Social Media and Behind the Scenes: AKA Everything Else Not "News and Media"

[Velocity23]

Stephen left the upfronts ...

[Guest]

Yeah, they can keep the upfronts this year. Take it back, no thank you.

[Delphi]

10 minutes ago, Velocity23 said:

Stephen left the upfronts ...

What?   They just started.   Jesus. 

[Soulfire]

On this topic, transcribed a pretty great quote by Emily about female characters, from this weekend's COH2 lounge --

Quote

 

EBR: “I know it’s a male dominated show, it’s a male dominated genre -- but why does it have to be?”

Fan: “You need female characters to balance the whole thing…

EBR: “It becomes the glue. And the thing is like, we shouldn’t just have to be the glue. I want to be the pieces.”

 

[HighHopes]

Just now, Delphi said:

What?   They just started.   Jesus. 

I saw on Twitter (or here?) that he has a TMNT screening tonight-- so maybe there's press for that too? Which makes even less sense for the CW to only invite him to the upfronts since he had to duck out early. 

[dtissagirl]

If Megalyn hadn't been there, it would have been a great display of the very very white superpowered people of the DCTV.

[Velocity23]

I dont think it was the screening. I remember last year he had to run over to the airport for the City of Heroes con and still had time to have brunch with Arrow cast + Aisha -KC

[Chaser]

Someone should ask the CW if Emily, Candice, Willa and Danielle will be invited to SDCC.

[Midnight Lullaby]

He has a screening tonight but also he did the rounds with the press so what is he supposed to do now? Last year he had to catch a flight and film for the movie but took the time to hang out with his cast mates. Because well, they were there too.

[WaitandHope]

I have no idea if SA was disgruntled to be there or not.  He could have just not been smiling because he was tired.  I find his schedule exhausting.  Being him would wear me out.  But at this point, I think it's probably just good business for him to start to command a little more respect from the CW - and perhaps the whole Berlanti team.  His show is the flagship.  He is the lead.  If Arrow would have failed -- and it most assuredly would have without his (1) physical prowess and (2) acting ability (these are in the right order) -- then the rest of this would not be happening.  It's that simple.  He's basically the TV version (poor man's version) of Robert Downey Jr. at this point.   They really give him very little kudos - or acknowledgement.  Since I follow you guys following him on social media, I know he can be a bit of a prima donna.  However, at this point I think his "team" (whoever they are) should start to play a little coy with The Powers That Be.  I know that The Flash's ratings are better -- and I have a lot of nitpicky problems with Arrow -- but it was a much better show this year than The Flash.  And it's ratings and quality have remained steadier.  We will see how his this TMNT movie does, but I would neither be surprised or upset if he started to be a little more reserved in his team-player behavior.   And I hate egotistical actors as much as the next guy/gal.

[EmeraldArcher]

10 minutes ago, dtissagirl said:

If Megalyn hadn't been there, it would have been a great display of the very very white superpowered people of the DCTV.

SA clearly isn't in to it!  His face and body language here are pretty telling.

@WaitandHope, my post wasn't a direct answer to yours.  I think we posted at close to the same time.

Edited May 19, 2016 by EmeraldArcher
Timing made it seem like it was in response to previous poster.

[Morrigan2575]

11 minutes ago, dtissagirl said:

If Megalyn hadn't been there, it would have been a great display of the very very white superpowered people of the DCTV.

so Carlos and JLM weren't even allowed on stage? WoW

[wonderwall]

Stephen doesn't really look like he's enjoying himself much lol

[AyChihuahua]

12 minutes ago, WaitandHope said:

snip

 If Arrow would have failed -- and it most assuredly would have without his (1) physical prowess and (2) acting ability (these are in the right order) -- then the rest of this would not be happening.  snip

Your accurate order cracked me up.

And overall I agree with your point. They need to stop being douches to his show and his co-stars.

[Sakura12]

Are they trying to go with just the leads? MB is Supergirl, SA is Arrow, GG is Barry, ME is Vixen and LoT is an ensemble with BR as the "romantic lead" and Sara's basically the Female Lead and Victor Garber because he's Victor Garber. 

