‘Supergirl’ on CBS is produced by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg, the same dream team behind the two top rated shows on The CW (which is half-owned by CBS) ‘Arrow’ and ‘The Flash’ (not to mention spin-off show ‘Legends of Tomorrow’), so fans have been hoping to see the Girl of Steel interact with the stars of those shows, and the producers have stated that they were on board with a cross-network crossover.

But CBS announced that they wanted their freshman series to stand on its own.  Surely the fact that these shows were on different networks had a lot to do with that decree.  And going into the fall, ‘Supergirl’ was practically the most anticipated new show on any network.  Surely this show had what it takes to soar without stunts, right?

Unfortunately, after its huge debut, ‘Supergirl’ has steadily declined in the ratings.  It’s not doing poorly at all, but the expense of creating this FX-heavy series puts it under more scrutiny and places it more on the bubble than the typical network show.

There had been rumblings that the crossover was actually going to happen, but so far that has been no confirmation.

Berlanti explained:

“We were blessed with The Flash, which came out of the gate fully formed in a way that Arrow didn’t. Arrow took awhile to find itself. Arrow needed Felicity which it didn’t have early on, and it had voiceover, which it didn’t need. Whereas The Flash came out like The Flash — you can watch the pilot and the finale back to back and it’s the same show. Supergirl was one of those shows that had a learning curve on how to make it and how to tell the stories and the audience’s part on how to watch it.”

But ratings on The CW’s shows are smaller across the board.  True, ‘The Flash’– The CW’s highest rated show– outperforms some network series, but if it were on, say CBS, its future might also be seen as in jeopardy.  To put it bluntly, ‘Supergirl’ doesn’t have the same learning curve or room to grow.  Its ratings need to improve NOW.

Berlanti admits that the creative forces behind the shows are up for the crossover but network politics have a way of slowing that process down:

“I would love it, a lot of things would have to go right and people would have to say ‘Yes.’ It would have to be figured out very soon. It would all have to be figured out in the next month or so. As it remains right now we’ve talked internally about how cool it would be, but we haven’t had official conversations. [The CW chief Mark Pedowitz] is supportive.”

Pedowitz concurred adding:

“We are open if Greg [Berlanti], Marc [Guggenheim] and Andrew [Kreisberg] and Ali Adler can find a way to do it, we’re open to do it. The question is, can they find a way in all their business.”

Indeed, they are already in the middle of running FOUR demanding, expensive shows.  Can they find the time to mash three of them together?

It sounds like the clock is ticking.  Does ‘Supergirl’ need to cross over with The CW shows?  Or should the creators focus on giving this show its own voice?  (Do they even have time?)

Source: Screen Rant