Supergirl Supergirl General Discussion Thread - Part 7

[justlooking]

actually more and more people are doing this. You can get pretty crisp HD channels for free. I havent bothered with cable since I started this

Yup. OTA HD is actually less compressed than cable and satellite. Then again cable and satellite are able compress with more modern codecs H.264 and H.265. OTA HD in america is still done with MPG-2.

 

[Kelly]

Yeah, maybe fewer villains would be better.

Although I didn't really like the way Silver Banshee suddenly had this makeover. It was all very rushed. I was hoping she'd already have developed her powers and new appearance before the Flash came along.

And I hope the fire brigade do not end up saving Kara again this season.

That was extremely rushed, and suddenly she can knock Supergirl 10 feet in the air? When did that happen?

I also didn't like the whole Supergirl punching the ground to pick up a piece of it....seemed like a lot of cgi work for nothing.....speed/fly and knock the snot out off Silver Banshee....she was only walking away.

 

[Dark Raven]

The transformation aspect would have been very easy as well, using her powers drains her and makes her more skeletal very easy and pretty logical (relatively speaking) then just have her clothing get extensively battle damaged (but still have convenient coverage of course) and just something as simple as that would have improved that scenario without the need for another episode/expanding it into a two-parter (although a two-parter would have been better).

That would've worked, although what I thought would happen is that something would take her over. She had those premonitions before which gave her flashes to this Banshee character that had been part of her family's history. I thought it was going to possess her and alter her appearance supernaturally, not that it would just inspire her to paint her face that way.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

"SUPERGIRL" CAST, EP promise a "MORE VIBRANT" show on the CW.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/supergirl-cast-ep-promise-more-vibrant-show

 

[Thome216]

And I hope the fire brigade do not end up saving Kara again this season.

I thought that was great! Far too often, humans (when not in the DEO) are shown as pretty helpless. Here was a very common group of firefighters coming to the rescue of one of the ultimate rescuers. I'd like to see a lot more of that team work further on.

That's what I was hoping for too. I wanted it that she had an actual physical transformation somehow, not that she just decided to have a girly makeover at Livewire's behest.

I think it really needed an extra episode before that Flash crossover.

Silver Banshee has so far been wasted. And yes, the make-over was pretty meh. Should of done like New 52 and had it be supernatural transformation rather than just too much foundation...

And finally, Superman and Supergirl on TV in full costume! Totally awesome!!

 

[Thome216]

"SUPERGIRL" CAST, EP promise a "MORE VIBRANT" show on the CW.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/supergirl-cast-ep-promise-more-vibrant-show

More Martian Manhunter!! Please!

 

[Kelly]

The whole time they were in the park during the "Crossover" I was thinking.....KARA, TURN ON THE SPRINKLER SYSTEM.....but she never thought of it. :/

 

[famicommander]

What are some numbers as far as that's concerned, I understand that the CW of course does not have the viewership that CBS does, but is there somewhere where we could see a specific averaging of the numbers? that would be interesting to see so as to gauge this next season.

For example, if a show on CBS has an average of 7 million viewers how would that compare to the CW's viewership?

or an average demo of 1.6 on CBS as compared to the CW?

Is there a site to go to or something?

From 2016

Top two rated scripted dramas
CBS: NCIS (2.21 average), Criminal Minds (1.79 average)
CW: The Flash (1.37 average), Arrow (0.94 average)

Median rated scripted dramas
CBS: Blue Bloods and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (both 1.24 average)
CW: The 100 (0.48 average), The Vampire Diaries (0.46 average)

Lowest rated scripted dramas
CBS: CSI: Cyber (0.92 average), Rush Hour (0.79 average) [both were cancelled]
CW: Reign and Crazy ex-Girlfriend (both 0.30 average) [both were renewed]

The Flash is the huge outlier here. Otherwise, very roughly, CBS dramas score about 3X the ratings of a CW drama.

Arrow and Legends were the only other CW shows to even break a 1.0 last season, and the best rated episodes of Arrow ever are the Flash crossover episodes. Arrow has never even hit above a 1.3 without a Flash crossover, whilst Flash has basically averaged a 1.4 for two straight seasons.

In its first season, Supergirl was THE most-watched comic-book television series currently airing, beating out not only every single one of the CW's superhero series, but also beating out ABC's Agents of Shield and FOX's Gotham and Lucifer... and by a significant margin.

The Walking Dead is a comic book show and it was way, way bigger than Supergirl.

Supergirl had the best numbers of any Marvel or DC show last season in absolute terms, but again, not when you account for network average. If Supergirl had done as well for CBS as Lucifer and Gotham did for Fox or as well as Flash/Arrow/iZombie/Legends did for CW, CBS would have renewed the show instead of letting it fall to CW.

