Saturday, May 14, 2016

Good TV News And Bad TV News

Welp, there was lots of good and bad news in the world of genre TV this week.

The good news is that Supergirl was finally renewed. It was touch and go there for a while, as it looked like the show would be cancelled, but it looks like it's been given a reprieve and will get a second season

In even better news, Supergirl's moving from CBS over to The CW. Some are worried by this turn of events, but I think it's a great idea. The series should never have been on CBS in the first place, and never quite felt at home there. Let's face it, if your show doesn't have a C, an S or an I in its title, then it doesn't belong at CBS.


Supergirl will now be joining ArrowThe Flash and Legends Of Tomorrow on The CW. So far she doesn't exist in the same universe as those shows, but I wouldn't be surprised if that changes soon.


Additionally, the series will be moving its production from LA to Vancouver (where all the Arrowverse shows are filmed) in an effort to slash the budget and save money. I wouldn't be too concerned about that. The Flash and Legends Of Tomorrow all feature top notch, near movie quality effects on their budgets, so I think Supergirl will be just fine.


Plus now that Supergirl's where she belongs, maybe we'll get more crossovers like this!

In more good news, ABC announced they've decided not to go ahead with their planned Marvel's Most Wanted series, cancelling it before it even got started. Note that this is the SECOND time that ABC's said no to the series, as they also passed on it last May. Poor Mockingbird just can't catch a break! Maybe the third time'll be the charm.

Personally I'm glad that they passed on it, because the show sounded dull as hell. Mockingbird and Hunter as ex-spies on the run from various parties, without S.H.I.E.L.D. to back them up? Yawn! I almost fell asleep typing that description.

It sounded a lot like Season 1 of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. a superhero show without any superheroes in it. Good riddance to it, I say!

The bad news is that Mockingbird and Hunter were written out of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. a few weeks ago so they could star in Most Wanted. This was a terrible, terrible idea, as they were two of the most interesting characters on the show, and so far no one's stepped up to take their place.

Hopefully now that Most Wanted's dead in the water, the two will be returning to S.H.I.E.L.D. They were seemingly written off for good, but if the show can bring Coulson back from the dead, it shouldn't be too awfully hard to reinstate a couple of agents.

Now for the really bad news. ABC also cancelled Agent Carter after two seasons, due to its lackluster ratings. I guess all those people who constantly whine that there are no shows on TV with strong, female leads couldn't be bothered to actually sit down and watch such a series.

The cancellation is especially unfortunate, since Season 2 ended on a cliffhanger. Now we'll never find out who shot Agent Thompson, find out if Peggy and Agent Sousa get together or get to see Peggy actually found S.H.I.E.L.D.

Even worse, now we'll never find out just how Howard Stark transformed from Dominic Cooper into Roger Sterling!

Although I'm sad to see Peggy go, I'm not exactly surprised. I hate to say it, but Season 1 of Agent Carter was... well, kind of dull. The big bad in Season 1 was Doctor Faustus, a lame villain with the even lamer power of hypnosis. 

Season 2 was a big improvement, as it featured more sci-fi and comic book elements such as dark matter and a villainess who could absorb people into her body. I still didn't think it went far enough though.

I wish Agent Carter would have embraced its comic book roots fully, giving us a fully formed pulp word full of 1940s retro technology. You know, Nazis with ray guns and jetpacks. Mad scientists who control armies of giant robots. That sort of thing. I think if they'd gone that route and embraced the craziness of Golden Age comics, the show would have been much more successful. 

Marvel's had great success with its various Netflix shows, such as Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Maybe we'll get a third season of Agent Carter on Netflix?

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