News Superman & Lois Ordered to Series at The CW

[Noname Given]

Huh. Curiouser and curiouser.

As much as I would be up for a two-hour Superman & Lois feast that first night, I'm frankly not sure this is the best idea (if true). The Flash remains The CW's highest rated show, and S&L's premiere might well benefit from its lead-in. OTOH, maybe the execs got excited over the S&L footage they were seeing, and decided to give it a bigger, splashier standalone debut? We shall see.

I think as they ramp up closer to the premiere date, they'll really start pushing the Superman angle; and they probably feel that just mentioning it's a Superman show will get an audience without needing a lead in from The Flash.

I think they're going with this also because Superman and Lois is not going to be like the CW's other DC superhero shows, so perhaps they don't want to have a lead in from a superhero show that's very different from what they expect Superman and Lois to be.

 

[Dick Whitman]

At the end of November production of season 7 of The Flash had to be halted due to someone involved testing positive for Covid. It’s been hard to find any details since than. I would imagine they resumed or there would be huge reports on that. That might have delayed their premiere. Elizabeth Tulloch posted that all the safety measures are making it take much longer to complete episodes. That is without production stops.

If it is two hours of Superman and Lois I suspect they will just show the first two episodes. With serialized storytelling of modern tv the 2nd episode usually pickup right after the first anyways. The days of a true 2 hour pilot or movie length debut episode seem long gone.

I remember Lois & Clark had a very irregular airing of its Pilot in 1993. With commercials it was about 1 hour and 25 minutes. Followed by a half hour special of ABC’s new fall shows. Including a brief segment on L&C. To do that they cut out scenes from the Pilot. It was not until the reruns began on TNT that most of those scenes were aired when edited into 2 part episodes. I never saw the complete Pilot until the first season was released on DVD in 2005 or 2006.

 

[The Realist]

Looks like it's official! Per The CW's Milwaukee affiliate via Twitter:

The ultimate power couple. Don't miss the 2-hour #SupermanAndLois premiere event -- featuring a 90-minute debut & 30 minute "Legacy of Hope" special -- Tuesday, February 23rd!

It is officially the most up to date plan from the network as of an hour ago...and #TheFlash returns March 2nd.

No official description has been shared as this is breaking tonight, but its official listing is "SUPERMAN & LOIS: LEGACY OF HOPE." Best guess: an examination of the characters & their depictions in different mediums with some talent interviews.

YAAASSSSSS!!!

 

[Jayson1]

We are talking about Superman here. The grand daddy of all Superhero characters. Anything less than 2 hours doesn't do the character service.


Jason

 

[thribs]

Can’t wait for the show. I hope they don’t fall into the trap the other shows have by putting him in a team. He doesn’t need one

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

We are talking about Superman here. The grand daddy of all Superhero characters. Anything less than 2 hours doesn't do the character service.


Jason

That's more of a quality issue over length of the episode, and of course, its quality remains to be seen.

 

[The Realist]

Do you get sick of all those Gruber Law “one call, that’s all” ads on Milwaukee CW18 too ?

I grew up Brown Deer, than Germantown and currently Sheboygan. Still watch all networks through Milwaukee channels.

Thanks for sharing!

Actually not in Milwaukee, just picked it up by watching the S&L Twitter tag like a hawk. (We've got our own "one call, that's all" ad guy, though.)

Can’t wait for the show. I hope they don’t fall into the trap the other shows have by putting him in a team. He doesn’t need one

Agreed with this. We'll have to see if The CW can resist the massive gravitational pull of their go-to formula.

 

[Christopher]

Can’t wait for the show. I hope they don’t fall into the trap the other shows have by putting him in a team. He doesn’t need one

One idea that was put forth early in the first season of Supergirl was that what made Kara different from Clark was that he was a loner while she was more of a team player, embracing the House of El's motto "Stronger together." So it would be consistent with past characterization if Superman continued to be a loner. Still, that was years ago, and in the interim he's been involved in several big superhero team-ups, become a founding member of the Justice League, and gotten married (something that seems to have happened much sooner in the post-Crisis reality). So it would also be in character if he's learned to be more of a team player since then.

I don't agree that superheroes don't need teams. From a narrative perspective, I think it's better to have the bulk of the supporting cast in the loop about the hero's identity and activities, since characters in the know are able to play a more meaningful role in the narrative. Remember how hampered Iris was in season 1 of The Flash by not knowing Barry's secret? Her character was much better served once she was in the loop.

We've had over 80 years of Superman stories about keeping his identity secret from his colleagues and loved ones. It would be a nice change of pace to have that de-emphasized. A champion of truth shouldn't be defined by his constant lies to the people closest to him.

 

[JD]

Can’t wait for the show. I hope they don’t fall into the trap the other shows have by putting him in a team. He doesn’t need one

If he doesn't need a team why was he a part of first the Justice Society, and then Justice League, and why does he have a whole family of other Super characters surrounding him?

 

[The Realist]

So people are actually arguing in favor of Superman having some techie character squawking in his ear all the time, and a gaggle of costumed also-rans taking away from his focus and screen time?

 

[ToddKent]

If they do feel the need to add extra heroes to the show hopefully they'll be less arbitrary than adding Mister Terrific and Ragman to Green Arrow's team. I wouldn't mind maybe Steel (John Henry Irons version) showing up. And, of course, the Newsboy Legion...

[Edit] - also Krypto!