Edited May 19, 2016 by Sakura12

[Velocity23]

[NumberCruncher]

12 minutes ago, WaitandHope said:

I have no idea if SA was disgruntled to be there or not.  He could have just not been smiling because he was tired.  I find his schedule exhausting.  Being him would wear me out.  But at this point, I think it's probably just good business for him to start to command a little more respect from the CW - and perhaps the whole Berlanti team.  His show is the flagship.  He is the lead.  If Arrow would have failed -- and it most assuredly would have without his (1) physical prowess and (2) acting ability (these are in the right order) -- then the rest of this would not be happening.  It's that simple.  He's basically the TV version (poor man's version) of Robert Downey Jr. at this point.   They really give him very little kudos - or acknowledgement.  Since I follow you guys following him on social media, I know he can be a bit of a prima donna.  However, at this point I think his "team" (whoever they are) should start to play a little coy with The Powers That Be.  I know that The Flash's ratings are better -- and I have a lot of nitpicky problems with Arrow -- but it was a much better show this year than The Flash.  And it's ratings and quality have remained steadier.  We will see how his this TMNT movie does, but I would neither be surprised or upset if he started to be a little more reserved in his team-player behavior.   And I hate egotistical actors as much as the next guy/gal.

I know Stephen can be a bit douchey at times, but I don't think I want him airing his grievances or acting superior.  That's not to say that I disagree with your points because there's a lot of truth to what you said re: the network not really giving him (or the show) the recognition he(they) deserve.  Then again I'm not really surprised that they haven't either--especially since The CW isn't exactly a TV powerhouse.  I hope Stephen does get more movie roles and decides not to renew his contract.  I've long said this show shouldn't really go beyond 5 or 6 seasons.  

[Midnight Lullaby]

1 minute ago, Sakura12 said:

Are they trying to go with just the leads? MB is Supergirl, SA is Arrow, GG is Barry, ME is Vixen and LoT is an ensemble with BR as the "romantic lead" and Sara's basically the Female Lead and Victor Garber because he's Victor Garber. 

There were also Carlos Valdes and Jesse L. Martin. No idea why they didn't get them on stage though.

[Velocity23]

So the Superhero con in Paris will be attended by Jason Momoa, EBR, David Ramsey, KC, WH, Carlos Valdes, Teddy sears, Shantel VanSanten, Colin Donell, Rick Cosnett

[dtissagirl]

Just now, Sakura12 said:

Are they trying to go with just the leads? MB is Supergirl, SA is Arrow, GG is Barry, ME is Vixen and LoT is an ensemble with BR as the "romantic lead" and Sara's basically the Female Lead and Victor Garber because he's Victor Garber. 

I think so, yeah.

The main problem is Upfronts has changed from a private event that the general audience only heard about in vague terms, to a social media spectacle. So something that until a few years ago wasn't at all about the optics and the audience reaction to the event itself? Now IS all about that.

But it seems networks still do their programming 100% focused on appeasing the advertisers they want to woo [look at our white male stars!, says DCTV], and apparently forget they invited social media entertainment coverage, and gave them free wi-fi access.

[Guest]

That picture in the elevator...look at all that diversity! Much wow.

[Morrigan2575]

39 minutes ago, dtissagirl said:

I think so, yeah.

The main problem is Upfronts has changed from a private event that the general audience only heard about in vague terms, to a social media spectacle. So something that until a few years ago wasn't at all about the optics and the audience reaction to the event itself? Now IS all about that.

But it seems networks still do their programming 100% focused on appeasing the advertisers they want to woo [look at our white male stars!, says DCTV], and apparently forget they invited social media entertainment coverage, and gave them free wi-fi access.

I have absolutely no problem with them only inviting the leads. The problem I have is that JLM and Carlos were invited. There are pics of them arriving at the event this morning. I also have no freaking clue why Vixen is on that stage since she's on the CW Seed and not part of the media/ad buy  for this event.

