Wow, the Supergirl series is moving forward extremely quickly. Over a week ago we learned that superhero expert and popular producer Greg Berlanti was pitching a Supergirl series to the networks. On Friday, CBS announced that it has picked up Supergirl and given the female-oriented superhero drama a series commitment. Here are the details.
In the comic book world, different characters have played Supergirl over the years. However, THR reports that Supergirl will follow Kara Zor-El, a former Krypton resident who escaped and fled to Earth during the time of the planet’s destruction. At the start of the series, she will be in her early twenties and will be starting to use her superhuman abilities to do good on Earth. Oh, and did we mention she’s superman’s cousin? That part has kind-of a twisted backstory that I hope will warrant a mention when the show eventually airs.
As we noted prior, Warner Bros. is backing the Supergirl project, although this will be the first time a superhero series has landed at CBS rather than its ugly stepsibling network, The CW. Arrow’s Berlanti and The New Normal’s Ali Adler are set to executive produce and write the DC Comics-based series. Additionally, Sarah Schechter will executive produce.
CBS is the last of the big networks to jump on the superhero bandwagon. The CW has known what a viable property superhero dramas are for years and currently has both the successful Arrow and the upcoming The Flash property to prove it. ABC has done well with its Marvel properties and has Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the upcoming Agent Carter set to air this season. NBC and Fox are not far behind with Constantine and Gotham poised to premiere in the coming weeks. CBS might be the very last of the big networks to go out on a limb with a big superhero property, but now that the network has decided to jump in, CBS is being really gutsy. The network has chosen a female-based superhero property to make it on to TV during this new wave of male-dominated superhero programming. Additionally, the network believes in the Supergirl property enough that it has skipped the pilot phase and committed to moving forward to series with the hour-long endeavor.
There’s no word on when Supergirl will premiere or even how many episodes audiences will get during Season 1, much less who will star in the brand new series. The good news is that CBS is moving forward, and the network is moving forward fast. So keep your eyes peeled over the next several weeks for more information on the new series.
In the meantime, don’t forget to check out Fox’s Gotham next Monday at 8 p.m. ET. Season 2 of ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D will premiere at 9 p.m. ET on September 23. Constantine, Arrow and The Flash will all premiere in October. You can check out the full fall schedule, here.
