Coming hot off the news that the series Girls on the Bus is getting a straight-to-series order from HBO Max, the upcoming dramedy just found its first star. According to Variety, Supergirl herself, Melissa Benoist, is in talks to star in the series. If this becomes the case, she would be reteaming with Warner Brothers and executive producer Greg Berlanti for the project.
As previously mentioned, Benoist is best known for playing Supergirl for the hit CW series of the same name. She played the Girl of Steel for 126 episodes across six seasons from 2015 to 2021. She was the glowing heart of the show, and because of this, she appeared on other CW superhero shows like The Flash, Arrow, Batwoman, and DC's Legends of Tomorrow for various significant crossover events. She is also known for her role as Marley Rose on the hit Fox series Glee. Benoist has also appeared in feature films such as Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, Whiplash, Patriots Day, and Danny Collins.
Girls on the Bus is inspired by a chapter of The New York Times Correspondent Amy Chozick's book Chasing Hillary. The series itself is a comedic character-driven drama that "chronicles four female journalists who follow every move of a parade of flawed presidential candidates while finding friendship, love, and scandal along the way." While the book is based on Hillary Clinton's two presidential campaigns, the series will follow fictional characters and candidates. Nevertheless, based on the description alone, the series has all it needs to be a successful political comedy.
Julie Plec and Chozick will serve as the writers and executive producers on the series. On top of that, Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and David Madden will also serve as executive producers through Berlanti Productions and Warner Brothers Television. It is surprising to see this series move so quickly after the last few years of the show constantly switching networks or just being trapped in TV purgatory. However, it is great to finally see Girls on the Bus gaining some much-needed steam.
Benoist has a lot of comedic chops given her time on Supergirl and Glee, and if she does get cast in this political dramedy, this HBO Max original is off to a good start. Also, if Benoist is playing one of the journalists, she already has experience playing one as that was Supergirl's daytime job in her series.
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