I would have to assume this show won't fit anywhere within the DC Universe timeline unless it's supposed to be before Dick meets Bruce. Unlike Smallville, which focused on an alien living with a normal family, The Graysons sounds like just another family drama, like Seventh Heaven or Everwood. The only difference is they are trying to freshen up the family drama concept by referring to a DC character.

The problem is the CW will use the comic book brand to entice the fan base and they won't be able to deliver due to poor expectations. Anyone remember Aquaman?

If the CW hypes the show as a family drama and stay away from hyping it as the Dick Grayson Before He Becomes Robin, then it might have a chance as a solid family drama.

Hmmm...well we know the Graysons were in the circus as a family - so following a family through a circus might be different - and of coarse unlike Smallvilles "No Tights, No Flights"...the Graysons would have tights and flights...the graysons are "Flying" Trapeze Acrobats in tights...the possibilities are endless.

I'm really glad they got Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson from Smallville which was a pretty awesome show. I think this could be pretty good.

This could be a good show, provided they don't completely mess w/continuity the way Smallville has with Superman's history.
I watch Smallville faithfully and enjoy it for its own sake, but so far as I'm concerned, it's NOT the story of Superman, but someone very much like him from an alternate timeline/universe.
Take the most recent episode, in which Lois and Clark are now both reporters for the Daily Planet, and Clark wasn't hired by Perry White, who doesn't even work there, but by Tess Mercer. Also, in other episodes we learn Cyborg is a member of the Justice League when he should be a member of the Teen Titans...
Of course, as any comics fans know, there are indeed multiple parallel universes where things are slightly different from the world we know...
This was actually acknowledged in the Superboy series, the precursor to Smallville....
LOL

Part of the appeal of Smallville was watching Clark assimilate into the world, struggling with his supernatural abilities and how it affects those around him, and exploring the secret to who he is and what he is called to do. These abilities and secrets were the driving factor behind Lex's interest in Clark and the Kent family. Up until the last couple seasons, the Father-Son relationships have been a core element showcasing the good (Jonathan/Clark), the bad (Jor-El/Kal-El) and the ugly (Lionel/Lex). And the show was about the Man Of Steel coming of age.

Aquaman didn't work. And now we have a show about a superhero's sidekick's family who travels across the country in a circus. Watch out, I think I see Promised Land on the CW.

I'm going to check it out. I just fear The CW will push the whole Robin mythos to the comic book fans who will be disappointed in the concept. It sounds just like another family drama.

On second thought, what if the show goes deep into who Dick Grayson really is? I've never read any Robin or Nightwing comics, so I don't know what demons Dick has in his past. From Batman mythos, we know Dick has an independent streak. Does this streak create a tense father-son relationship? What if his parents are already dead, Dick is a troubled youth living in a foster home and he's searching for the one who killed his parents?

Change up the canon a bit, as Smallville did, and they could make it interesting. So far the producers have started to take Smallville into a new direction that seems interesting.

If the show was focused more about Dick, I'd call it Grayson. The Graysons sounds like a new take on The Waltons, which screams old, as in CBS old.

So...Dick Grayson, NOT age 12. lol.
This show will never go anywhere, and I love Dick! Seriously concept much.

The big problem for me with Smallville, is the lead character. There was never a lot of round to play with who Clark Kent becomes.

Now they want to do a show about a character that does not even exist.

Even if you take his age in the film into it, what stories are you going to tell?

The only way to tell a Dick Grayson story is to make the gap bigger, and have the road from Robin to Nightwing. Which would work better because it would be completely different to Smallville. You can still have guest apprences from Smallville, and it ties the Bat brand into the Smallville universe.

Or do Bruce Wayne over the same span as Smallville.

Or Barbara Gordon.

But there is no Pre-Robin story. They are trying to write Batman before his parents die.

I agree with you, Paul. I think the best way to attack Grayson is to have the gap larger between Robin and Nightwing. It gives the writers more freedom to explore that journey. I think that version would be much better than simply another family drama.

I also read the producers plan on making in the same tone as Supernatural, which I think is a good thing.