You can't compare across networks like that. CBS has the highest standards for scripted dramas, and based on those standards Supergirl under performed. Lucifer, on the other hand, did decent numbers. But compared to the desolate wasteland that is Fox's non-Empire drama slate, Lucifer was a massive smash hit.

SHIELD is essentially a lame duck show. It was always going to get a fourth season due to syndication economics, but if it had put up last season's numbers in season two it'd have been cancelled without a second thought. I'd be shocked if it gets renewed this year, unless Ghost Rider's presence provides an unexpected long term boost.

i wasn't specifically referring to Supergirls viewership.

I was referring to the network switch with CW moving away from WGN to Fox Television Stations-owned WPWR which is channel 50. Not positive if more people get that station than WGN and whether or not we'd see an overall increase or decrease across all the shows.

I know i have PS Vue, which doesnt have wgn/CW but it has channel 50. Ive been watching the shows on hulu the past year.

http://deadline.com/2016/05/the-cw-tribune-new-affiliate-agreement-2-1201761192/

The move only really affects the Chicago market. It's true that the newer affilate doesn't have the market penetration of a WGN, but the other side of the coin is that many CW shows got pre-empted for live sporting events in Chicago. Both Arrow and iZombie hit series lows last season, largely because of pre-emptions in Chicago. So the viewership may be a little lower overall, but it'll be much more consistent.

 

[Kelly]

OK....that sheds a little more light on it....

 

[Thome216]

The whole time they were in the park during the "Crossover" I was thinking.....KARA, TURN ON THE SPRINKLER SYSTEM.....but she never thought of it. :/

I don't know... A park that has a convenient sprinkler system seems a little too easy. I like the twist of Supergirl being saved by our own common heroes.

 

[Kelly]

Alright, a couple of videos, I don't think everyone has seen this "BTS Crossover", there were 2 one was only on CBS All Access and I think this is that one....

And then this cool Visual Effects BTS, very cool....

 

[Kelly]

I don't know... A park that has a convenient sprinkler system seems a little too easy. I like the twist of Supergirl being saved by our own common heroes.

Oh, I actually kind of liked that as well....the other was joke.

HOWEVER, I wish they had truly turned the hoses on full blast and just blind sided them....instead of the kind "meh" little bit of water.

 

[Thome216]

Those were some cool clips. The crossover one shows just how much fun they have, while the FX shows just how much actually goes into what they create. They do it seamlessly (most of the time) that I'm surprised at how many of the actual 'city' shots are CG! Awesome!

 

[Thome216]

Oh, I actually kind of liked that as well....the other was joke.

HOWEVER, I wish they had truly turned the hoses on full blast and just blind sided them....instead of the kind "meh" little bit of water.

Oh yeah, I got that. For sure... Of course... I knew it... Yeah... t:

And true dat, a full blast of water from a fire house would have knocked them half way across the park! LOL

 

[KillerMcQueen]

Oh, I actually kind of liked that as well....the other was joke.

HOWEVER, I wish they had truly turned the hoses on full blast and just blind sided them....instead of the kind "meh" little bit of water.

I also like the idea, but I really wish they hadn't done it during the crossover, Supergirl and Flash were anything but bada** superheroes in that crossover, they get their a**es handed to them twice by a couple of far less experienced supervillains, and then were bailed out by some firefighters with a hose...

 

[Dark Raven]

Supergirl should get Tracey Scoggins to play someone. Maybe a rival to Calista.

 

[DigificWriter]

CBS giving Supergirl to their sister network was not motivated by ratings. It was motivated by practicality. The CW wanted the show, and it was cheaper - and ultimately necesary - to move production to Vancouver, and so the 'swap' was made.

BTW, while we're on the subject of networks, CBS gave Supergirl a pretty big budget in Season 1 (14 million for the Pilot and 3 million per episode thereafter), but because it ultimately costs less on the whole to film in Vancouver, the show's budget for Season 2 is bigger (as per Sarah Schecter [at Comic-Con] via Supergirl Radio).

 

[BH/HHH]

CBS giving Supergirl to their sister network was not motivated by ratings. It was motivated by practicality. The CW wanted the show, and it was cheaper - and ultimately necesary - to move production to Vancouver, and so the 'swap' was made.

BTW, while we're on the subject of networks, CBS gave Supergirl a pretty big budget in Season 1 (14 million for the Pilot and 3 million per episode thereafter), but because it ultimately costs less on the whole to film in Vancouver, the show's budget for Season 2 is bigger (as per Sarah Schecter [at Comic-Con] via Supergirl Radio).

Thanks for clearing that up I wasn't aware the budget was bigger. I had this fear the FX were gonna drop in quality but I guess if anything they'll be the same or better.

