CBS ‘Supergirl’ Sets October Premiere, Plus More Fall Schedules
CBS’ Supergirl series suffered something of a mishap in leaking its pilot just days after being picked up to series, and now Superman’s cousin at last has a proper arrival ahead. The network will premiere DC’s newest TV superhero in October, also setting premiere dates for The Big Bang Theory, Limitless and more.
While football will dominate the early portion of CBS’ fall premiere lineup, the network will start rolling out its scripted programming on Monday, September 21 with the Season 9 premiere of The Big Bang Theory at 8:00 P.M., followed by new comedy Life in Pieces, the Season 2 premiere of Scorpion, and the latest from NCIS: Los Angeles. Limitless will premiere the following night after NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans.
Flashing forward all the way to Monday, October 26, Supergirl will premiere at 8:30 P.M. after a new episode of The Big Bang Theory, the following week debuting in its normal time of Mondays at 8:00 P.M. So reads the official CBS logline for Supergirl:
SUPERGIRL is an action-adventure drama based on the DC Comics character Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist), Superman’s (Kal-El) cousin who, after 12 years of keeping her powers a secret on Earth, decides to finally embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be. Twelve-year-old Kara escaped the doomed planet Krypton with her parents’ help at the same time as the infant Kal-El. Protected and raised on Earth by her foster family, the Danvers, Kara grew up in the shadow of her foster sister, Alex (Chyler Leigh), and learned to conceal the phenomenal powers she shares with her famous cousin in order to keep her identity a secret.
Years later at 24, Kara lives in National City assisting media mogul and fierce taskmaster Cat Grant (Golden Globe Award winner Calista Flockhart), who just hired the Daily Planet’s former photographer, James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), as her new art director.
However, Kara’s days of keeping her talents a secret are over when Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), head of a super-secret agency where her sister also works, enlists her to help them protect the citizens of National City from sinister threats. Though Kara will need to find a way to manage her newfound empowerment with her very human relationships, her heart soars as she takes to the skies as Supergirl to fight crime.
Greg Berlanti (“The Flash,” “Arrow”), Ali Adler, Sarah Schecter and Andrew Kreisberg are executive producers for Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. The pilot was directed by Glen Winter (“Arrow”).
In addition, Supergirl features Owain Yeoman as DC’s Vartox, Iron Man villain Faran Tahir as The Commander, Smash star Jeremy Jordan as Toyman, former Super-stars Dean Cain and Helen Slater in unknown roles, and Laura Benanti as Kara’s Kryptonian mother Alura. As with DC’s approach to movies and TV thus far, the new Supergirl series will establish its own independent continuity, outside of Arrow and The Flash, or the inevitable Justice League movie, as CBS boss Nina Tassler previously downplayed the possibility of any CW crossover.
The pilot has already leaked and been dissected every which way, but will fans be content to wait until October 26 for a proper debut? How might CBS tweak its Supergirl in the meantime?