7. Plot The Season Around A Big Bad
Follow the lead of other action shows and have a Big Bad that can present a series long threat. This was a model that Buffy perfected and many other shows have used to success since. Arrow had John Barrowman's Malcolm Merlyn in season one, and seems to have Summer Glau as Isabel Rochev in season two. Gotham has a whole host of Batvillians to choose from. And unlike Smallville, which found it difficult to make satisfying versions of Superman villains like Doomsday and Darkseid, Batman characters like Penguin, The Riddler and Black Mask would be much easier to use to adapt to the constraints of TV.