You want to invite only the leads that's fair but that means only the leads, not the leads plus a couple of guys from Flash but just no wimmins

I realize this event is for media,  not me. it's just the deliberate exclusion of the DC women that bugs me. Just like CBS passing on a well received Nancy Drew pilot because it skewed to female.  

Edited May 19, 2016 by Morrigan2575

[Delphi]

6 minutes ago, Angel12d said:

That picture in the elevator...look at all that diversity! Much wow.

Hey,  Brandon is German AND Scottish!  And Victor and Stephen are Canadian.  And Caity is a blonde woman.  How is that not diverse?

[SmallScreenDiva]

10 minutes ago, dtissagirl said:

I think so, yeah.

The main problem is Upfronts has changed from a private event that the general audience only heard about in vague terms, to a social media spectacle. So something that until a few years ago wasn't at all about the optics and the audience reaction to the event itself? Now IS all about that.

But it seems networks still do their programming 100% focused on appeasing the advertisers they want to woo [look at our white male stars!, says DCTV], and apparently forget they invited social media entertainment coverage, and gave them free wi-fi access.

Yeah, discussing this with friends who work in different media. Upfronts really used to be something fans weren't aware of, limited to industry, advertising pros. BUT that's changed and it didn't happen this year. One would think that by now the networks, all of them would recognize that. Especially for somebody like The CW that pretty much relies on its fanbase to do its own marketing. This is a free event. Have all your stars lined up (like last year). OK, everybody is pretty but that's expected. Highlight the "balance" of young stars and veteran performers, men and women, the diversity. Instead it's almost all dudes, except for 3 females, 2 of them white. In this day and age, YOU KNOW this is bad optics.

[wonderwall]

46 minutes ago, Soulfire said:

On this topic, transcribed a pretty great quote by Emily about female characters, from this weekend's COH2 lounge --

The source:

[looptab]

LOL, this is the one time where a source wasn't needed. @Soulfire was there. :D 

Edited May 19, 2016 by looptab

[lemotomato]

Are @Soulfire and @iloveyoursoul not the same person?

[AyChihuahua]

EBR seems to have a good bit going on upstairs. That's a smart insight, expressed evocatively.

If she gets a good career going outside of Arrow, I really doubt she'll be back once her contract is up.

[Soulfire]

12 minutes ago, wonderwall said:

The source:

 

5 minutes ago, lemotomato said:

Are @Soulfire and @iloveyoursoul not the same person?

Why yes, I am. :) 

Everything I transcribe I have recorded audio sources for.

Edited May 19, 2016 by Soulfire

[wonderwall]

6 minutes ago, Soulfire said:

Why yes, I am. :) 

Everything I transcribe I have recorded audio sources for.

HOW DID I NOT PUT HTIS TOGETHER :P 

Thank you for taking the time to transcribe stuff :)

[Soulfire]

3 minutes ago, wonderwall said:

Thank you for taking the time to transcribe stuff :)

My pleasure! Having a busy week but I'll try to get more up during the weekend. Went to both Emily's lounges and Stephen, and David's, on the Sunday.

[calliope1975]

1 hour ago, Sakura12 said:

Are they trying to go with just the leads? MB is Supergirl, SA is Arrow, GG is Barry, ME is Vixen and LoT is an ensemble with BR as the "romantic lead" and Sara's basically the Female Lead and Victor Garber because he's Victor Garber. 

I think this is their reasoning and justification. Unfortunately, I think it makes the CW look really bad. It's frustrating, though, because I don't watch a show for one person alone, and show's successes or failures are often because of the ensemble cast. Whatevs, CW's going to CW.  

[thegirlsleuth]

I think my problem with this whole thing is Carlos Valdes and Jesse L. Martin were there, even if they weren't on stage. How hard would it have been to do that with the rest of the Arrow and Flash casts?

I'm in a ferociously bad mood for reasons unrelated to Arrow, but the DC/WB/CW's continued exclusion of Felicity and their refusal to acknowledge Emily Bett Rickards as the female lead (even if she's not second billed) is really frustrating.  I feel like the more the exclude her the greater the comics/not-comics divide becomes, and the not-comics citizens will always be second class, leading to even more contempt by the comics community, which leads to a bigger divide, etc., etc. There's always this "Whoops!  We'll do better next time!" response, and they never do.  They don't want to.

