Fall TV Preview: Will CBS’ ‘Supergirl’ fly high?
For our latest chapter in our Fall TV Preview series here at CarterMatt, we are focusing on a show that is almost undoubtedly at the peak of the summit when you are talking about ambitious shows: “Supergirl.” The Melissa Benoist series has “Arrow” and “The Flash’s” own Greg Berlanti involved as executive producer, and to go along with that, you also have the wonderful Ali Adler of “Chuck” and “No Ordinary Family.” You have a superstar team of people behind the scenes, and then a capable DC Comics franchise.
Is it still the right fit for CBS? That is one of the questions we hope to uncover as we profile the series today, based mostly on the trailer released recently by the network.
What works – The franchise itself is a big one, and Berlanti and Adler already have recruited some great visual-effects people. There is a little bit of humor in here, which we think is an absolute must given that the Supergirl comic tone is a little similar to us to The Flash. Also, the show addresses head-on what we feel are the biggest modern-day issues that would be disucssed with this character, such as her name and also why she settles on the outfit that she does. There are also reminders of Superman, and that we are going to have a pretty strong alien presence here from start to finish.
What doesn’t – We’re very worried about the workplace part of the show, mostly because it feels both like a play on “The Devil Wears Prada” and that recent “Saturday Night Live” spoof with Scarlett Johansson. Why does so much of this have to feel like a romantic comedy?
Excited as we may be, we’re worried more long-term about whether CBS will force the show to be much more episodic than some of the others in the Berlanti universe, since they like their shows to be for the most part very procedural.
Our verdict – The show is going to get great ratings right away. The problem will be three or four episodes down the road. We’ll be watching, and we hope the CBS audience sticks with it for a while.