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The Daily Planet: Powerless in the Media

Meredith Quill

By Meredith Quill
in Powerless [V]

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MarkHB

MarkHB

IGN has an extensive look at all 21 shows Warner Bros. TV is bringing to San Diego Comic-Con, and it has this to say about Powerless:

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2:30–3:00 p.m. Powerless Pilot Screening and Q&A — It’s a Super Hero’s world. We just live in it. Join cast members Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical), Danny Pudi (Community), Alan Tudyk (Suburgatory) along with executive producer Ben Queen (A to Z) and executive producer/director Michael Patrick Jann (Reno 911) for a screening of the pilot episode and Q&A covering the first comedy series set in the DC universe. Powerless is the story of Emily (Hudgens), a young insurance adjuster specializing in regular-people coverage against damage caused when Super Heroes and Super Villains treat the city like their own personal battleground. Taking care of insurance needs one by one, Emily and her team of co-workers might not have any superpowers but they are out to make a difference in people’s lives and prove that you don’t need to have powers to be powerful! From Warner Bros. Television and based on characters from DC, Powerless premieres midseason on NBC. Become a fan of Powerless on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NBCPowerless, and follow the show on Twitter at @NBCPowerless.

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Trini

Trini

(edited)

‘Powerless’ Creator Ben Queen Departs NBC’s Midseason DC Comedy Series :

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There has been a change at the helm of the new DC Comics-themed NBC comedy series Powerless. The show’s creator/executive producer and showrunner Ben Queen is exiting. Start of production on the midseason series, which had been slated to begin in two weeks, is being postponed as a search is underway for a new showrunner. The delay will not impact the launch of Powerless as NBC has yet to set its midseason scheduling plans.

Queen’s departure was a mutual decision among the writer-producer, NBC and Powerless producer Warner Bros. TV stemming from creative differences.

http://deadline.com/2016/08/powerless-creator-ben-queen-exits-nbc-midseason-dc-comedy-series-1201804342/

Edited by Trini
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Trini

Trini

Premiere date February 2. New info in NBC's mid-season press release:

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...

"Powerless," based on characters from DC Comics, begins Thursday, Feb. 2 at 8:30 p.m. following "Superstore," one of the most critically applauded comedies on all of television and a solid rating performer that has helped NBC establish a promising comedy beachhead this fall on Thursday nights. ...

"POWERLESS" - Thursday, Feb. 2 at 8:30 p.m.

In a world where humanity must cope with the collateral damage of Super Heroes and Super-Villains, Emily Locke (Vanessa Hudgens) begins her first day as Director of Research & Development for Wayne Security, a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises that specializes in products that make defenseless bystanders feel a little safer. Full of confidence and big ideas, Emily quickly learns that her expectations far exceed those of her new boss (Alan Tudyk) and officemates, so it will be up to her to lead the team toward their full potential and the realization that you don't need superpowers to be a hero.

Danny Pudi, Christina Kirk and Ron Funches also star.

Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, Len Goldstein, Marc Buckland and Dean Lorey are executive producers of "Powerless." The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television and is based on the characters from DC.

 

We knew this was set in (one corner of) the DC universe, but now there's a direct tie to Batman/Wayne Enterprises.

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Kromm

Kromm

(edited)

Wait a second. Other than the same actors being involved, and it still being an office comedy, this sounds like a totally different show.  It seemed key that they were an insurance company before, and I think this seriously loses some teeth if they aren't.

Edited by Kromm
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Trini

Trini

It's so weird that every other show that doesn't have Batman in it can't even mention him, but this is the show that they decide to connect to Wayne Enterprises.
I imagine that the Pilot screened earlier this year is mostly irrelevant now.

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MarkHB

MarkHB

On 12/9/2016 at 5:57 PM, The Crazed Spruce said:

Probably trying to distance itself from the Damage Control series that Marvel's supposedly got in the pipeline. (Sure, that's about a firm that rebuilds after superhero fights rather than insurance, but it's in the same wheelhouse.)

Either that, or the showrunner they fired thought that the insurance angle had far more laughs than it turned out to have once they started writing.

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Kromm

Kromm

Why name the company Wayne and then NOT have Bruce Wayne running it?  Not that I expected to see him on the show, but I don't recall Bruce having an idiot relative running stuff in his stead.

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MarkHB

MarkHB

Wayne Enterprises is huge; this is just one tiny little corner of it (and apparently they are not blessed with Lucius Fox running their R&D).  Plus, usually Bruce is supposed to be a dilettante playboy who, nonetheless, owns the place, so having him run the company wouldn't quite work if that's the characterization of him they're going for.  This way they can leverage the Batman connection in the marketing but leave it at that (and keep Alan Tudyk as the asshole boss character).

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Kromm

Kromm

6 hours ago, MarkHB said:

Wayne Enterprises is huge; this is just one tiny little corner of it (and apparently they are not blessed with Lucius Fox running their R&D).  Plus, usually Bruce is supposed to be a dilettante playboy who, nonetheless, owns the place, so having him run the company wouldn't quite work if that's the characterization of him they're going for.  This way they can leverage the Batman connection in the marketing but leave it at that (and keep Alan Tudyk as the asshole boss character).

I wasn't suggesting Wayne Enterprises isn't big, or that Bruce should actually be running all of it. Just that it's kind of pathetic seeming to invent some previous unknown asshole cousin, rather than just making Tudyk a generic asshole boss. 

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Trini

Trini

Write-ups and quotes from the TCA panel :

Deadline,

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“Usually very, very protective of their characters, and for good reason,” Halpern acknowledged. “A lot of people have invested a lot in these characters. We ask for as much as we can get.”Among the challenges is the quantity of red tape created by the “[Greg] Berlanti-verse” on “another network” (the CW).

