What May Cause Powerless to be a Hit?
The Power of DC
The CW gives the best example of the power of DC Comics. They have four DC shows: Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow that all just got renewed for the 2017-18 season. In addition to this, the superhero genre in general is very popular right now, in the movies and TV. So, it makes sense to create a comedy set in this universe.
Workplace comedies seem to work for NBC
NBC finally got a comedy to work for them with workplace comedy Superstore. Before that, their last big comedy was The Office, another workplace comedy. In the era where NBC seriously struggled with comedy, they hardly tried any workplace comedies. So, it seems that workplace comedies work best for NBC.
Vanessa Hudgens
The star of the series is Vanessa Hudgens, who rose to popularity by starring the popular High School Musical franchise. Her role in the series could draw the younger demographic to Powerless, and strong A18-34 numbers will certainly help the show.
What May Cause Powerless to be a Miss for NBC?
Superhero fans don't want comedy
While the superhero genre is popular, do those fans overlap much with sitcom fans? These could be two completely different audiences that aren't interested because they don't want a superhero comedy. Also, some superhero fans could see this as taking away from their superhero movies and shows, because this lessens some of the suspension of reality of the superhero genre.
Thursday could kill it
NBC hasn't had a strong Thursday night since The Office ended, and it is especially difficult for them to launch comedies on the night because they are up against CBS's comedy block, lead by The Big Bang Theory. These troubles could end up hurting Powerless too much.
Premiere against Superior Donuts premiere
When Powerless premieres, it will have to go up against the premiere of new CBS comedy Superior Donuts, which will be getting The Big Bang Theory as a lead-in. As a result, comedy fans may watch The Big Bang Theory, then stick around to test out Superior Donuts, and never even watch Powerless.
What to Expect for Powerless?
This is a hard show to predict. I think that the factors of workplace comedy and Thursday will be working hardest on it, and then either the power of DC or superhero fans not wanting comedy will cause it to succeed or fail.
Which factors do you think will be most in play in causing Powerless to be a hit or a miss? Leave your thought sin the comments!