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Mind Your Surroundings: Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and Other Superhero Universes


ArctisTor
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(edited)

Stephen makes a few bone headed ridiculous tweets about people misrepresenting  Texas because his wife and some of his family live there and Stephen has trouble looking at the bigger picture and now he's a racist? He's an idiot for making those comments, sure. But Racist? Wouldn't go that far.

But anything to criticize Arrow right? I mean we were talking about performances so obviously Stephen being supposedly racist and sexist fits the conversation. *rolls eyes*

Edited by wonderwall
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(edited)

The desperation and devastation that SA conveyed was almost too real.  It still hurts to watch and that's before we get to the "close your eye's baby" line.  With Barry I was mostly wanting him to at least try and save his dad but he just stood there. Oliver was trussed up and helpless.  Not saying Barry loves his dad less but the rawness of the moment on Arrow just transcends the event on The Flash in so many ways. Moira's death will never be forgotten and it's emotional resonance still gets to me, but I already barely remember the details  on The Flash and my first comment after he died was, "Oh, well, he really was more of a spare anyway." 

The Flash just made his death too easy to dismiss, first by shouting "HE'S GOING TO DIE!!!" to anyone that has ever watched television and second by not having him around much at all this year or that important when he was around.    Sure it's sad but at this point he's just a guest start that we knew they brought back for the sole purpose of killing.  I care as much as the show allowed.     

Edited by BkWurm1
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6 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

The desperation and devastation that SA conveyed was almost too real.  It still hurts to watch and that's before we get to the "close your eye's baby" line.  With Barry I was mostly wanting him to at least try and save his dad but he just stood there. Oliver was trussed up and helpless.  Not saying Barry loves his dad less but the rawness of the moment on Arrow just transcends the event on The Flash in so many ways. Moira's death will never be forgotten and it's emotional resonance still gets to me, but I already barely remember the details  on The Flash and my first comment after he died was, "Oh, well, he really was more of a spare anyway." 

The Flash just made his death too easy to dismiss, first by shouting "HE'S GOING TO DIE!!!" to anyone that has ever watched television and second by not having him around much at all this year or that important when he was around.    Sure it's sad but at this point he's just a guest start that we knew they brought back for the sole purpose of killing.  I care as much as the show allowed.     

That really, really, really bothered me and totally took me out of the moment. I have NO idea how well GG acted it because I was just saying to my television, seriously, he isn't going to try to stop him? Really? Are you kidding me? It would have worked SO much better if Zoom had killed his dad before he got his powers back. If Zoom had killed Henry and then terrorized the police - that would have served as such great motivation to get his powers back that I wouldn't have had to endure an episode of them wondering if he should or not. Because holy crap show - we know the answer - the show is called the Flash! 

When Supergirl had Kara lose her powers for a day, it wasn't about rather or not she would get them back but could she be a hero without them. It was a little over-the-top sugary, but the answer was yes she could. It was a nice way for them to confirm that she's not just a hero because she has powers but because of who she is. If they had done that with Barry - I might have been ok with it. But I didn't get that feeling at all.

Instead I was left wondering why it was taking Barry so long to decide to try it out. I mean I know there was a danger to the experiment, but I kind of felt that after he made the bone head move of giving up his powers and healing Zoom that he HAD to get them back and deal with the problem he made. And by the time Henry DOES die, Barry has his powers and I don't think I will ever understand why they didn't at least show Barry running in slow motion to his dad as Zoom killed him. Better to try and fail than stand still.

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I'm not in the flash fandom at all, But even I heard people were calling Henry's death as early as the mid-season finale. I briefly even wondered if it was a bait switch but it wasn't. 

Lol but I do wonder what will happen in season 3...Barry and Iris will most likely be together, will they break up like oliver/felicity did? Will they continue lifting storylines from Arrow? What will the flash writers do next season so it'll not feel like they're reusing storylines from s1? Because I also heard complaints about s2 that theyre reusing plot points from season 1... Which is a shame that they're already doing that considering they're only on their 2nd season. 

