The attacks on Paris this past Friday left the world in shock. Television programming has responded to the ISIS attacks. Saturday Night Live opened with an emotional tribute to the Paris victims, 60 Minutes added a segment on Sunday about Paris, and CBS has rearranged its schedule for Monday, Nov. 17, in light of Friday’s events.
Monday at 8:00 p.m., CBS will be airing a different episode of Supergirl than the one initially planned. In the episode which was supposed to air this week, “How Does She Do It?,” Kara Danvers/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) has to stop several bombings in National City. In light of the attacks on Paris, CBS will not be premiering this episode this week due to the terrorism themes. The episode “Livewire,” which was originally scheduled to air on Nov. 23, will replace this weeks episode since it deals with a less sensitive subject. Instead of bombings, this week’s Supergirl will deal with Kara’s relationship with her adopted mother played by Helen Slater. This, of course, answers the question as to whether or not we will see more of the original Supergirl in the new series, but CBS has not announced when fans might see more of Dean Cain as Kara’s adopted father.
Similar to Supergirl, the NCIS: LA episode intended to air this Monday also dealt with themes that hit a little too close to home after Friday’s events. NCIS: LA‘s episode, “Defectors,” originally set to air tomorrow night focused on ISIS’s tactics for recruiting women. Considering ISIS was responsible for the attacks on Paris, CBS will be replacing that episode with one which was supposed to air in December. “The Long Goodbye,” which will replace the episode scheduled for this week, will focus on a woman LL Cool J’s character helped find asylum in the U.S.
The CBS network felt it was best not to air these particular episodes while the world is still shocked by the terrorist attacks that left at least 129 people dead and over 350 wounded. Rearranging a show’s episodes can’t be easy, but the network seems to recognize that last thing we need on television right now is more terrorism, whether it is real or fictional. Although CBS is rearranging its schedule, fans should take comfort that the episodes which were supposed to air tomorrow are not being pulled completely and will appear on TV in due time.