But seriously, could these two be any more adorable?
Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist, from the “Flash” and “Supergirl” series, photographed for a Variety article about producer Greg Berlanti.
I’ve noted here before that the geeks have inherited the earth. When I was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, we prized Famous Monsters and Marvel Comics but were looked down upon by adults for our reading materials; were happy with those lame Marvel superheroes TV cartoons that were very limited animation versions of classic comic books; and thrilled at the random superhero who made his way to TV or movies, even though most of the time the live-action versions weren’t very good.
Now, in any given week, I can watch “Agent Carter” – really good limited series that finished its run a few weeks ago; hope it comes back – “Agents of SHIELD,” a show that’s found its way, and most particularly “Arrow” and “The Flash,” two CW series from the same producers who have taken two characters who might have peaked in the Silver Age and made them intriguing and fun.
Through “Arrow’s” three seasons and “Flash’s” half-completed first season, they’ve introduced so many great comic-book characters – Ray Palmer/Atom, Black Canary – two of them! – and so many bad guys, including Ra’s al Ghul and Gorilla Grodd. Grodd, for Grodd’s sake!
“Arrow” has always done well when its made its Green Arrow character a substitute for Batman – in the comics, the character originally was a Batman copy. Arrow in “Arrow” has just been asked to succeed Ra’s as the leader of the League of Assassins. It’s an offer that Ra’s made to Batman and it only heightened their conflict over the decades.
Meanwhile, “Flash” has just introduced Grodd. Yes, a telepathic, hyper-intelligent gorilla from a race of telepathic, hyper-intelligent gorillas. “Flash” is much more fanciful than “Arrow” anyway, but the introduction of Grodd takes the series even more into the realm of comic-book sci-fi than it already was.
And, in the process of all this, “Arrow” and “Flash” began building the world in which these shows live.
There’s a lot that’s been said about universe-building in Marvel’s movie and TV universes, but Warner Bros/DC is doing this on TV about as well as it can be done, not just with “Flash” and “Arrow” but with their next plans.
CBS – CW’s sister network – will air a “Supergirl” series this fall and we’ve been told it will share a universe with “Arrow” and “The Flash.” I guess we’ll see if that means cross-network cross-overs. It’s rare but it’s happened before.
Potentially more exciting are CW’s apparent plans to spin off some characters introduced on “The Flash” and “Arrow” into their own series. Plans to have Atom and Firestorm and at least some version of Canary and other characters sharing a weekly series not only sounds like a small-screen “Justice League” or “Brave and the Bold,” but is so damn fun.
We’ll see how all this plays out, of course. The CW shows are doing well but “Supergirl” could tank. Will Superman be the 800-pound gorilla (sorry Grodd) absent from the room, like Iron Man was when “Agents of SHIELD” debuted?
Can too many heroes – or superhero shows – spoil the soup?
When did winter finales and midseason finales begin? And what did we ever do before they existed?
I ponder this question after having watched the last episodes of “Arrow” and “The Flash” and “Agents of SHIELD” and “The Walking Dead” until January or February – some of them a couple of times now – and thinking about when this trend began.
If you’re not sure what trend I’m talking about: Sometime in the past few years, TV shows, which normally do not air fresh episodes in much of December or January, began calling their last episode before taking a break for a few weeks a “winter finale” or “midseason finale.”
Shows take breaks from new episodes for a few reasons. There’s apparently an ingrained belief that viewers aren’t watching during several weeks before and after Christmas, so there’s no point in burning off new episodes. I question this thinking and point to “Doctor Who,” which gets a new episode on Christmas Day itself each season. But those Brits are different all the way around.
So rather than just limping off our screens for a few weeks, after a Christmas-themed episode that aired just after Thanksgiving, series began airing a climactic episode – well, as climactic as an ongoing TV series ever is, given the need for an ongoing storyline that can run for several seasons – with a dramatic cliffhanger. (Almost literally, in the recent case of “Arrow.”)
And they began calling it a winter finale or midseason finale. So it feels important, you know.
I believe AMC and the producers of “The Walking Dead” might have started this trend. But “Arrow” and a lot of other shows have embraced it whole-heartedly.
So that’s why we see characters die or “die,” why villains are sometimes dispatched, why secrets are exposed.
And why we’re left wondering not only what happens next but how they’re going to top this in the spring, when their regular old season finale airs.
“SHIELD” left us hanging in its mid-season finale but promises something fun in the interim, at least, with episodes of the new prequel series “Agent Carter” beginning in January.
