DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD INTERVIEW with Greg Berlanti
DEADLINE: CBS and WBTV have high hopes for the debut of Supergirl later this fall but are you worried about possible caped cannibalization with the new show going to head-to-head on Mondays with another WBTV series, Season 2 of Gotham on Fox?
GREG BERLANTI: I just think the landscape is always going to have competition for everyone, and that’s the environment we’re in now. Look, I very much enjoy
Gotham, and I would watch both shows. I think that there’s so many ways for people to enjoy their programming these days, so, for me, you have to focus on making the best
Supergirl you can and then hope that you find your audience. I also think as each year sort of proves, if you have two really good shows on against each other on the same night they don’t have to catabolize each other’s audience. In this case, both shows originate from the DC universe but they’re quite different and my sense is they’ll both live very successfully.
DEADLINE: In the Supergirl pilot, there’s reference to a role model for daughters as well as a very deft discussion about the positive power of the word “girl.” Was it important for the show to address the fact that a female superhero has her own series and leading role?
BERLANTI: The studio, the network, and two of the women I make the show with, Sarah Schechter and Ali Adler, all felt is important that the show definitely touches on the dialogue. Also, just based on all the men, and women, we have who worked on the show, and just anecdotally from the moms, and dads, who come up to me and tell me how important it is to them.
From my own two cents, I feel like it’s important that we address those things because it’s always important to try to figure out a way, narratively, to talk about what the audience is going to be talking about. Hopefully, then there’s an even more intimate relationship between the show and the people who are watching.
