Certain DC/Vertigo comic book-based television shows that debuted in 2014 will live on for another season (Gotham, The Flash), but there were some casualties among that freshman class (Constantine), as well as some relatively unexpected successes (iZombie). The DC/Vertigo small screen universe will only be growing larger over the forthcoming months, with one of the most noteworthy additions poised to be CBS’ Supergirl series.
Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist (Glee) as Kara Zor-El, the cousin to Superman/Kal-El and a Kryoptonian who has spent years passing herself off as your average young adult woman, when she decides to use her super-powers at last – and help defend the people of Earth from a variety of threats. The Supergirl pilot may’ve already leaked online, but now we know exactly when the premiere episode will be made available for viewing to the masses (officially, rather than by way of piracy, that is).
CBS has confirmed that the Supergirl pilot will air on CBS on October 26th, 2015, as was confirmed on Twitter via a video featuring Benoist (see above). The show will debut at 8:30 pm (EST) that Monday night, following a special air time for a new episode of the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory – a ratings giant that, in theory, will help drive more people to watch Benoist as Kara’s small screen debut when it first airs. Thereafter, Supergirl episodes will air at 8 p.m. (EST) on Mondays starting in November, as was previously reported.
Benoist will of course be headlining Supergirl on a weekly basis. She will lead a cast that includes Calista Flockhart (Ally McBeal) as Cat Grant, Kara’s boss and a powerful CEO; Mehcad Brooks (True Blood) as a more experienced version of photojournalist Jimmy Olsen, who helps Kara find her superhero feet; Chyler Leigh (Grey’s Anatomy) as Alexandra ‘Alex’ Danvers, Kara’s foster sister and a successful doctor; and David Harewood (Homeland) as Hank Henshaw, a CIA agent who monitors extraterrestrial activity on Earth (and, if the show sticks to the traditional comic book canon, a future super-villain).
Reactions to the six-and-a-half minute Supergirl trailer have been all across the board, much like responses to the show’s very existence in general. Some have argued that the series has the potential to be another bright, upbeat, and good-natured take on the superhero genre, recalling The CW’s The Flash (which was made by most of the same producers behind Supergirl). Many others, however, feel the show is shaping up to be little more than a hollow attempt to exploit the demand for a feminist, women-led, DC superhero program (for more, see the SRU Podcast’s dissection of the trailer).
Supergirl, as indicated before, was created and/or produced by Arrow and The Flash personnel Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, as well as Ali Adler (No Ordinary Family, Chuck). There’s a pretty solid collective body of work between those three producers alone, which bodes well for this new DC superhero series – but that doesn’t guarantee that the early criticisms will prove to have been off-target, mind you.
Nonetheless, Supergirl is poised to start off strong, with its special air time and the pre-debut buzz (good and bad); how it holds up thereafter (when it airs during the same time frame on Mondays as FOX’s Gotham), is another matter.
Supergirl will premiere on CBS at 8:30 p.m. EST on October 26th, 2016. It will air at 8 p.m. EST on Mondays thereafter.
Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist (Glee) as Kara Zor-El, the cousin to Superman/Kal-El and a Kryoptonian who has spent years passing herself off as your average young adult woman, when she decides to use her super-powers at last – and help defend the people of Earth from a variety of threats. The Supergirl pilot may’ve already leaked online, but now we know exactly when the premiere episode will be made available for viewing to the masses (officially, rather than by way of piracy, that is).
CBS has confirmed that the Supergirl pilot will air on CBS on October 26th, 2015, as was confirmed on Twitter via a video featuring Benoist (see above). The show will debut at 8:30 pm (EST) that Monday night, following a special air time for a new episode of the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory – a ratings giant that, in theory, will help drive more people to watch Benoist as Kara’s small screen debut when it first airs. Thereafter, Supergirl episodes will air at 8 p.m. (EST) on Mondays starting in November, as was previously reported.
Benoist will of course be headlining Supergirl on a weekly basis. She will lead a cast that includes Calista Flockhart (Ally McBeal) as Cat Grant, Kara’s boss and a powerful CEO; Mehcad Brooks (True Blood) as a more experienced version of photojournalist Jimmy Olsen, who helps Kara find her superhero feet; Chyler Leigh (Grey’s Anatomy) as Alexandra ‘Alex’ Danvers, Kara’s foster sister and a successful doctor; and David Harewood (Homeland) as Hank Henshaw, a CIA agent who monitors extraterrestrial activity on Earth (and, if the show sticks to the traditional comic book canon, a future super-villain).
Reactions to the six-and-a-half minute Supergirl trailer have been all across the board, much like responses to the show’s very existence in general. Some have argued that the series has the potential to be another bright, upbeat, and good-natured take on the superhero genre, recalling The CW’s The Flash (which was made by most of the same producers behind Supergirl). Many others, however, feel the show is shaping up to be little more than a hollow attempt to exploit the demand for a feminist, women-led, DC superhero program (for more, see the SRU Podcast’s dissection of the trailer).
Supergirl, as indicated before, was created and/or produced by Arrow and The Flash personnel Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, as well as Ali Adler (No Ordinary Family, Chuck). There’s a pretty solid collective body of work between those three producers alone, which bodes well for this new DC superhero series – but that doesn’t guarantee that the early criticisms will prove to have been off-target, mind you.
Nonetheless, Supergirl is poised to start off strong, with its special air time and the pre-debut buzz (good and bad); how it holds up thereafter (when it airs during the same time frame on Mondays as FOX’s Gotham), is another matter.
Supergirl will premiere on CBS at 8:30 p.m. EST on October 26th, 2016. It will air at 8 p.m. EST on Mondays thereafter.