Looks like everyone got “lit” last night for Black Lightning!
The show had an impressive debut Tuesday night for The CW, become the biggest debut for the network in two years and the biggest debut for the 9 p.m. timeslot for the network in three years (aside from The Legends of Tomorrow crossover).
It retained complete 100 percent of its lead in from The Flash, scoring a 0.8 in the coveted 18-49 demo, which is extremely good for a CW show.
In Black Lightning, Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams) is a man wrestling with a secret. As the father of two daughters and principal of a charter high school that also serves as a safe haven for young people in a neighborhood overrun by gang violence, he is a hero in his community. Nine years ago, Pierce was a hero of a different sort. Gifted with the superhuman power to harness and control electricity, he used those powers to keep his hometown streets safe as the masked vigilante Black Lightning. However, after too many nights with his life on the line, and seeing the effects of the damage and loss that his alter ego was inflicting on his family, he left his Superhero days behind and settled into being a principal and a dad. Choosing to help his city without using his superpowers, he watched his daughters Anissa (Nafessa Williams) and Jennifer (China Anne McClain) grow into strong young women, even though his marriage to their mother, Lynn (Christine Adams), suffered. Almost a decade later, Pierce’s crime-fighting days are long behind him…or so he thought. But with crime and corruption spreading like wildfire, and those he cares about in the crosshairs of the menacing local gang The One Hundred, Black Lightning returns – to save not only his family, but also the soul of his community.
Based on the characters from D.C., Black Lightning is from Berlanti Productions and Akil Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti, Salim Akil & Mara Brock Akil and Sarah Schechter. The Black Lightning character was created by Tony Isabella with Trevor Von Eeden.
