'Superman & Lois' in development at the CW

[Yoda]

The majority of superhero joints are pulp action/adventure.
The soap opera thing is just due to low budget.

I REALLY wish the CW would just own their quality and write for it. Do super campy fun stuff. Pow, wam, bam. Lots of colours. I'd be so into that. Stop trying to be what it isn't.

I mean... have you watched Legends?

[Osiris-Rex]

Plus a big factor is the budget and the special effects. Shows from two+ decades ago were always going to have skimpier action than modern shows. While those constraints still exist to a certain extent, the CW shows have been able to do a lot with what they have. The shows with smaller runs, like the 13 episode one this is supposed to have, tend to be able to do more with it. We have a pilot script and we have a 9 years worth of CW shows to set a baseline that should alleviate some of the concerns.

The budget of the 1950s Adventures of Superman was $15,000 per episode. I am guessing that is in 1950s dollars. Even if you adjust for inflation that is still only around $140,000 per episode.
And it was pretty obvious by the sparseness of the sets, small cast, and limited action sequences. Compare that to the $3 million per episode of shows like The Flash and Supergirl. I am guessing
that Superman and Lois will have a similar budget. Sadly people now expect these shows to have the same quality sets and effects that a movie costing $200 million has.

[Yoda]

The budget of the 1950s Adventures of Superman was $15,000 per episode. I am guessing that is in 1950s dollars. Even if you adjust for inflation that is still only around $140,000 per episode.
And it was pretty obvious by the sparseness of the sets, small cast, and limited action sequences. Compare that to the $3 million per episode of shows like The Flash and Supergirl. I am guessing
that Superman and Lois will have a similar budget. Sadly people now expect these shows to have the same quality sets and effects that a movie costing $200 million has.

I'm hopeful they go the route shows like GOT went and spread the same budget over fewer episodes to increase the effects. The CW effects actually are better I think than some of the DC Universe shows. Titan's had a ridiculously embarrassing Trigon.

[stargazer01]

Based on the leaked script, the show appears to be as much, if not more, about his sons than about him. So I wonder how much screen time he'll actually get.

Based on the synopsis released a few days ago, it sounds like the teens will be the main focus.. it worries me. If it's a family action-drama show, it sounds a lot better than another Clana with the boys fighting for the attention of Lana's daughter...

I mean, the CW shows have relationship drama, but I feel like we still get plenty of those aspects as well.

Sometimes, but many times I feel they overdo the romantic angst. I have seen enough CW shows to see how mediocre or bad the writers can be. I've found most of the DC shows on this network nearly unwatchable. At least half the episodes. That's a bad record. Guess I'm not the target of this shows.

The majority of superhero joints are pulp action/adventure.
The soap opera thing is just due to low budget.

I REALLY wish the CW would just own their quality and write for it. Do super campy fun stuff. Pow, wam, bam. Lots of colours. I'd be so into that. Stop trying to be what it isn't.

Good point. They don't have the budget or the talent to do the stories I want to watch, so instead they punish me with contrived drama. Hopefully, it's a superhero drama with a better balance of drama and action and adventure. Time will tell, but I'm not expecting it.

[Frontier]

I mean... have you watched Legends?

And Legend mostly runs on camp at this point. Well, not Superhero camp, but still .

[Flash Gordon]

I mean... have you watched Legends?

That's not what I mean by 'camp'.

Camp as a theatrical style, not just an occasionally silly CGI thing. It's a style of acting, a style of writing, over the top set pieces and weird practical effects.

BATMAN '66 is camp, and its gorgeous and perfect within it's own narrative world. It has a fully realized aesthetic and tone. The 80s FLASH GORDON flick is another grand example.

If this new SUPERMAN show has to be cheap, I'd like to see stage acting and colourful costumes and last minute plot contrivances. Work with what you have, ya know?

[Frontier]

That's not what I mean by 'camp'.

Camp as a theatrical style, not just an occasionally silly CGI thing. It's a style of acting, a style of writing, over the top set pieces and weird practical effects.

BATMAN '66 is camp, and its gorgeous and perfect within it's own narrative world. It has a fully realized aesthetic and tone. The 80s FLASH GORDON flick is another grand example.

If this new SUPERMAN show has to be cheap, I'd like to see stage acting and colourful costumes and last minute plot contrivances. Work with what you have, ya know?

I don't think it needs Batman '66 level of acting to be campy. The Arrowverse shows are more like a modernized Silver Age/Bronze Age then trying to directly mimic the Silver Age.

[Flash Gordon]

I don't think it needs Batman '66 level of acting to be campy. The Arrowverse shows are more like a modernized Silver Age/Bronze Age then trying to directly mimic the Silver Age.

I don't see that. The Silver Age and Bronze Age was full of great storytelling. The Arrowverse stuff looks like generic network TV to me, with bad CGI stuff mixed in.

A campy low budget superhero joint with real vision and aesthetic would be fun as hell.

[Frontier]

I don't see that. The Silver Age and Bronze Age was full of great storytelling. The Arrowverse stuff looks like generic network TV to me, with bad CGI stuff mixed in.

A campy low budget superhero joint with real vision and aesthetic would be fun as hell.

"Generic network TV" with a scarlet super-speedster, a stretching-man, a telepathic gorilla, shape-shifting heroic martians, and super-powered Kryptonians...

The Silver Age was more known for it's crazy and zany ideas then for it's storytelling, compared to the Bronze Age.

[Sacred Knight]

Based on the synopsis released a few days ago, it sounds like the teens will be the main focus.. it worries me. If it's a family action-drama show, it sounds a lot better than another Clana with the boys fighting for the attention of Lana's daughter...

This is what I figured from the jump. Its just what the CW is. When I found out teens would be in the show, I knew it would likely default to them and their story, because that's their general bread and butter. Its not all they do, indeed prime examples are Supergirl, Flash and Arrow not centering around kids because kids were never part of the pitch, but when the teens are there in a program, that's the general focus or evolves into such. Been that way since it was the WB. Superman and Lois will be there, I may make jokes about them being just "Ma and Pa", but realistically there will be more there at least in the beginning. But by and large I'd be willing to bet dollars to donuts that this show's main focus will be the kids. The script, albeit an older draft, lends some credence to this. If I'm wrong and hear differently once it starts airing, no problem owning it, but this is my feeling.

[Frontier]

I think it's going to be more about raising the kids then being just about the kids, but I think the core focus is going to be on the Kent family whether it's the parents or the kids.

[Yoda]

I just don't see what there is in the synopsis or the pilot script lends any credence to the idea that the kids will be the focus of the show at Superman and Lois' expense. The script is balanced pretty well.

[Sacred Knight]

I dunno, I'd have to look at it again, maybe it just seemed that way because I have an anathema to teens in CW shows as it is. Like I said if I am wrong there, fair enough. But looking at it again is something I'm in no hurry to do. Focus aside, the quality of that script would be astonishingly bad if I didn't already have a low opinion of the quality of writing of most CW shows. Rough draft, but that was freaking rough.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

I generally think Black Lightning handles the balance pretty well. If it's like that I'm ok with it. Regardless it's going to end being ensemble heavy no matter who the supporting cast is. That's just how their formula seems to work.
Anyway apparently Warren Christie is playing this universe's Bruce Wayne (and also Hush), so it's looking more and more likely we'll see him show up in that Batwoman crossover.

[Sacred Knight]

Bruce doing something with Clark in the crossover would seem almost a given at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if they do Clark and Bruce off doing something and Batwoman and Lois off on their own as well.