CBS aims high with ‘Supergirl’ and ‘Angel’
CBS took center stage Monday at the Television Critics Association summer tour in Beverly Hills. The network talked about superheroes and otherworldly creatures on its fall lineup. Here are highlights:
MAKE ROOM FOR ‘SUPERGIRL’ Television’s superhero crowd will get bigger this fall with the arrival of Supergirl Oct. 26.
Executive producer Greg Berlanti says he “grew up worshiping ” Richard Donner’s Superman films “and their magic and their fun. We’d like to bring just a smidgen of the magic those films had.”
Supergirl stars Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El, who at 24 takes a job at a media empire ruled by Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart). One of her colleagues is James Olsen (Mehcad Brooks), no longer a cub reporter as originally conceived but now a nationally acclaimed photographer and friend of Superman’s.
Benoist is able to display “the strength, hope, heart (and) humor” of the character and has ‘instant likability,’ ” executive producer Andrew Kreisberg says.
CBS Entertainment chairman Nina Tassler says no crossover episodes with CW’s Arrow or The Flash are planned.
Red Tornado, a DC Comics character, will appear in the show, as will Non, a character from Donner’s film, but don’t expect to see Superman.
Benoist is enjoying the role, including doing Supergirl’s superpowered stunts: “It’s exciting to feel like you’re flying.”
— Bill Keveney
JUST CALL HER ‘ANGEL’? Jane Lynch plays a guardian angel who comes into the life of Allison, a young woman played by Maggie Lawson. Sounds great for Allison, or it would be if this angel weren’t a rude, crude drunk.
The Angel From Hell script was written for two women the same age, Lynch says. But she read it, loved it and told her agent to ask the producers of they could “see someone as old as Jane Lynch in the role.” And yes, they could.
And why not: She’s an Emmywinning, in-demand actor who’s thrilled to be working. But she’s more thrilled at the moment just to feel satisfied with who she is, to feel “settled” in her person.
“I’m really grateful and I try to stay open. … I’ve come to believe what I’m meant to be doing is right in front of me. I don’t go searching for it.”
Does she believe she has a guardian angel? Yes. “If you’re open to it, I think there’s help around us and love around us.”
Of course, even though Lynch believes in angels, that doesn’t mean Angel does. So, is her Amy an angel or just unbalanced? Obviously, creator Tad Quill knows the answer, but he’s not telling.
“It’s never in doubt that Amy believes she’s an angel,” Quill says. “But it’s also consistent with a 50-year-long manic phase. So we always keep that open.”
— Robert Bianco
‘DOME’ DEVELOPMENTS Under the Dome will escape it when the summer series’ third season ends Sept. 10. The question is whether the show itself survives the Chester’s Mill towns-folks’ newfound freedom.
“The dome is coming down at the end of the season, but that opens up a whole host of storytelling possibilities,” Tassler says. But she wouldn’t say whether the show will be renewed for a fourth season, adding that the decision will be made by early fall.
Although the series is among summer’s top-rated network dramas, its audience has dropped sharply from its big first season.
Dome also has been critically lambasted of late for overextending the premise of the Stephen King novel on which it is based.
Tassler also talked up Stephen Colbert, whose Late Show premieres Sept. 8.
“He is certainly the smartest guy in the room, has a great imagination, but he really does enjoy performing,” she says. “We are coming into an election year. Who are you going to want to hear from? Who are you going to want to watch? It’s going to be Stephen.”
— Gary Levin