Supergirl

[jgsugden]

Ignoring Powerboobs, I always picture the character circa Crisis on Infinite Earths.  If they were casting for body type, that would have been the target.

However, I think any body type can work if the actress has the right stuff.  After the things I've seen the actress in, I don't she can carry the character.  I hope I'm wrong.

[Evildrider]

Except for the whole slutty outfit, Power Girl is just more interesting than Supergirl.  I mean they are the "same" person, but Power Girl at least went off to do her own stuff and not be branded as just a female Superman.

[schild]

Should have been Power Girl.   

Came here to post this.

[Khaldun]

Wow, St. Bloodworth's Day is arriving almost every few days now, it seems.

[Margalis]

Except for the whole slutty outfit, Power Girl is just more interesting than Supergirl.  I mean they are the "same" person, but Power Girl at least went off to do her own stuff and not be branded as just a female Superman.

Her slutty outfit is part of what makes her interesting compared to the dull "hot but doesn't know it" goody two shoes Super Girl. As a rule super hero costumes make no sense, so her costume really isn't any more nonsensical than many others.

I don't see how a Supergirl TV show isn't going to be tremendously dull. She's a female Superman - gender swapping is a boring concept and the original Superman is super boring.

[Khaldun]

That to me is the real issue--if you have to treat Superman, already kind of a dull character, like the neighbor in Home Improvement, occasionally seen peering over the fence, and it's not a universe populated by superheroes otherwise, I don't know what's interesting about Supergirl.

Re: Power Girl, for those who are interested, she was introduced in a 1970s revival of the Justice Society, back when they were still on "Earth-2", a parallel Earth where Superman, Batman, etc. had aged somewhat and there was a next generation of legacy heroes appearing. She was drawn by the famous artist Wally Wood, who among other things at this point in his career was doing softcore porn art to make his booze money. Wood was bored and so each episode he would draw Power Girl's chest bigger and bigger and wait to see if the editors would notice and tell him to cut it out. Took quite a while before they did, and that established the character as having that as a defining feature.

[jgsugden]

... he would draw Power Girl's chest bigger and bigger and wait to see if the editors would notice and tell him to cut it out. Took quite a while before they did, and that established the character as having that as a defining features.

Fixed that for you.

[Teleku]

I just wanted an excuse to post power girl pics.   

Though on that note, again, the only way DC is going to have a hit TV series is if they let some network give power girl the Spartacus treatment.

They are so god damn terrible at producing anything interesting or worthwhile with their IP, that is literally the only way.

[Ironwood]

Fucking Stupid.


Edited for Clarity :  That fucking picture.

[Khaldun]

Um, DC actually has a hit TV series. The Flash is pulling down pretty strong ratings. Arrow isn't doing too bad, either.

It's the movie franchise that seems pretty hapless.

[jgsugden]

I am not a fan of DC in general and think it is much harder to bring their overpowered heroes to the screen, but I have been very impressed by how they have handled the Flash so far.  There have been a few things that annoy me (villains that are effectively guys with guns need to be fodder for Flash - there is no way they can really be a challenge to that speed), but in general they have exceeded my expectations for the series by a HUGE margin. 

And the same team is behind Supergirl. 

Right now: I don't like the casting.  I don't like the apparent decision not to have Supergirl in the same universe as the other DC TV shows under the same control structure.  I don't really like the look, either.  Regardless, they've earned enough credit in my book that I'll give their new show a chance... and I'd love to be proven wrong.

[Trippy]

Um, DC actually has a hit TV series. The Flash is pulling down pretty strong ratings. Arrow isn't doing too bad, either.

It's the movie franchise that seems pretty hapless.

Um, no. The Flash is the highest rated CW show but the CW viewing audience is an order of magnitude smaller than ABC/CBS/NBC. E.g.:

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2015/03/11/tuesday-final-ratings-the-voice-ncis-fresh-off-the-boat-marvels-agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-person-of-interest-adjusted-up/373749/

http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/cw-2014-15-season-ratings-34237/

[Khaldun]

At this point, honestly? Ratings on the Big 3 do not determine much of anything about success--either success with fans or the economic viability of a show. That shit is 20 years ago as far assessing the market prospects of a show. It's not even clear what "TV" is any more with HBO, Netflix, Playstation, etc., all marketing original programming that you can get without a cable subscription.

And in terms of fan assessment, the Flash and Arrow are doing just fine.

[Trippy]

You said ratings. The ratings in absolute terms suck. If you meant fan appeal you should've said that.

[Khaldun]

Ok, to be clear:

DC's TV offerings are financially successful and aesthetically successful. Ergo, DC doesn't blow at TV. Not that, by all accounts, the DC/WB brass deserve any credit for the CW's successful shows, which they've largely treated as red-haired stepchildren, but there you go.

