‘Supergirl’: CW Boss Explains Decision To Bench The Show For Nine Weeks

“Supergirl” returns from its winter hiatus on Monday, Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. EST on The CW. But after airing new episodes in four consecutive weeks, the show will go on hiatus and turn its time slot over to “Legends of Tomorrow” starting Feb. 12. The Melissa Benoist-led series will then return to the time slot on April 16, and air the rest of its Season 3 until June 18.

The announcement of “Supergirl’s” upcoming nine-week hiatus has worried a lot of fans, but The CW president Mark Pedowitz said that viewers should not read anything into the fact the show will be off the air from February to April.

Pedowitz explained to TVLine at the Television Critics Association (TCA) winter press tour on Sunday that the decision to temporarily bench “Supergirl” was due to “production issues.”

“We had a moment where they had some production issues,” Pedowitz said. While the network boss didn’t specify what those issues are, sources told the news outlet that those issues predated and were independent of Andrew Kreisberg’s removal as co-showrunner of the series.

Pedowitz added that they also decided to put “Supergirl” on hiatus in mid-February because he doesn’t want the network to air five superhero shows concurrently. “We always planned to not have more than four superhero shows out at the same time,” Pedowitz told TV Guide. “So we figured OK, let’s give ‘Supergirl’ a rest, put ‘Legends’ on, in February. It gave us a way to keep fresh programming for most of the year into the summer.”

All told, Pedowitz said that “Supergirl” fans “should not be worried in any way, shape or form” by the show’s impending hiatus. “We are big believers in the show, and big believers in [series lead] Melissa [Benoist] and the direction of the show,” he said.

In fact, Pedowitz told Entertainment Weekly that he’s “optimistic” that “Supergirl” as well as “Arrow,” “The Flash,” and “Legends of Tomorrow” will all be renewed for another season. “I’m pretty confident we’ll see them all back,” Pedowitz said. “But at the moment, it’s a little too soon. We’re noted for announcing at winter TCA that we’re picking up shows, we just weren’t ready to do that yet. A couple more weeks [and] we’ll probably get around to it.”