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(edited)

Can't we please, please keep it from being personal on this thread - even if it looks like baiting? I know there's a lot of Arrow fans who post here, and I understand the knee-jerk reaction to defend one's favourites, but it can so easily turn ugly. And I think dissenting voices are important and probably inevitable - especially in a thread like this one which intersects between at least four shows now.

On topic, both Moira and Harry's deaths made me tear up, which is my litmus test for deaths. So they both worked for me - competion avoided ;) Snart's death, however, did nothing for me, which is weird because I loved his character and I had not yet read that WM's supposed to be the floater. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for a cry *shrugs*

Edited by feverfew
Because it wasn't fair to call out specific posters. I'm sorry.
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7 hours ago, wonderwall said:

I'm not in the flash fandom at all, But even I heard people were calling Henry's death as early as the mid-season finale. I briefly even wondered if it was a bait switch but it wasn't. 

I'm not in the Flash fandom either,  but I think we were calling it here as soon as his release from prison.   It was all too convenient.  

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1 minute ago, Delphi said:

I'm not in the Flash fandom either,  but I think we were calling it here as soon as his release from prison.   It was all too convenient.  

Oh that's right... I think the surprise could've made his death better, more impactful.

Now I sort of wish that the Arrow death wasn't spoiled. Because I wonder if I would've been surprised by it if it wasn't... hmm

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25 minutes ago, wonderwall said:

Oh that's right... I think the surprise could've made his death better, more impactful.

Now I sort of wish that the Arrow death wasn't spoiled. Because I wonder if I would've been surprised by it if it wasn't... hmm

I wonder that too, but I blame the flash fwd more because it made us all focus on who it could be. And from there the process of elimination was pretty short all things considered it was going to be Lance or Lance, all other options had some pretty strong evidence against them.

Likewise, when it became obvious that Flash felt the need to kill somebody the options again were limited to likely a father figure so it was 1 of 3, 2 of which were basically off the table.

I am someone that likes to piece together what is going to happen but I'm beginning to feel that Flarrowverse is becoming too formulaic. They need to mix it up next season. They can play the same cards if they want, but they need to shuffle the deck from time to time. LL & Henry should have died either sooner or later, but not at the most predictable time. Also as much as the flash fwd I think was supposed to be Arrow doing something different, they picked the most predictable thing to flash fwd on. The should have perhaps done something more related to DD.

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For me Moira's death was telegraphed as well, but unlike Henry, she was an awesome character (I personally love her way more than Oliver) so I was very bummed because of her death, it was one of the reasons I had to stop watching the show after season 2.

Henry was just meh. Barry has other dads anyway. He wasn't even a regular on the show. And kudos to the person who pointed out his death looked like it was lifted from Once Upon A Time.

Amell does give me sexist vibes, but I don't see how his personality has anything to do with the writing and acting, really.

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(edited)

Regarding shocking character deaths on just about all of the superhero shows (and movies)...

Review/Analysis: The Flash Falls Prey To A Common Superhero Trope in "Invincible"
Russ Burlingame- 05/21/2016
http://comicbook.com/dc/2016/05/18/review-analysis-the-flash-falls-prey-to-a-common-superhero-trope/

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This week's episode of The Flash featured a shocking and sad ending, ending the episode and kicking over to a preview of next week's finale in which Barry stands over a coffin.

...But why? 

This week's episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. also put some bodies in the ground, as did last week's DC's Legends of Tomorrow. Arrow killed off a major character a few weeks ago (seen and alluded to on The Flash, actually), and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice did it back in March.
*  *  *
Well, on the one hand, most of these shows are solo or small ensemble shows, which means supporting characters find themselves in the line of fire pretty regularly and without Plot Armor to protect them. Writers believe that putting characters on the chopping block is a way of raising the stakes, particularly on action-dramas. 
*  *  *
We've seen characters killed (and, admittedly, mostly resurrected) in nearly every Marvel Studios film. We've seen them killed in nearly every "key" episode of every superhero show. The shock deaths like we got on The Flash tonight have very little storytelling resonance because we've seen them a bunch of times before. It's a gut punch, for sure, but it's one that's quickly recovered from. And at the end of the day, it makes me feel like the writers are having a difficult time raising the stakes without falling back on death as a crutch.

