so still in the past relative to the timeline of this show).   

Edited May 14, 2015 by Kromm

[Minneapple]

Oh thank God, finally a superhero show where the biggest issue isn't THE SECRET and WHO KNOWS IT and WHO WILL BE IN DANGER IF THEY FIND OUT.

I'd love a crossover with The Flash.

[chelsie]

I'm not sure what to make of the trailer tbh. It has its moments but I hope it isn't too chickflicky as the music  suggests. I do like chick flicks tho. It would be good if there was a happy medium between the two.  I'll still watch tho.

 

I don't usually comment on body types/looks but Calista looks shockingly skinny. Its really uncomfortable to watch.

Edited May 14, 2015 by chelsie

[Writing Wrongs]

After watching the trailer, I'm in for this show. It looks fun and not so angsty as the rest.

[tv echo]

Some reactions to the trailer...

 

Supergirl's trailer reaction split between joy and 'walking nightmare'
By Kat Brown10:50AM BST 14 May 2015
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/11604628/Supergirls-trailer-reaction-split-between-joy-and-walking-nightmare.html

[FurryFury]

Thank you! Some of these quotes just make me root for this show's success so much more, even if chances are I'll have to drop it at some point like I did with Flash and Arrow.

[jaytee1812]

Yeah, the show looks great, I love Melissa and Chryer, and it's pissing off dude bros, this show is gonna be a winner for me.

I noticed people commenting about there people so many women in the trailer which is fantastic.

If they do a love triangle between Jimmy Olsen and the other guy I hope they do it better than the love triangle Melissa's character had between a white guy and a black guy on Glee.

[FurryFury]

Melissa really drew the short stick on Glee, her character was horrible, no actress could have done much better, imho. That said, she did meet her husband (or is it fiancee?) there, so she probably doesn't mind herself.

[jaytee1812]

Melissa really drew the short stick on Glee, her character was horrible, no actress could have done much better, imho. That said, she did meet her husband (or is it fiancee?) there, so she probably doesn't mind herself.

Neither her nor Blake have said if they're married but their both wearing rings on their wedding fingers, so who knows.