Posted in: CW, Movies, TV | Tagged: superman, superman & lois

Superman & Lois S04: Elizabeth Tulloch on CW Cuts, Gunn/Superman Rumor

Speaking with Katee Sackhoff, Superman & Lois star Elizabeth Tulloch discussed the series ending, season cuts, and Gunn/Superman rumors.

Earlier this year, Brad Schwartz, CW's President of Entertainment (and someone who still seems to have "'Arrowverse'-on-the-Brain"), discussed the network's Elizabeth Tulloch, Tyler Hoechlin, Michael Bishop, Alex Garfin & Michael Cudlitz-starring Superman & Lois and its final season during the Television Critics Association Winter Press Event. Along with confirming that the series would return in the fall and not the summer, Schwartz also made some news during the event when he noted that the series was going to end with its fourth season no matter how well it did. Why? "They don't want a competing Superman product in the marketplace," Schwartz explained, referencing Warner Bros. Discovery & DC Studios' Superman (still "Superman: Legacy" at that point), written and directed by DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn. During a rollout of their short-term & long-term plans for their new DCU in January 2023, Gunn & Co-CEO Peter Safran said that they expected the series to run for "one or two more seasons" – with Gunn adding, "It's a show everybody likes, so it's going to keep going for a little bit."

That brings us to the latest episode of Katee Sackhoff's (Battlestar Galactica) The Sackhoff Show podcast, with Tulloch checking in to discuss a whole range of personal and professional topics – including Superman & Lois coming to an end, the challenges that the team faced heading into the final season, and the reports that Gunn and Safran had a say in the series coming to an end with four seasons instead of an expected seven – which Tulloch references. "We went into this thinking we were gonna go seven seasons. That's what we were told, so it was shocking that everything happened. It was almost like a triple whammy, to be honest. People keep putting the blame on Gunn and Safran, but the reality is The CW was sold to Nexstar, Warner Bros. had had a new head in David Zaslav, and then also DC Comics had new heads," Tulloch shared, noting all of the factors that came into play beyond Gunn and Safran.

When the news hit that the series was renewed for a fourth and final season, it didn't take long for the deal's fine print to become painfully obvious. The series would have to deal with a reduced episode count (10 episodes), cuts to the production's budget and writers' room, and series regulars Dylan Walsh, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Erik Valdez, Inde Navarrette, Wolé Parks, Tayler Buck & Sofia Hasmik being cut from the show (though most will be appearing in some capacity) – much like we're seeing now with the seventh season of All-American. Once again, it would be the show's team

"All we could do was go into it and give it our best, and it was tough because [in] Season 4, we had major budget cuts. We went from 13 series regulars to five, so a lot of the cast who'd been doing either all episodes produced or maybe 10 out of 13, all of a sudden were doing two or three," Tulloch shared, noting that the team stepped up to work its magic to create a season that vibed with the previous three seasons – especially tough when facing reducing production days per episode. "Kudos to the writers for making it feel like at least some of those cast [members] were in every episode, so it didn't feel like a different show at all. It still feels like the same show."

As for whether or not those reports about Gunn and Safran wanting the series to end before Superman premiered are true, Tulloch has moved beyond that, choosing to focus instead on what the team brought to the Superman mythos while also reaffirming her belief that The Man of Steel's future is in good hands with Gunn at the helm of DC Studios' first feature film. "It felt like there was a lot of vitriol aimed at James Gunn and Peter Safran, and at the end of the day, it's like, if you're a Superman fan, be stoked about the movie and trust in his vision. Because everything I think Gunn has directed has been great, and I think it's going to be great," Tulloch shared. "Yes, I'm bummed, but I also didn't go into playing Lois Lane thinking, 'Well, I'm going to be the last Lois Lane in history.' You know that at some point, you got to pass the baton to the next one, and that happened a little earlier than I expected, but I think Rachel Brosnahan's going to be great. David Corenswet's going to be a great Superman. It's time to pass the baton."

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