A Man of Steel takes flight and a Texas Ranger is back on the case this fall. TVLine reports that the Greg Berlanti superhero series Superman & Lois and the Jared Padalecki-fronted Walker – the reimagining of the iconic Chuck Norris series Walker, Texas Ranger – have both received early pickups from CW President Mark Pedowitz well ahead of the upfronts this May. While both pilots were more or less assured a spot on the fall schedule given the auspices involved, it’s fantastic to know that fans didn’t have to wait long to find out the fate of these high-profile projects.
I’m supremely excited for both of these shows, but I can’t deny that the DC series is my favorite. Despite using the Blue Boy Scout to build up his cousin, Berlanti and co. have more than proven that they can capture the essence of Superman when they are actually focusing on, well, Superman (look no further than night 1 of “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” Supes being one of the few things that worked for me overall). All of this being said, I’m glad the CW is venturing outside of the superhero genre and back into the procedural with Walker. This was something they briefly flirted with several years ago with the unsold pilot Cooper & Stone, as well as the Kristin Kreuk iteration of Beauty and the Beast, to some extent, so I’m glad they’re coming back around to the idea. With Padalecki staying put at the network and Superman & Lois coming home where they belong – under the watchful eyes of Berlanti and Spartacus producer Todd Helbing – I can’t wait to see what the future holds for these shows when they debut sometime this fall.
Are you excited about these early pickups, or is the CW wasting their time? Are you ready to see Jon Cryer go toe to toe with Tyler Hoechlin for the next eight years? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned to Geeks + Gamers for more TV news!