Supergirl Moves to Canada

There’s good news for fans of Superman’s cousin on the boob tube as “Supergirl” gets renewed for a second season, although Variety reports that this also comes with a network move. As CBS decided not to renew the somewhat expensively produced TV show – despite being their number one rated new drama series – it has been deemed necessary to transfer over to The CW and its younger viewership.

The show, which stars Melissa Benoist as the peppy powerful Girl of Steel, cost an average $3 million per episode, prompting CBS to drop it due to flagging episode ratings and not being able to perform as well as the network’s previous Monday night comedy lineup. In order to cut costs for the new season with the move to The CW, “Supergirl” is thus transferring production from Los Angeles to much cheaper Vancouver, according to Cinemablend. This is the same shooting location as “Arrow” and its various spin-off series, already running in Supergirl’s new home network for some time now. It would also necessitate a scaling down of the amount of special effects used for shows of superpowers, which could mean less flying and displays of super-strength from Benoist’s character of Kara/Supergirl.

But what exactly does it mean for ‘Supergirl Season 2’ being in the same network as the edgier and more grounded ‘Arrow-verse’ TV show adaptations of DC Comics heroes, when its previous season has been bright and cheery and more fantastical with its super-strong high-flying heroine? Comic Book Resources asks some questions that may shed light on the show’s future direction in its new home.

There’s the issue of whether the general atmosphere of ‘Supergirl’ will remain the same or shift towards that of the well-established Arrow-verse. Fans supporting both options argue the merits of retaining the show’s unique and sunny feel or integration with the shared universe of the other shows spun off from the drab and gritty “Arrow”. Regardless of the outcome there, another question lies in the possibility of more crossover appearances and storylines between “Supergirl” and its new neighbor series. The season 1 episode “World’s Finest” last March 28, which featured The Flash (Grant Gustin) from the same-named CW show, has already proven how awesome the concept could be when done right (and illustrate how not every meeting between DC heroes could go like “Batman v Superman”), so now speculations of characters from “Arrow”, “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” and even “iZombie” are really abound.

The most hard-hitting issue however would be the possibility of retaining the whole primary cast of “Supergirl” for the next season, as the network move due to budget cuts might necessitate previous season regulars to appear less, or get recast, or dropped entirely. The greatest fear is whether the show could retain one of its most vital characters, Kara’s boss Cat Grant, played by its most expensive cast member, Calista Flockheart. Lastly, with CW retaining its entire existing primetime schedule and picking up a few other new series, one wonders when exactly season 2 is going to lift off with so few open programming slots.

Many concerns about how “Supergirl season 2” will settle in its new network will be answered when The CW makes its fall program schedule announcement and presentation this coming Thursday, May 19. We can only hope that despite the projected smaller scale of adventures and a jarring change of shooting location, Kara Zor-El will continue to soar high on television screens as she fights for truth and justice, be it regularly alongside her new CW compatriots or not.

Photo Credits to CBS.com