Supergirl: Cancel or Keep the CBS Superhero Drama?

CBS has become known as the network for procedural TV shows. There’s no shortage of cops, lawyers, detectives, government agents, and doctors on the schedule — and they typically attract an older audience. So, it turned a few heads when the network picked up a show about a young female superhero — Supergirl. How’s the show doing? Will it be cancelled or survive to see a second season?

Supergirl revolves around Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist). As a girl, she survived Krypton’s destruction by being sent to Earth where she was raised as a human. She kept her powers a secret and now, as an adult, works as an assistant at a big city media conglomerate. Kara’s existence becomes known to the world and she is enlisted by a super-secret agency to help protect the citizens from evil forces as Supergirl. The rest of the cast includes Calista Flockhart, Chyler Leigh, Mehcad Brooks, David Harewood, and Jeremy Jordan.

The series started out strong on October 26th and attracted a 3.15 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 12.96 million viewers. It no doubt benefitted greatly from having The Big Bang Theory as a lead-in.

The following week, Supergirl’s ratings dropped more than 30% — falling to a 2.19 in the demo with 8.87 million. In week three, the numbers fell again. Though the ratings have seen some minor bumps upward, they’ve been slipping lower overall. The eighth and final installment of 2015 hit a new series low with a 1.52 in the demo and 7.28 million.

While the recent ratings aren’t terrible, it’s very concerning that Supergirl’s numbers keep dropping. Will they fall low enough to see the series cancelled? That’s hard to tell right now but the current downward trend doesn’t bode well.

If the show does end up being cancelled by CBS, there’s a chance that Supergirl could move to The CW for season two. After all, the show is produced by Warner Bros. Television (Warner Bros. co-owns The CW) and the series’ creator is Greg Berlanti — the man who created three other DC Comics shows for The CW — Arrow, The Flash, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

Some would say that Supergirl should have ended up on The CW from the start. Perhaps a second season on the smaller network has been a back-up plan from the very start. It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out.

But, what do you think? Do you like the Supergirl series? Do you think it should be cancelled or renewed for a second season? Should it move to The CW? Would you watch it there?