Time to excuse myself from the internet for the day.

[Chaser]

A number of things pissed me off. MK being there makes me mad.  If they were announcing a live action Vixen, I would get it. But they didn't, so basically she is a prop for photo ops. I think that's insulting. CV and JLM being there but not being included makes mad. Why not invite the other cast members then?

Here is an idea. Invite everyone to the event. Leave the main press to the Leads (male and female). Ask the other cast members to post BTS to SM. Get everyone on stage for a huge photo op. 

[kismet]

5 hours ago, Midnight Lullaby said:

I guess the CW wanted us to get, in case we missed it, that their precious superhero shows are for boys. Welcome to 2016!

Not to sound shallow, because I really do appreciate well told stories and gender equality - but one of the more enjoyable aspects of TV viewing is to watch attractive people. The men and the women of the Flarrowverse are all really attractive people. I always assumed that in that special advert group of 18-49 (male of female) there is a good percentage of people that also watch TV for the attractive people male or female. If you have an attractive cast, regardless of their gender/ethnicity - why not let them walk the press event and get a group shot?

I find it bizarre to think that the CW thinks that men 18-49 do not want to see the attractive females also advertised as part of the shows they watch, because I'm sure there are a lot of men 18-49 that tune in to the Superhero shows to watch the attractive females on screen. I can't imagine they all tune in only to watch men to manly things.

Overall, the CW's choices at the Upfronts have been a little bizarre - but I guess it is par for the course considering how they run the promotional side of their network on a regular basis.

[Starfish35]

Thought this was interesting in light of the discussion:

Quote

After the CW’s head of sale declares that the CW had “its best season ever,” Golden Globe-winning stars Rachel Bloom of ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ and Gina Rodriguez of ‘Jane the Virgin’ salute the CW for its 10th anniversary and engage in a round of “Never Have I Ever” 

But it was the end of the their set where the two went off the script that is getting the audience in a frenzy. Rodriguez praised the network for “supporting so many shows about women and ran by women”. “Wonder it took so long, because we are half of the world,” Bloom deadpanned, before the two introduced “the man who made it all possible for us,” the CW president Mark Pedowitz. The comment resonated even more after the CW sibling yesterday had to defend its lineup of 6 new series, all centered on white male characters. 

http://deadline.com/2016/05/the-cw-upfront-presentation-2016-live-blog-1201759354/

[wonderwall]

SA/DR have been rep-ing hard for Arrow to return to how gritty it was in season 1/2. For that I approve and desperately hope that the EPs and writers listen. It's one of the reasons I have hope for season 5. Another reason I have hope is that the network/EPs probably saw how much of an epic failure breaking Oliver/Felicity up was and probably won't do that ever again.

[Chaser]

I finally got chance to look at the photos and he did not look like he was enjoying himself at all. 

It has to hurt. Your show launchs the brand and they return the favor by screwing it over. 

[kismet]

That Extra interview really felt like an attempt to not be invited back next year. In addition to looking completely bored and miserable for most of the photos/videos, he is also lobbing some shade missiles at TPTB and the Network during the interview in a very polite way.

[AyChihuahua]

5 minutes ago, kismet said:

That Extra interview really felt like an attempt to not be invited back next year. In addition to looking completely bored and miserable for most of the photos/videos, he is also lobbing some shade missiles at TPTB and the Network during the interview in a very polite way.

I SO want to like him for that, and then I remember that he loves the baby mama BS and wants the dumb kid back. So close, SA, so close.

[apinknightmare]

I thought the Extra interview was fine. He was perfectly nice, and I didn't think what he said was shady at all. He's mentioned that he thinks that Arrow should stick to what it does best a few times before, and I'm sure he's said those things to Marc and Wendy, and whoever else at the top that he thought would listen.

[Starfish35]

2 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

I thought the Extra interview was fine. He was perfectly nice, and I didn't think what he said was shady at all. He's mentioned that he thinks that Arrow should stick to what it does best a few times before, and I'm sure he's said those things to Marc and Wendy, and whoever else at the top that he thought would listen.

