New details of the new Supergirl series in development by Warner Bros. TV and CBS were revealed at the Television Critics Association’s semi-annual press tour. CBS entertainment chairman Nina Tassler has announced the series will be a crime procedural.
“There will be cases, but what [executive producers] Ali Adler and Greg Berlanti pitched was a real series arc for her. The beauty of it is now with shows like Good Wife and Madam Secretary, you can have serialized story elements woven into a case of the week. She’s a crime solver, so she’s going to have to solve a crime. She’s going to get a bad guy.”
Tassler describes their version of the DC Comics character as:
“a very strong, independent young woman. She’s coming into her own. She’s dealing with family issues. She’s dealing with work issues. It’s a female empowerment story. If you look at the strong female characters we have on the air, it really is resonant of that … We’re big feminists. It’s her intellect, it’s her skill, it’s her smarts. It’s all of those elements. It’s not just her strength, which she does have.”
As for casting Supergirl, CBS plans to look at lesser-known actresses.
“She’s got to be an every woman. She’s got to be specific. She’s got to be a terrific actor. [It’s] looking for someone who embodies both the freshness and the exuberance of being a young woman in today’s challenging climate and being someone who can carry this kind of series on her shoulders. It’s a big, big show.”
They have already made the Supergirl costume and according to Tassler, the costume is “awesome.”
