‘Arrow’ and the Flash are apparently not enough; The CW developing ‘Hourman’ series
Just in case you have been feeling over the past several months like The CW actually needs some more shows based around heroes, know this: The network is now in the process of creating a series all about the DC Comics hero Hourman, which is someone who is probably not as familiar to anyone as either the Green Arrow or the Flash.
What is somewhat interesting about the idea for this show is that it is taking quite a few liberties from the original character, at least in that much of Hourman’s powers revolved around him taking a pill that give him superhuman abilities for an hour. This story is instead about a man who sees events an hour into the future, and then tries to find ways to stop them from happening. When you consider that he also has an ex-wife and a son, he has people to protect and also a hope for redemption in the future.
The biggest concern that we have right now is that this may as well just be Kyle Chandler and “Early Edition” all over again. Is there really that substantial of a difference here? Maybe there are some other stories that will come up in time, if this show does get picked up, but the premise is almost perfect for a procedural, and it would give The CW something that could potentially fare well in repeats rather than a show that does well with new episodes, and falls off of a cliff the rest of the time in the ratings.
The network has bet big on heroes over the past two years, with “Arrow” being a huge success for them critically and commercially. They leveraged this to bring in “The Tomorrow People” (the only one of these that is not a DC Comics adaptation). The plan is to have a spin-off series in the fall potentially all about the Flash, and there were also a number of attempts to tell a Wonder Woman prequel series (called “Amazon”) that has to date not really went anywhere.
What do you think: Should a hero as obscure as Hourman really be revived, or do you think that The CW is just desperate to get away from their appealing-to-young-girls-only strategy that they had for a while? Share below!
Photo: The CW