Posted in: HBO, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: hbo max, melissa benoist, supergirl, the girls on the bus
The Girls on the Bus: Melissa Benoist Joins HBO Max Series; WBTV Deal
Some great news for Melissa Benoist fans, with the Supergirl star's production banner Three Things Productions renewing its overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group, and Benoist is now confirmed to be joining the cast of HBIO Max's The Girls on the Bus. The project stems from Julie Plec, Chozick, Berlanti Productions, and Warner Bros. TV. Plec executive produces via her My So-Called Company, along with Chozick; Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and David Madden for Berlanti Productions (with Warner Bros TV as the studio). The deal means Benoist and Sahar Kashi, Vice President of Development, will continue to develop & produce programming for Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO Max, rival streamers, and cable and broadcast networks.
Written by Plec and Chozick, the character-driven comedic drama series draws its inspiration from "The Girls on the Bus" chapter of Chozick's book Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns and One Intact Glass Ceiling and revolves around four female journalists who follow every move of a parade of flawed presidential candidates while finding friendship, love, and scandal along the way. Benoist portrays Sadie McCarthy, a journalist who romanticizes Tim Crouse's Boys on the Bus and who scrapped her whole life for her own shot at covering a presidential campaign for the paper of record. Reportedly, discussions with Benoist about joining the cast of The Girls on the Bus were ongoing as the project was being negotiated for a move from The CW to HBO Max. And though the streaming service's series order was not based upon it, Deadline Hollywood reported that Berlanti and his team had reached out to Benoist about coming aboard the series and that her interest in one of the lead roles was a major factor (though not the deciding factor) in HBO Max going ahead with its straight-to-series order.