You can be financially successful enough to get multiple seasons on a variety of outlets and production situations, and you can be a fan success, and you can be both. It doesn't really matter if you're top 20 shows with Nielsen ratings any more for any of that. (One reason among many that Nielsen is pissing in their pants about their irrelevance.)

[jgsugden]

Perhaps a more telling aspect of the success of the DC shows: They are discussing their second spinoff show right now and they've been on the air far less than 5 years - and the second spinoff is going to be the most comic-ish of the three.  Further, the related 'big sister' network is trying to recreate that success on a larger scale using the same 'behind the scenes' people.  That looks like enthusiasm and trust by the network(s).

[HaemishM]

You said ratings. The ratings in absolute terms suck. If you meant fan appeal you should've said that.

Actually, if you look at Flash's ratings on that... they are getting numbers almost as good as New Girl, which is a Fox show that Fox considers a success. This is with a lot fewer affiliate stations than Fox has. And it's getting better ratings than a rerun of Supernatural, which is one of the CW's more successful shows.

Yes, compared to the big 3 networks in absolute numbers, yes they suck. But that's really an apples to oranges comparison. Better to compare them to cable shows on things like FX for the penetration the CW has.

[Ironwood]

The Ironwoods like The Flash.  It's cheesy and flatly ridiculous in the same way as Smallville was, except it seems to be more...grown up than Smallville and Elena can watch it without getting lost.

Also, hot incest sister is hot.

Also, Pannabaker.

[Evildrider]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm46-envrHo

Here's the Supergirl trailer.  It doesn't look super awful and I am at least glad they are going the more lighthearted route with the show.  

*and wtf happened to Callista Flockhart, I didn't even recognize that as her til I looked at the cast list.

[Trippy]

*and wtf happened to Callista Flockhart, I didn't even recognize that as her til I looked at the cast list.

She dyed her hair? Oh and it's been 13 years since Ally McBeal which means she's 50 now.

[Evildrider]

*and wtf happened to Callista Flockhart, I didn't even recognize that as her til I looked at the cast list.

She dyed her hair? Oh and it's been 13 years since Ally McBeal which means she's 50 now.

It looks like she's just had 1 too many facelifts or something.

[Raph]

I quite liked the vibe they went for with that. Devil Prada meets superheroes sort of thing.

[Morat20]

Looked interesting. I just struggle with Superman/Supergirl/Superwhatever stories. Same reason most people do, I guess. It's really hard to do conflict with pretty much invulnerable, super-strong, super-fast, flyers.

Short of magic rocks and other members of their race.

[HaemishM]

I thought it looked pretty awful. The Devil Wears Spandex and Ally McFliesAround. I'll give it a shot but I'm not thrilled at all.

[Evildrider]

Can't be s bad as Gotham was.   

[HaemishM]

I enjoyed about 3/4 of Gotham.

[Evildrider]

I finished up the season but it was Penguin and Nygma that kept me watching.

[HaemishM]

Those were the best parts, though I did like the guy they had playing Gordon (and of course, Leslie Tompkins). Anything with Fish Mooney was goddamn painful though.

However, I'm not sure this will even be as good as that.

[Evildrider]

Fish Mooney is the reason I hated Gotham so much.  I think the whole show would have been better off without the character.

[DraconianOne]

I quite liked the vibe they went for with that. Devil Prada meets superheroes sort of thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_5KgpN38hM

 

[Raph]

Yah, it almost looks like they cut the Supergirl trailer as a direct response to that SNL sketch, to be honest. To me, they're making the point that elements like that don't have to be stupid, don't have to be left out. I mean, if you read up on the stuff Marvel was trying to get removed from Ultron (the farmhouse -- basically, the actual beating heart of the movie) you get the sense they are losing the human angle a bit. For me, this trailer actually tackles the feminist questions head on, undoes several of the romcom cliches, and seems to be trying to get that human element in there.

Who knows how it'll turn out, but it instantly appealed to everyone in my family who saw it, and my daughter for one didn't click with Arrow and Flash, even (thoug hshe watches Gotham, and enjoys Supernatural and many other genre shows).

[Tannhauser]

That wasn't a bad trailer.  I might give the show a shot if they don't put it up against shows I currently watch.

So this show name checks Superman, if they then have Arrow or the Flash on then the movie/TV shows enter continuity.  Behold the DCU!  *cough, cough*

I'd say though only the TV heroes will have a chance of guesting.

[Evildrider]

Not even that.  There was some stuff awhile back about ther being no links between CW stuff and Supergirl. 

[Ironwood]

That wasn't a bad trailer.  I might give the show a shot if they don't put it up against shows I currently watch.

Yeah.

[jgsugden]

Not even that.  There was some stuff awhile back about ther being no links between CW stuff and Supergirl.  

There is still a glimmer of a chance of overlap. The producers want it. One CBS exec said it won't happen. The producers noted that DC historically has crossed over different versions of their universes and then name checked a character in Flash that has hinted at his powers from the comics already.... I think they'll keep trying to convince the powers that be...