 

[famicommander]

CBS giving Supergirl to their sister network was not motivated by ratings. It was motivated by practicality. The CW wanted the show, and it was cheaper - and ultimately necesary - to move production to Vancouver, and so the 'swap' was made.

BTW, while we're on the subject of networks, CBS gave Supergirl a pretty big budget in Season 1 (14 million for the Pilot and 3 million per episode thereafter), but because it ultimately costs less on the whole to film in Vancouver, the show's budget for Season 2 is bigger (as per Sarah Schecter [at Comic-Con] via Supergirl Radio).

The move to Vancouver and the move to CW are two separate things, first of all. There are CBS shows that shoot in Vancouver and there are CW shows that shoot outside Vancouver.

Second, if Supergirl had been a major success for CBS they would not have given the show up. That's just basic reasoning. They picked up the pilot and set the budget for a reason; they expected it to return a certain level of ad revenue. It didn't, which is why a network and location change was necessary in the first place.

Networks don't make a habit of shipping successful shows off to rival networks. CBS co-owns CW but they are still ultimately in competition with them for ratings and therefore ad revenue.

 

[DigificWriter]

Les Moonves flat-out said that CBS was interested in keeping the show, but that the move to the CW ended up being the most fortuitous option for all parties involved, so, again, the ratings had nothing to do with anything.

If anything can be looked at as the 'deciding factor', honestly, based on what we know, it was the licensing fee, which CBS had to pay and The CW doesn't.

 

[famicommander]

Les Moonves flat-out said that CBS was interested in keeping the show, but that the move to the CW ended up being the most fortuitous option for all parties involved, so, again, the ratings had nothing to do with anything.

If anything can be looked at as the 'deciding factor', honestly, based on what we know, it was the licensing fee, which CBS had to pay and The CW doesn't.

What was she going to say? That the show disappointed and that she made a mistake picking it up in the first place?

If the ratings were better, moving to CW never would have even been discussed as a possibility. CBS likes money. If Supergirl were making enough of it for them they would have kept it. Period.

CBS picked up the show for a reason, set the budget where it was for a reason, shot in LA for a reason, and charged the ad rates they did for a reason. They knew what the licensing fee would be from the start.

They did it all because they thought Supergirl would do better ratings. Enough to justify the expenditures involved.

The very fact that they had to cut any costs at all should tell you all you need to know.

CW isn't clamoring to hand off Flash to anyone, nor is Fox with Lucifer or Gotham. AMC isn't trying to unload The Walking Dead.

Hit shows don't move production to a different country and get shipped to a smaller network.

 

[metaphysician]

Eh, there's an additional factor: CBS seemingly deciding to kill its entire genre offering. I am not at all certain that higher ratings would have kept Supergirl on CBS.

 

[famicommander]

Eh, there's an additional factor: CBS seemingly deciding to kill its entire genre offering. I am not at all certain that higher ratings would have kept Supergirl on CBS.

If Supergirl had delivered ratings high enough they likely would have doubled down on genre programming.

The fact that they hyped it as much as they did and launched it with a Big Bang Theory lead-in shows that they had high expectations for it, and therefore likely aspirations for multiple seasons.

Shows don't get picked up and advertised if the network doesn't see them working out long term.

 

[DigificWriter]

Les Moonves is a man, first of all.

Second, he didn't have to say anything. Everyone assumed that CBS let Supergirl go to The CW because they weren't happy with the ratings, but Moonves - of his own volition - chose to shoot those assumptions down point-blank.

 

[famicommander]

Les Moonves is a man, first of all.

Second, he didn't have to say anything. Everyone assumed that CBS let Supergirl go to The CW because they weren't happy with the ratings, but Moonves - of his own volition - chose to shoot those assumptions down point-blank.

So, what you're saying is they shipped the show to a smaller network, slashed costs, and moved the shooting to an entirely different country because the ratings were fine?

You have a storied history of failing to properly interpret PR speak, and this is yet another case. Network presidents don't make a habit of pointing out their own mistakes in public, nor do they make a habit of running afoul of fanbases. If they had come out and said Supergirl failed to meet expectations, it would be an admission that they miscalculated its potential.

If Supergirl has been successful based on the expectations CBS laid out for it, it would still be on CBS. That should be self-evident.

Why did they pick up the show in the first place? Because they thought it would drive ratings.

Why did they choose to pay the licensing fee, shoot in an expensive city, give it the best lead-in they could muster, and promote it heavily? Just so they could pass it over to another network, where they will now have to compete with it on Mondays?

If Supergirl's ratings were good for CBS, there would be no reason to discuss moving to Vancouver or changing networks.