The Ultimate Superheroines Forum

BREAKING NEWS!!!!
IGN reports that the CW has renewed all 4 DC Comics shows...that includes SUPERGIRL!
Here's the link confirming the good news http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/01/08/ ... l-and-more

Excellent!

YEY, we get more SG and I will get more material to work with...

This will finally break Wonder Woman's record of 60 episodes. Making Supergirl the longest-running superheroine show ever.

Great news.

Thanks to the 3rd year rule, Supergirl is EXTREMELY likely to get a 4th season, as well. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

What is the third year rule?

We get another season of almost good but not quite there kind of stuff
Always nice to see Melissa though

Shakeshift wrote:What is the third year rule?

You made it to a third year.

But I don't agree. A lot of series get canned in the 3rd year to avoid paying out after 5 years. Lost in Space for example.

It depends upon the network contract, major actor contracts, and ratings. There are amounts that a network will pay the longer it goes on since the initial contract has a limit.

A highly rated series will get extended even with additional costs because it brings in the ratings that allow the network to charge more for advertising. Batman had to change format because of its costs after season 2. Whereas the Big Bang Theory can get away with higher costs for actors because it was the highest rated comedy.

Shakeshift wrote:What is the third year rule?

The current episode minimum for syndication is 88 episodes. 100 is preferred, but 88 is the minimum to my understanding.

The standard "full season" number for most modern shows is 22 episodes.

The "Third Year Rule" is as follows: If a tv show has had 3 full seasons ordered, then a network is overwhelmingly likely to order a 4th, even if the show is faltering, to get into syndication, which generates a more revenue than what they would spend to produce that 4th season.

In Supergirl's case, we got a 20 episode first season, and a 22 episode second season. However, most CW shows, including Flash, Arrow, and Supernatural, run on a 23-24 episode season. So, IF Supergirl gets 23 episodes for both it's 3rd and 4th seasons, it'll hit that 88 episode mark (making up for the short first season), and be eligible for syndication.

Mr. X has a point. The Third Year Rule is not an official, written rule. Some shows do get cancelled in their 3rd season. But it's worth pointing out that his example, Lost in Space, is very dated. Back then, the syndication number would have been 100 episodes. Only in recent years has 88 become more acceptable.

It's not an "official rule", but it is becoming more and more true. Many renewal/cancellation prediction websites quote it very often.

Long story short, Supergirl is getting a full length 3rd season. The episode count hasn't been revealed, yet, but it's CW's second highest rated show. They aren't going to cut it's season short. And do to the admittedly unofficial "Third Year Rule", a fourth season is EXTREMELY likely.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow doesn't get that same confidence, because both of their existing seasons were short. Season 1 was 16 episodes, Season 2 will end at 17. So the Third Year Rule would not apply to them.

Visitor wrote:It depends upon the network contract, major actor contracts, and ratings. There are amounts that a network will pay the longer it goes on since the initial contract has a limit.

A highly rated series will get extended even with additional costs because it brings in the ratings that allow the network to charge more for advertising. Batman had to change format because of its costs after season 2. Whereas the Big Bang Theory can get away with higher costs for actors because it was the highest rated comedy.

Also, many shows since the late 80s have put their casts under seven-year contracts. That's why Star Trek: TNG, DS9 and Voyager all stopped after seven years. The ensemble casts would have become too expensive after renegotiating contracts. Smaller sitcom casts such as Friends and the original five stars of The Big Bang Theory can get away with huge pay demands after going beyond the initial seven years.

The closest modern show we can use to predict Supergirl's longevity would be Smallville, which lost Lex and Lana as regular characters after the actors' initial seven-year contracts expired. Obviously, if the show had been cancelled and no new network could be found quickly, those contracts would have been terminated much earlier. It all seems a bit one-sided with the actors unable to demand higher pay while having little job security. However, the rewards are worth it if the show is popular enough for them to demand a huge pay rise for Season 8.

And looking at the CW's record (with Smallville lasting ten seasons and Supernatural just renewed for a thirteenth season), it seems possible that Supergirl will be around for a long time.

Yes, if you think about it, it's pretty amazing and unheralded that Supernatural (a show which I just cannot watch for more than five minutes..sorry..) has run 12 seasons. It's quietly much more popular (especially among women, I've found) than the superhero shows are.

As for Legends of Tomorrow...I thought that the was the one most likely to be cancelled so I'm glad to see it's coming back because it has more superheroines. But isn't it changing nights so that Riverdale (aka "dark Archie") can take its slot? At least that's what I heard on Youtube. Legends would now be back to back with one of the other shows (Flash, I think?).

I love Supernatural. The show I don't get why its on the air is Walking Dead. Its literally the same thing season after season. I stopped after season 5. And Fear the Walking Dead was a complete snooze fest.

Isn't 'Xena The Warrior Princess" a super heroine show? If so it lasted seven years in syndication....

JohnFeer wrote:Isn't 'Xena The Warrior Princess" a super heroine show? If so it lasted seven years in syndication....

There's crossover appeal for sure, but it's not really a superheroine show. By the same token, Charmed and Buffy were also long-running fantasy shows with female leads, but not superheroine shows as such.

Fantastic more Supergirl!

Excellent