I agree.  I thought it was fine.  He wasn't super enthusiastic, but then neither was Grant Gustin.  And off track a little bit, but I'd been wondering a little bit if Grant was getting burned out somewhat.  He just hasn't seemed to have the same energy this season.  And I thought it was interesting in his TVLine video how he said because of how the season ended, he just needed to take a break from the character for a while.  It could be that they're both just tired.

[Midnight Lullaby]

Comparing his interview to GG's he seemed very unenthusiastic to me, maybe he was just tired or wasn't having a good day, I don't know.

But I didn't take it as shade, but a very reasonable request to dedicate time to what Arrow does best. And it's obvious that dedicating time to spin off characters for other shows can only hurt the show that can't develop its own characters and stories.

[apinknightmare]

7 minutes ago, Starfish35 said:

I agree.  I thought it was fine.  He wasn't super enthusiastic, but then neither was Grant Gustin.  And off track a little bit, but I'd been wondering a little bit if Grant was getting burned out somewhat.  He just hasn't seemed to have the same energy this season.  And I thought it was interesting in his TVLine video how he said because of how the season ended, he just needed to take a break from the character for a while.  It could be that they're both just tired.

Yeah, I didn't think Grant seemed all that enthusiastic, either. I follow him in Instagram, and he's been traveling A LOT. I think you're right about him being a little burned out. 

[kismet]

I guess it wasn't super shady. But management usually prefers that you tow the company line. And by saying that Arrow should stick to what it was good as and not focus on crossovers and setting up for other shows (basically s3/4) is not really supporting the company line. Also his comments about it be the same old same old as 5 yrs ago felt a little less flattering appraisal. Like the CW should find a way to spruce things up.

It was a pleasant interview, I'm just saying if I was evaluating whether to let him walk the carpet next year or not, he might be on my maybe list since his show is old and he is clearly not enamored with the Upfronts anymore.

[apinknightmare]

18 minutes ago, kismet said:

It was a pleasant interview, I'm just saying if I was evaluating whether to let him walk the carpet next year or not, he might be on my maybe list since his show is old and he is clearly not enamored with the Upfronts anymore.

I don't think his issue is with upfronts at all. I think he just genuinely wants Arrow to be good, and is frustrated with the direction it's taken, and is probably tired of the criticism he's seeing on Facebook and wherever he looks at that stuff - because I'm sure he looks at that stuff. 

Edited May 19, 2016 by apinknightmare

[wonderwall]

15 minutes ago, kismet said:

I guess it wasn't super shady. But management usually prefers that you tow the company line. And by saying that Arrow should stick to what it was good as and not focus on crossovers and setting up for other shows (basically s3/4) is not really supporting the company line. Also his comments about it be the same old same old as 5 yrs ago felt a little less flattering appraisal. Like the CW should find a way to spruce things up.

It was a pleasant interview, I'm just saying if I was evaluating whether to let him walk the carpet next year or not, he might be on my maybe list since his show is old and he is clearly not enamored with the Upfronts anymore.

I think that both SA/DR saying the same thing means something... I think that they've had constant dialogue with the EPs and the EPs probably assured them that they're going back to basics and going back to the more grounded show. I really hope that's the case.

[AyChihuahua]

Twice bitten, thrice shy.

[catrox14]

I love that interview with Stephen. Damn straight. They did launch everything else. I'm glad that he no longer feels like he has to be so 'yay metahumans' . SA knows that the core Arrow audience IMO wants the Arrow of s1-s2.

[lemotomato]

1 hour ago, apinknightmare said:

I don't think his issue is with upfronts at all. I think he just genuinely wants Arrow to be good, and is frustrated with the direction it's taken, and is probably tired of the criticism he's seeing on Facebook and wherever he looks at that stuff - because I'm sure he looks at that stuff. 

I'm tired of seeing it. SA needs to get his buddy to moderate his FB page, because I don't see the point of letting people crap all over your show, all the time, your own damn page.