 

[Samurai8472]

Superman & Lois series premiere will be 90 minutes with a 30 minute special following it

https://www.spoilertv.com/2021/01/superman-lois-to-premiere-with-90.html

ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23

“SUPERMAN & LOIS” EXPANDS TO 90-MINUTE DEBUT AIRING AT 8:00PM ET

BRAND NEW SPECIAL “SUPERMAN & LOIS: LEGACY OF HOPE” TO FOLLOW SERIES DEBUT AT 9:30PM ET

 

[Christopher]

If they do feel the need to add extra heroes to the show hopefully they'll be less arbitrary than adding Mister Terrific and Ragman to Green Arrow's team. I wouldn't mind maybe Steel (John Henry Irons version) showing up. And, of course, the Newsboy Legion...

[Edit] - also Krypto!

They've already got a cool Krypto on Titans. But I wouldn't object.

Steel is a great idea. Henry Simmons from Agents of SHIELD would be a good choice.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Clearly Superman/Clark will have support if not a team modeled on the other shows. Look at the title of the series - Lois Lane.

I think the show will more about the family. The sons as hey discover their Dad’s secret. Actually it’s Lois and Clark’s shared secret at this point with them married and with kids for years.

 

[Christopher]

The sons as hey discover their Dad’s secret.

Is there any indication that they haven't known all along? I'd think Clark and Lois would want to be open with them about their Kryptonian heritage, and prepared in advance for when and if they develop superpowers. It would be a really crummy thing to lie to your own kids about their identity and culture. And I'd think the Last Son of Krypton would want to keep his ancestral heritage alive by passing it to his children.

It's a bit odd, by the way, that the series description says they haven't developed powers yet. After all, Kara had powers as soon as she arrived on Earth as a preteen, and the reason Clark and Lois went to Argo City to have a kid in the pre-Crisis universe was so that Lois wouldn't be killed by having a superpowered baby kicking her womb open. I guess it's possible that human-Kryptonian hybrids could develop powers more gradually, but that means that Lois had nothing to worry about and they didn't need to go to Argo after all. (Which makes me wonder how things went differently in the post-Crisis timeline. Did they somehow know it would be safe for Lois to conceive? Or did Argo get rediscovered much earlier?)

 

[The Realist]

Clearly Superman/Clark will have support if not a team modeled on the other shows. Look at the title of the series - Lois Lane.

I think the show will more about the family. The sons as hey discover their Dad’s secret. Actually it’s Lois and Clark’s shared secret at this point with them married and with kids for years.

This would be my hope. The "team" is the family.

Is there any indication that they haven't known all along? I'd think Clark and Lois would want to be open with them about their Kryptonian heritage, and prepared in advance for when and if they develop superpowers. It would be a really crummy thing to lie to your own kids about their identity and culture. And I'd think the Last Son of Krypton would want to keep his ancestral heritage alive by passing it to his children.

It's a bit odd, by the way, that the series description says they haven't developed powers yet. After all, Kara had powers as soon as she arrived on Earth as a preteen, and the reason Clark and Lois went to Argo City to have a kid in the pre-Crisis universe was so that Lois wouldn't be killed by having a superpowered baby kicking her womb open. I guess it's possible that human-Kryptonian hybrids could develop powers more gradually, but that means that Lois had nothing to worry about and they didn't need to go to Argo after all. (Which makes me wonder how things went differently in the post-Crisis timeline. Did they somehow know it would be safe for Lois to conceive? Or did Argo get rediscovered much earlier?)

Per an early report (which has proven accurate so far as details have been revealed from other sources), the boys don't know about Dad:

They don't know who their father really is... yet. And they may or may not have inherited his powers.

Source: https://www.primetimer.com/pilots/blog/the-cws-superman-lois-character-breakdown

 

[dupersuper]

Actually not in Milwaukee, just picked it up by watching the S&L Twitter tag like a hawk. (We've got our own "one call, that's all" ad guy, though.)

Agreed with this. We'll have to see if The CW can resist the massive gravitational pull of their go-to formula.

This would be my hope. The "team" is the family.

Agreed, plus maybe Steel...and Gangbuster...and Thorn...and John Diggle/Stewart says he's moving to Metropolis...

They've already got a cool Krypto on Titans.

Cool, bloodthirsty...tomato, toMAHto...

Steel is a great idea. Henry Simmons from Agents of SHIELD would be a good choice.

Agreed.

 

[theenglish]

If they do feel the need to add extra heroes to the show hopefully they'll be less arbitrary than adding Mister Terrific and Ragman to Green Arrow's team. I wouldn't mind maybe Steel (John Henry Irons version) showing up. And, of course, the Newsboy Legion...

[Edit] - also Krypto!

I agree with this. Superman has a supporting cast that is filled with supers. Bendis wrapped up his run with the new Superman family--Kara, Jonathan, Conner, and Brainy and Krypto. Lois and Lana have both had powers recently. Steel, Guardian, even Batman are regular partners for him. It would be nice to see some of those supporting players on the show.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Steel is a great idea. Henry Simmons from Agents of SHIELD would be a good choice.

I'd certainly heard far worse ideas.

I also wouldn't mind bringing back Sarah Robson as Amelia Hamilton, or bringing in a Pete Ross (the closest we've had so far as Pyotr Roslov aka Red Son!Pete in Due Process (SG))

 

[captainkirk]

Steel is a great idea. Henry Simmons from Agents of SHIELD would be a good choice.

Since everyone is going nuts for multiverses and nostalgia, they could always give Shaq a call...