For the rest of these shows, we’ll wait and wonder. And marvel (no pun intended) at how networks and production companies have trained us to expect the middle of the season to end with a bang.
I couldn’t be happier with Marvel’s big-screen comic book releases so far, as dubious as I am about DC’s supposed slate of superhero movies.
But on the small screen, DC is kicking all kinds of butt.
Of course there’s “Arrow,” beginning its third season this fall. The second topped the first and introduced even more DC comics characters, like Black Canary. This fall “Arrow” will bring scientist Ray Palmer to the small screen and Brandon Routh – Superman from “Superman Returns” – will play the scientist who is secretly the Atom.
Of course, “Arrow” spin-off “Flash” will be doing its own world-building when it debuts this fall, as it introduces not only all the Scarlet Speedster’s characters but also Firestorm.
Meanwhile, “Constantine,” about the supernatural adventurer from the “Hellblazer” comic, debuts this fall and the trailer for the debut included a quick look at the helmet of fellow DC hero Dr. Fate!
Not only that, but the producers of “Constantine” have indicated they will introduce other DC supernatural characters, including Jim Corrigan, the cop who becomes the Spectre.
Meanwhile, “Gotham” will be a prequel to the Batman saga and while I’m not crazy about that – “Smallville” ended up being way to timid about flying and capes for my taste – they’re introducing early versions of a lot of characters and will, each week, be teasing the character who will eventually become the Joker.
For us longtime comic book readers, it’s an exciting time.
Yeah, that looks pretty good.
The CW has released a picture of Grant Gustin in the headpiece he’ll wear in the upcoming CW series “The Flash,” a spin0ff of “Arrow.”
It’s dark-ish, but so was the costume for the 1990 “Flash” series starring John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen.
Shipp, by the way, has been cast in a recurring role on the new series. Here’s hoping for Jay Garrick.
Some other notable looks for the Flash:
The evolution of the character and costume in the DC comics.
The best presentation of the Flash, in the person of Wally West, from “Justice League” and “Justice League Unlimited” animated series.
And, just for fun, the failed “Justice League” TV pilot.
Just a few days ago, I was arguing here that “Arrow,” the current CW show about the early days of the DC Comics hero Green Arrow, might be the best superhero TV show of all time.
Last night’s “mid-season finale” episode of “Arrow” really backed up my argument.
(A word about mid-season finales or winter finales or whatever the networks are calling them: Shows like “Mad Men” and “The Walking Dead” take very deliberate breaks in the middle of their 14 or 16-episode seasons – mostly to avoid periods when networks think no one is watching, like the holidays, even though they’re wrong – and build to a strong climax for the final episode before that break. Although it would sound a little overblown on a sitcom, for example, mid-season finale seems appropriate for hour-long serialized shows that have built to a dramatic temporary stopping point. Like “Arrow.”)
“Three Ghosts,” last night’s “Arrow,” has as many dramatic elements as some season finales. And if you missed the significance of the title, it’s a reference to Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” During the course of the episode, Oliver is haunted by three figures from his past. Thankfully, the Dickensian undertones were decidedly undertones.
“Three Ghosts” had a lot on its plate:
Although the flashbacks to five years earlier on the island aren’t likely to be done, last night’s episode went a long way toward tying those events into the Arrow’s present-day Starling City action.
We learned the fate of a couple of characters. Maybe.
We saw the origins, I’m thinking, of at least two more. Cyrus Gold, one of Brother Blood’s “super soldiers,” might have bigger (and deader) things ahead for him. As the poem that Diggle discovered goes, “Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday …”
Although it was a surprise, we saw the origin of the Flash, the DC hero who’s getting his own CW series (most likely) next fall. Grant Gustin has been guest-starring the past couple of episodes as Barry Allen, a CSI from Central City. The network had said Allen would appear in only these two episodes before moving on to his own series pilot. I didn’t expect to see the accident – true to the comics – that turns Allen into the Scarlet Speedster at the end of this episode, but I was glad they did it.
I guess you could argue that we saw the origin of Green Arrow, too, since Allen’s parting gift to Oliver Queen was a green mask that he could wear in place of camo makeup. As the episode closed, Ollie donned the mask. Is he still Arrow? Or is he Green Arrow? He’s sure not “the Hood” or “the Vigilante” anymore.
The episode had something for every cast member to do and emphasized, with one exception, what a strong ensemble this show is built around.
By the end of the episode, the series has set up a much more compelling “Big Bad” than Brother Blood. I won’t spoil it here if you haven’t watched it yet, but it’s not surprising to anyone with some comics history under their utility belt.
Here’s looking forward to the back half of the season.
keithroysdon 