SUPERGIRL's Future Is In Doubt As Warner Bros. Mull Budget Cuts And A Possible Move To The CW
While there's room for improvement, the first season of Supergirl was a lot of fun and had some great moments. Unfortunately, a season two renewal is far from a sure thing as CBS and WB enter talks.
The Wrap reveals that CBS and Warner Bros. are currently deep in talks about the future of Supergirl, and with just two weeks to go until the network announce their fall schedule, the clock is ticking and the pressure is on. CBS want the show to come back, but the fact that it costs $3 million an episode to produce is a major issue for them, especially as the series lost around half of its viewers over the course of the season. Supergirl still did good numbers, but not quite good enough to justify an amount as high as that it seems.
However, here's where things get interesting. The trade mentions that, "Both sides have a potential out. Moonves could push 'Supergirl' to The CW, which as it happens is a joint venture between CBS and Warners (Moonves and his team are responsible for programming the network). Such a switch would make perfect sense. The youth-skewing CW already has “The Flash” and other superhero franchises (there was a crossover between 'Supergirl' and 'The Flash' this season), and its audience is much more aligned with 'Supergirl] than is CBS’ much-grayer viewership." Whether or not that will happen remains to be seen - one talent rep strongly denies it - but if it does happen, it means the show will likely undergo some major budget cuts. Of course, when you look at what The CW does with The Flash, that may not be the end of the world!
Supergirl's first season ended on a cliffhanger, and while the show stumbled in places, it was overall pretty good and at times was up there with The Flash (Kara's speech about hope and that battle featuring her and Martian Manhunter taking on Non and Indigo were fantastic in the finale). For now though, its future remains uncertain, but a move to The CW does seem like the best option. Thoughts?