Depending on the property, it can be used effectively -- but in a show like The Flash, which differentiates itself from the Arrows and Daredevils of the world by being hopeful and upbeat, it's a little jarring and disappointing to see unnecessary character deaths. Every step Barry takes to becoming more like Oliver Queen or Bruce Wayne is a step away from what makes the show special.

Edited by tv echo
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Question: on Flash, do they still lock the metas they capture in the Pipeline, do they send them to Iron Heights, or both?If it's both, according to which criteria do they make the decision? I was just watching Arrow 403  (the episode with Double Down) and Felicity said that Cisco had Double Down locked in Iron Heights, yet they locked Black Siren in the Pipeline last week, so I'm a bit confused.

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(edited)

It is both.  Black Siren was tucked in the Pipeline but they sent the rest of the metas they knocked out to Iron Heights.  I think Evil Laurel made the cut merely because she looked like Laurel. 

Basically I'd say the criteria is plot. 

The thing I'm wondering about is while yes, they are all good as long as she's behind the glass, but how do they feed her since any opening would stop it from being sound proof?  Of course just the idea that someone that could take down buildings with her voice can be contained by a few extra panes of glass is hilarious.   

Edited by BkWurm1
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4 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

Basically I'd say the criteria is plot. 

Thank you. I thought so, but hey, being just an occasional Flash viewer, I gave them the benefit of the doubt that they might have explained the how and the why in the show. :)

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I'm surprised Cisco hasn't designed some depowering device. In Captain America: Civil War, when Wanda was captured, they put some sort of collar on her to, presumably, dampen or prevent her abilities which is common in all the comics universe. I don't see how doing that would be any worse than locking up metas in a tiny glass prison with no bathroom. 

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I am, at most, a half-assed Flash viewer, but I think they do have those. I think that's what Joe used on the meta about to kill Wally. I don't think that'd be enough to stick on them and let them go, though. Presumably they'd do everything they could to get them off.

I'm weirdly fine with the crappy prison, bc most of the metas have been evil. The one fairly good one, who made bombs, died. The teleporting woman isn't evil, but she's not exactly good, either. I'm on the record as being totally pro-killing the bad guys on tv shows, though, so the prison is nicer than that.

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41 minutes ago, Delphi said:

I think he attempted to,  I just don't think it worked actually.   Isn't that what happened in the premier? 

 

38 minutes ago, AyChihuahua said:

I am, at most, a half-assed Flash viewer, but I think they do have those.

Well that shows how closely I watch The Flash. /viewer fail

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1 hour ago, calliope1975 said:

I'm surprised Cisco hasn't designed some depowering device. In Captain America: Civil War, when Wanda was captured, they put some sort of collar on her to, presumably, dampen or prevent her abilities which is common in all the comics universe. I don't see how doing that would be any worse than locking up metas in a tiny glass prison with no bathroom. 

I would have really enjoyed that though; it would have had a nice parallel to the Canary collar he developed for Laurel.  They'd have to explain how or why she couldn't disconnect it and it would still be rather inhumane in the long run, but it would be an excellent thing to have around if/when they have to transport her.

Mark me down with those who find the unsanctioned pipeline lock-up of some (but not all) supers to be morally dubious, especially the longer it goes unaddressed.  I understand that the whole "No Kill" policy in the Flarrowverse is better than out and out killing people, but there really needs to be some oversight here.

Honestly, with the amount of times people can just walk into the lab, I'm surprised no one has broken any of their friends out.  Zoom missed that trick when he was building his super-army, huh?