He predicted optimistically that the show would be afforded more freedom over time but acknowledged, “The lesson I’ve learned it to ask for everything – or, just go with it and get a laugh at the table read and then they’re stuck.”

TV Line,

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Powerless is set in its own universe, Earth-P, and doesn’t treat the DC films “as things that’ve happened within this world,” Halpern noted. Explained Schumacker: “Batman v Superman and Man of Steel are the cinematic universe. The Berlanti-verse is its own thing. And Earth-P is its own thing. And they all exist within the multiverse of DC,” but separately.

However, that won’t stop the show from having a laugh at the expense of its super serious cinematic counterparts. “We have a joke in the pilot where we poke fun at the Batman v Superman film,” Halpern shared. “It’s always going up to [the DC Comics brass] and being like, ‘Hey, can we s—t on this?’ and usually they have a good sense of humor about it.”

EW,

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The original concept of the series found Hudgens’ character working as a spunky young insurance adjuster specializing in regular-people coverage against damage caused by the crime-fighting superheroes. But the series changed gears about 15 weeks in, as Schumacker says that angle was not generating the workplace storylines they wanted to be telling. After brainstorming with DC, “We landed on security products,” he said, “because we still wanted to do the idea that they’re working on stuff that will make you or me a little bit safer” while there are demigods running around, causing destruction.

IGN

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When they use those DC elements and characters, Halpern said, “We try not to ever play it for a joke in and of itself,” saying they decide, “If we do it, why are we doing it and how does it affect our characters in a mundane sort of way?”

While Bruce Wayne, Batman and the Joker all get some heavy name drops in the Powerless pilot, the producers promised the series itself will pull from across DC Comics. Bruce Wayne is really only important to Van, as a character, “as sort of a dangling carrot” for the career ascension he wants to achieve.

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Trini

Trini

Interview with EP Patrick Schumacker:

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At TCA, you also talked about the fact that there’s a lot of red tape involved, if you want to depict characters that already exist in the film franchises or in the Berlanti-verse shows on The CW. When do you decide that it’s worth going through all of that red tape to fight for something you really want on the show, and when do you decide to work around it and get creative about representing whatever you want to do, in a different way?

SCHUMACKER: I think we should amend the red tape of it all. I think some of the comments at TCA came off like there is a combative relationship with DC that is absolutely not true. There are politics involved because we don’t want to step on the toes of other shows and their domain, but DC is one phone call away, every time we pitch them an idea. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, creatively, for them. They are rightfully protective of their characters and the light in which we are showing their characters. We might have an instinct, as comedy writers, to make fun of Superman in a way that is not something that DC wants to express, as far as how they want to portray Superman. By all means, we want to work with them to show their characters in the best light possible. That’s the best way I can put it. They’re always open. I had a conversation with Dan Evans from DC about getting a member of the Legion of Superheroes in our show. It’s about finding what works for our show, creatively, but also if they have something in the works with another show that deals with someone from the Legion and how far along they are in developing that. It’s about wanting to respect the world of the other shows and allow them to exist on their own. If Supergirl is ahead in the game of bringing in a member of the Legion of Superheroes, then we don’t want to step on their toes. It’s that kind of thing. We just want to be respectful and keep the communication open with them. But we have been given a lot of latitude by them to incorporate things. We can reference whoever we want. The Justice League exists in our world. You’re not going to see Ben Affleck walking through our office, but that’s not to say that, in success, we can’t have Jason Momoa show up, playing the Sparkletts guy. You can do those meta things. We just don’t want to say that this exists in the Arrow-verse or the Snyder-verse, or whatever you want to call it.

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paulvdb

paulvdb

(edited)

The announcement you linked was for the pre-emption of last week's episode. The pre-emption for this week's episode was announced on Wednesday.

Looking at the schedule it seems that they have been moving episodes around a lot. Not just the pre-emptions but also changes in the episode order.

Edited by paulvdb
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paulvdb

paulvdb

It certainly wasn't a show of confidence in the show. And pre-empting it also didn't help the show keep viewers. Ratings dropped significantly when we finally got a new episode again. And it's not like the ratings were that great to begin with.

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MarkHB

MarkHB

I think that when they retooled, and as part of that cut back on the number of gags that relied on high comics knowledge ( whether Wonder Woman destroying something was an act of God, since she's a demi-god, etc.), they pretty much lost their niche. I still think it's funny, but it's too mundane to attract hardcore nerds and it's not distinctive enough to draw the GA.

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vibeology

vibeology

This sounds really negative but if the writer's strike happens, I bet the last few episodes will air. NBC is only going to have so much in the can and if they need to pad out a schedule, I can see them airing this. At the same time, if a writer's strike happens it certainly a guarantee that those last three episodes will be it for the show (and probably several other bubble shows that might have survived otherwise.)

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thuganomics85

thuganomics85

Just heard the news.  Can't say I'm surprised, but still a little bummed.  It wasn't a perfect show, but I felt like the past few episodes were pretty solid, and the show was starting to find itself.  It felt like they were tightening a few things and a lot of the stuff I wasn't a fan of (mainly the way everyone was piling on Emily), was being toned down.  Alas, it was too late.  It feel like comedies really have it hard.  If they don't hit the ground running, they are doomed.  And being set in a comic book universe makes it even harder, I suspect.

Hopefully, the cast will find other gigs soon (especially Alan Tudyk.)  And after "Emergency Punch-Up", I really hope Vanessa Hudgens branches out and actually tries for more villainous roles, because she could actually be pretty good at that. 

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