The CW’s top boss is very excited about his newest DC Comics superhero show.

Appearing before reporters at the Television Critics Association’s press tour in Pasadena on Sunday, Mark Pedowitz described his reaction to watching the first four episodes of producer Greg Berlanti’s upcoming Legends of Tomorrow, which assembles familiar characters from Arrow and The Flash, along with a few new ones, for an Avengers-esque ensemble series.

“It is fun, it’s big, it’s lighter than Arrow and The Flash,“ Pedowitz said. “It has great actors with great auspices. I’ve seen four hours. I get popcorn every time I watch it. It’s a fun big show. It’s a lot of Guardians of the Galaxy meets Doctor Who. And it takes your mind off the troubles of the world.”

Legends is also, it should be pointed out, a rather crucial show for The CW, which only one new drama in the fall, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which is struggling in the ratings (though co-creator and star Rachel Bloom did earn a surprise Golden Globes nomination).

Critics at TCA fretted abou Ex-Girlfriend’s fate, with one saying the ratings were “obviously pretty atrocious,” and asked The CW chief for some more optimistic numbers that the network might internally have that justifiy keeping it going. “At the moment, I wish I had more optimistic statistics and measurements,” Pedowitz said. “What I do have is great faith in the show… We believe in the show. We stand by the show … I wish the numbers were better … We’re The CW, we’ve defied a lot of odds, and I’m pretty comfortable saying Crazy Ex has a good chance of defying those odds.”

The CW also has viral thriller Containment coming up, and a bunch of big-brand ideas in the pipeline, including a Friday the 13th series, a new spin on Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, a series version of the 2004 film The Notebook and a “dark” take on the Archie comics called Riverdale. All four, Pedowitz confirmed, are still in active development, but declined to give any details on their storylines.

Source: http://www.ew.com