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The LoT team doesn't seem to have issues killing people. Ray flew through a guys chest, they disintegrated the Pilgrim, Sara broke Savage's neck, Mick set him on fire, Kendra stabbed him and Rip electrocuted him. 

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I'm sure the people who watch LoT already know that the team has no issue with killing. 

But what's an interesting conversation that got sparked by the flash crew is... Is it better to kill the evil metas or lock them up in a pseudo prison? Is what the flash crew doing more moral than straight up killing baddies? 

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3 minutes ago, apinknightmare said:

Don't they do that, too? I thought they had killed at least a couple of baddies this year. 

So wait... how do they decide who to kill and who not to kill? 

Also, if said baddies ever get put in jail, is there any way they can get let out again? Like if they somehow are reformed and have seen the error of their ways? Like they get let out on good behavior? Hmm

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(edited)

I don't know if you've ever watched it but the flash is very similar  to Birds of Prey,  strictly no killing but somehow every other episode the meta leaves no choice but dying in the name of their convictions. It does not make a lick of sense but it fits the plot. 

Edited by Delphi
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53 minutes ago, Sakura12 said:

The LoT team doesn't seem to have issues killing people. Ray flew through a guys chest, they disintegrated the Pilgrim, Sara broke Savage's neck, Mick set him on fire, Kendra stabbed him and Rip electrocuted him. 

One of the reasons I enjoy Legends the most - they aren't season one Oliver levels of "I had to kill the goons because no one can know my secret" but they don't go around thinking badly of themselves if they kill someone in self-defense or while trying to carry out their mission.

37 minutes ago, wonderwall said:

So wait... how do they decide who to kill and who not to kill? 

Also, if said baddies ever get put in jail, is there any way they can get let out again? Like if they somehow are reformed and have seen the error of their ways? Like they get let out on good behavior? Hmm

They definitely killed a couple of metas earlier this season. But I actually don't think the pipeline prison is humane at all because there really appears to be no means for food, waste disposal, or even a bed. That's just wrong on so many counts. I think they locked Black Siren up there because they didn't want to try to explain "Earth 2" dopplegangers to the cops. They should have just killed her.

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The Pipeline in Flash is really not humane at all. At least the Waverider's cell has a bench for them to sit on. I really don't know how hard it would've been to put a futon and a toilet in the cell. I guess they thought that would take away the coolness of their glass cells. 

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The whole thing behind getting rid of Henry seemed obvious to me. The show has clearly wanted Joe to be Barry's more important father figure from the start, and yet they also thought it was too cruel to leave Henry in prison forever for something he didn't do.

All they had to do was come up with a more logical reason for him not to be around after he got out. I can come up with something right here. How about he was terminally ill and he didn't want Barry to worry about it, and then when he shows back up again he willingly sacrifices himself because his life was ending anyway. There you go. Then it doesn't even have to be as unnecessarily grim as having him get murdered by Zoom right in front of him was.

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I like LoT's philosophy on killing best, too (Though I would have liked some sort of acknowledgement from Ray about FLYING THROUGH A GUY, since he always held himself up as being better than the Hood).  I think killing is necessary at times in fiction.  As long as characters aren't taking life lightly, it's no problem to me.  However, the Flash made such a big deal about how Barry is 'better' than Oliver... while not addressing how horrible the treatment of the pipelined baddies is.  Hypocrisy is aggravating, particularly in heroes.

On the other hand, the Flash's villain pipeline cells with no comforts makes me think of the monster cubes from "Cabin in the Woods."  If they keep going this way, I want a season five episode where someone gets trapped in a cube and has to be filed past the greatest hits of villains.

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(edited)
6 hours ago, nksarmi said:

They definitely killed a couple of metas earlier this season. But I actually don't think the pipeline prison is humane at all because there really appears to be no means for food, waste disposal, or even a bed. That's just wrong on so many counts. I think they locked Black Siren up there because they didn't want to try to explain "Earth 2" dopplegangers to the cops. They should have just killed her.

