Series Commitment From CBS

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The in-development "Supergirl" series has received a series commitment at CBS, as reported Friday by Deadline. Greg Berlanti, an executive producer/showrunner on fellow DC Comics-based series "Arrow" and "The Flash," and Ali Adler (who worked with Berlanti on "No Ordinary Family") will write the pilot and executive produce.

Deadline provides a brief outline of the show's premise, which seemingly does not shy away from the character's connection to Superman: "Born on the planet Krypton, Kara Zor-El escaped amid its destruction years ago. Since arriving on Earth, she’s been hiding the powers she shares with her famous cousin. But now at age 24, she decides to embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be."

News of a potential "Supergirl" TV series first surfaced just two weeks ago, with Berlanti confirming reports in an interview with CBR News a few days later. Deadline discloses that the series commitment deal was made Thursday night, a day after the project was shopped to networks.

According to Deadline, the series commitment for "Supergirl""eclipses" the commitment "Gotham," which debuts this coming Monday, got from Fox last year. Though a series commitment is a very positive sign a show will wind up on a network schedule, it's still not an absolute guarantee -- just this past year, "Hieroglyph" and "Emerald City" were both dropped by Fox and NBC, respectively, after receiving series orders.

CBS had been the only broadcast network without a comic book-based TV show, with "Gotham" on Fox; "Arrow," "The Flash" and "iZombie" on The CW; "Constantine" on NBC and "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Marvel's Agent Carter" on ABC. It's been an especially fruitful period for DC-based programming, with "Titans" also in development at TNT.

The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, and first introduced in 1959's "Action Comics" #252. There have been multiple interpretations of the character in DC Comics history, but Kara Zor-El -- Superman's cousin and fellow Kryptonian -- has remained the most famous and enduring. The character was featured in a widely panned 1984 film starring Helen Slater, and was depicted in the later seasons of "Smallville," played by Laura Vandervoort.

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variety.com/2014/tv/news/supergirl-cbs-greg-berlanti-ali-adler-1201309008/

CBS has donned its cape and is ready to conquer the superhero market, giving a series commitment to scribes Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler’s “Supergirl.”

“Supergirl,” which is based on characters from DC Comics, comes from Berlanti Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television and is exec produced by Berlanti, Adler and Sarah Schechter. It’s based on the story of Kara Zor-El, who, like her famous cousin, escaped Krypton amid its destruction. She’s been keeping her powers a secret since arriving on Earth, but now — at age 24 — she decides to embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be.

The project gained much fanfare when news broke of its development earlier this month. Berlanti, who has seen success with the superhero genre with his CW show “Arrow” and, presumably also with its upcoming spinoff “The Flash,” has stated that he understands there’s a dearth of female-led shows of this genre, telling Variety “we’re well past due for those kind of characters in film and TV.”

With this purchase, CBS has ensured that all the broadcast channels are either airing or developing a show based on comicbook characters. Aside from Berlanti’s CW properties, ABC has “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” and its upcoming female-led spinoff “Agent Carter.” Fox and NBC are unspooling “Gotham” and “Constantine” this season, respectively — both of which are based on DC characters. This winter, the CW will also unveil “iZombie,” a procedural based on a title from DC’s Vertigo imprint. Fox also recently gave a put pilot commitment to “Lucifer,” which also sources material from Vertigo.

Cable and digital markets are also getting into the act, with TNT offering a pilot production order for “Titans,” which is based on younger characters in DC’s universe, and Netflix partnering with Marvel on a hefty package that includes four shows based on different characters from that universe and a crossover miniseries. Still, the most successful current show of the genre is AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” which is based on an Image Comics series and continues to break ratings records for the channel.