Supposedly, in Offscreenville, there are toilets and beds, and the prisoners get fed. (Indicated in deleted scenes and online extras.) It doesn't warrant the screentime, I guess. The Pipeline was definitely a problem last season, and the writers seemed to have heard the complaints, and they've had less prisoners this season, but there's still issues. Some bad guys have been sent to Iron Heights, but they've also just straight up killed a bunch, too -- another big issue that has been glossed over.

I liked Black Siren, but she gets to live while Reverb and Killer Frost bite it? Come on!

Edited by Trini
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The pipeline has always bothered me. It brings up way too many questions and it's distracting every time I see it because I start thinking about that stuff. I mean, who gives them the right to lock these people away in their own private, unsupervised prison anyway?

I wish they would just announce at the beginning of the new season that CC has built some kind of metahuman prison, maybe with the pipeline technology or something, so we just wouldn't have to see or think about it anymore. How hard would that be, really? Come on, guys.

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They actually have mentioned on Flash that Iron Heights is equipped for metahumans now; which is why it was irritating that they were still using the Pipeline in some instances.

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This is probably a silly question, but why isn't the Central City prison equipped for metas? Since it's the city that actually has a problem with them.

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I might be wrong, but apparently criminals from both Star City and Central City go to Iron Heights. And they mentioned at some points Iron Heights having a wing or something devoted to metas' containment. 

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I liked Black Siren, but she gets to live while Reverb and Killer Frost bite it? Come on!

I liked KF and Reverb way more. They really shouldn't have killed them so soon, they had potential, and it's not like they needed to pay to guest stars to get them to appear down the line.

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11 minutes ago, looptab said:

I might be wrong, but apparently criminals from both Star City and Central City go to Iron Heights. And they mentioned at some points Iron Heights having a wing or something devoted to metas' containment. 

Which only confuses me more since the cities are apparently far enough away to warrant regular flights, yet there is no closer prison facility to CC. It's not your fault, it's the universe's. Maybe I'm just supposed to forget Dinah's S1 Easter egg and assume they are closer to one another than I assume.

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Yeah, Iron Heights is in Starling City, because people escaped during the earthquake, and also in Central City because Henry watched Barry go into the wormhole from his cell. Even though the cities are 600 miles apart. It makes less than zero sense.

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(edited)

Next season: What’s hot, what’s not
By Marc Berman 22-05-2016
http://www.c21media.net/perspective/next-season-whats-hot-whats-not

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The CW, of course, could not be happier with the arrival of its latest DC Comic book superhero Supergirl. It is a flawless fit on the schedule and leaving it in the Monday 20.00 hour will only give the network a much stronger start for the week. But four superhero-themed shows (The Flash, Arrow and D.C.’s Legends of Tomorrow) could ultimately lead to overkill. Supergirl should absolutely be the last one. And positioning Supergirl leading into Jane the Virgin and relocated Crazy Ex-Girlfriend out of The Vampire Diaries on Friday seems to have no compatibility. Why, meanwhile, introduce a third romantic comedy (No Tomorrow coming out of The Flash on Tuesday) when we all know no one will be watching? A better use of the lead-in is new drama Frequency out of Arrow on Wednesday.

Edited by tv echo
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(edited)

The CW is becoming a big Greg Berlanti superhero universe — and that’s a good thing
By Michael Cavna   May 20, 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/05/20/the-cws-strongest-identity-going-forward-a-home-where-superheroes-can-soar/

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AT THE TV upfronts this week, it became clear that to a great degree, much of The CW could be called The GB. That’s because the network is set to strip most of its week with shows by “super”-producer Greg Berlanti, who has a knowing knack for mixing capes and one-hour escapades.

The CW, which for so long looked lost in the programming desert — the latchkey seed of the fallen UPN and the WB — has recently found a sense of mission based on superheroes, super-soaps and the supernatural. And now it’s the DC Comics characters that could provide the CW with its strongest sense of identity.

Helping to forge that brand is Berlanti, who is becoming not unlike a small-screen version of Marvel Studios mastermind Kevin Feige — an engaged overseer and creative guide of an entire interconnected universe.
*  *  *
But CW chief Mark Pedowitz signaled at Thursday’s upfront that a four-way crossover is planned — a mass version of the type of show-hopping that worked so well in March between “Supergirl” and “The Flash.” (A crossover between “Supergirl” and the CW’s “Jane the Virgin” has even been floated.)
*  *  *
To be clear: This isn’t simply about stunting. It’s more organic, and longer-lasting, than that. The CW is doing on TV what Disney has so brilliantly unfurled at the massive cinematic level: Build bridges between the properties in your super-universe. Fans are guided into a latticework of sticky interconnectivity — character and narrative binding agents with the tensile strength of Spider-Man’s web.
*  *  *
What Hollywood is doing, of course, is taking many pages from the playbooks of the superhero side of the comic-book industry, which especially in lean eras needed to crossover properties to boost sales. It seems Hollywood has purchased not just character rights over the decades, but also the framework for building a growing fandom, like the resilient interior that happens to come with a used car.

Come this fall, the CW should become a stronger sort of power-player. And its universe will revolve around its truest star: the GB.

Edited by tv echo
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The CW Network and Tribune Media Company (NYSE: TRCO) have reached new long-term affiliation agreements for 12 of Tribune's currently affiliated CW stations across the country. The markets renewed cover 25 percent of the U.S. and serve more than 28 million households.

The stations extending their affiliation agreements with The CW include WPIX-TV in New York, KTLA in Los Angeles, KDAF in Dallas, WDCW in Washington, DC, KIAH in Houston, WSFL-TV in Miami, KWGN-TV in Denver, KPLR-TV in St. Louis, KRCW-TV in Portland, WCCT-TV in Hartford, WGNT in Norfolk and WNOL-TV in New Orleans. Separately, The CW and Tribune Broadcasting announced that the local Chicago CW affiliation will move from Tribune Broadcasting to Fox Entertainment Group and WGN-TV/Chicago will become an independent station, featuring local news, live sports and syndicated programming during primetime, beginning September 2016.

http://www.spoilertv.com/2016/05/the-cw-tribune-reach-new-long-term.html

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The CW announced on Monday that starting Sept. 1, the Fox Television-owned WPWR-TV will be the network’s new home in the nation’s third-largest TV market, replacing WGN-TV (which is becoming an independent station).

“We love high-quality, big-budget, first-run prime and we love having more original programming,” Frank Cicha, SVP of Programming of Fox Television Stations, said in a statement. “But most of all, we love moving to The CW the same time as Supergirl.”

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WGN’s parent company in turn touted no longer having to bump CW programs for Cubs, White Sox, Bulls and Hawks games.

“As an independent television station, we’ll have the opportunity to bring more primetime baseball, basketball and hockey games to Chicago sports fans on weeknights [and] add some popular syndicated programming,” Tribune Broadcasting President of Broadcast Media Larry Wert said in a statement. “Importantly, we’ll also avoid having to move any games off of WGN-TV to accommodate network programming.”

http://tvline.com/2016/05/23/the-cw-chicago-affiliate-change-wpwr-wgn/

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I'm wondering what's happening with their Hulu/Netflix deals.  Does anyone remember when those run out?  Sometime this year is all I remember.

I personally prefer watching on Hulu rather than the CW app, because the CW player is awful. 

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(edited)

The print issue of the new TV Guide has a full-page spread (with large pic) on The Flash's season finale this week -- but nothing on Arrow.  What a surprise.  In fact, they also have a full-page spread on Rosewood, which airs at the same time as Arrow.

Edited by tv echo
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