The Starling City Times: News and Media about Arrow

[tv echo]

Could this guy be any less enthusiastic? ...

10 Last-Minute Changes That Hurt Superhero Shows (And 10 That Saved Them)
BY SERGIO PEREIRA – ON AUG 19, 2018 
https://screenrant.com/superhero-shows-last-minute-changes-hurt-saved/

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3   SAVED: EXPANDING FELICITY SMOAK'S ROLE
...
While Felicity Smoak might not be the most popular character in Arrow because of her whininess nowadays, it's difficult to imagine the series without her.

Speaking to Collider, actress Emily Bett Rickards revealed she only auditioned to appear in one episode. "I auditioned for episode three. I had two scenes in that. So, I just went in for one day, and people were kind enough to bring me back."

The fans' reaction to her was overwhelmingly positive, considering she added a different dimension to the show, so she was brought back again and again until she became a series regular.

She's a major character in Arrow, so it's safe to say that the showrunners made a good call on her.

Edited August 21, 2018 by tv echo

[Angel12d]

8 minutes ago, tv echo said:

While Felicity Smoak might not be the most popular character in Arrow because of her whininess nowadays, it's difficult to imagine the series without her.

LMAO I love how they can't even give a compliment without insulting her. Complisults! 

[tv echo]

The Law Is A Ass #437: Green Arrow Joins The FB Aye-Yi-Yi
Bob Ingersoll August 20, 2018
https://www.comicmix.com/2018/08/20/the-law-is-a-ass-437-green-arrow-joins-the-fb-aye-yi-yi/

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Now, all Arrow had to do for me to be finished with it was get through the last two episodes of the 6th season without any outrageous legal gaffs. Aaaaaand it couldn’t even do that. Hell, the season finale “Life Sentence” couldn’t even get through the “Previously on Arrow” part without an outrageous legal gaff.

You will recall, unless you purged the nonsense of “Docket No. 11-19-41-73” from your mind – and I wouldn’t blame you if you had – that Oliver (The Green Arrow) Queen and Team Arrow were fighting Ricardo Diaz, a crime lord who had taken over Star City. In the “Previously on” section of “Life Sentence” Oliver went to FBI agent Samandra Watson and asked her help to take down Diaz. Watson, who had been in Star City all season investigating whether Oliver Queen was secretly the Green Arrow – so far unsuccessfully – told Ollie, and I quote, “You want my help, I’m going to need you to say the words.” “The words” being an admission that he was the Green Arrow.

Now what Ollie should have answered was, “Listen, lady, how about I tell your frelling boss that instead taking down a frakking international crime lord, like you’re supposed to do, you’re threatening to withhold FBI cooperation unless I admit I’m a criminal?” (Although, I would have substituted in a few of what Mr. Spock called “more colorful metaphors.”) Instead, Ollie admitted he was Green Arrow. And by the end of the episode –
*  *  *
– the FBI used Ollie’s confession to get him to agree to a plea bargain. We’ll forgo discussing the details of the plea bargain for the nonce, because we have other nonsense to discuss first. Such as the fact that the FBI was able to use Ollie’s statement against him in the first place.

The Fifth Amendment says that no person can be compelled to be a witness against himself. Courts have interpreted said language to mean the government cannot coerce a confession from a person. Now as I don’t think any of you have any problem accepting that an FBI agent is part of the government, the real question is, did Agent Watson compel Ollie into confessing? What say thee, Messrs. Merriam and Webster?

You say to compel is, “to cause to do or occur by overwhelming pressure.” I think what Agent Watson did fits that definition nicely, so I am unconvinced that Ollie’s confession could have been used against him in a court of law. So unconvinced, in fact that I think even Jean Loring, as bad a lawyer as she showed herself to be in Ollie’s trial, could have won that argument.
*  *  *
Here are just a few of Diaz’s many crimes. Diaz used Star City’s docks to import illegal narcotics into the city which he then distributed for sale. That means Diaz was involved in crimes that either crossed state or international borders or both. The FBI has jurisdiction to investigate interstate and international crimes. It don’t need no steenkin’ authorization from the local authorities.

Diaz joined The Quadrant, an international criminal organization. Or what the FBI calls transnational organized crime. And you know why the FBI calls it that? Because it has jurisdiction to investigate TOC activities at the local level without authorization.
*  *  *
Which brings us full circle, back to Ollie’s plea bargain. In return for Ollie admitting he was Green Arrow and pleading guilty to whatever federal offenses he violated by being the Green Arrow, the federal government agreed to grant immunity for all the members of Team Arrow. Then Ollie went off to federal prison.

While Team Arrow all went to state prison. See, the FBI and the federal government could only grant Team Arrow immunity from prosecution for federal crimes. It had no jurisdiction to grant them immunity from prosecution for any state crimes they may have committed.
*  *  *
Okay, Team Arrow wasn’t actually prosecuted and didn’t actually go to prison. I guess law schools in Star City don’t have any classes on the difference between federal and local jurisdiction. Which is probably fortunate for us. After the nonsense that was “Docket No. 11-19-41-73,” did we really want to suffer through Docket Nos. 11-19-41-74, 75, 76, 77, and 78?

Edited August 21, 2018 by tv echo

[statsgirl]

It's hysterical how much he hates the bad law on Arrow.  (Kind of how I hate the bad psychology on Take Two but with better examples.)

2 hours ago, tv echo said:

The fans' reaction to her was overwhelmingly positive, considering she added a different dimension to the show, so she was brought back again and again until she became a series regular.

She's a major character in Arrow, so it's safe to say that the showrunners made a good call on her.

Uh I have no idea if she's good or bad and I don't really like her but they kept bringing her back so I guess she's a positive?

[tv echo]

Tights Spots: 10 Characters Who Were Perfectly Adapted On-Screen (And 10 That Look Nothing Like They Should)
Peyton Hinckle   August 19, 2018
https://www.cbr.com/on-screen-characters-good-bad/

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4. PERFECTLY ADAPTED: GREEN ARROW

We’re sure a lot of you are assuming we’ve lost our minds with this one. Arrow star Stephen Amell has blonde hair, like the comic character Green Arrow, but beyond that their signature looks are very different. Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow, wore a pretty stereotypical “Robin Hood” getup during the first few decades of his fictional life. Tight green tights, a red feather, and a strangely small hat once characterized this famous DC character.

But, with the success of the CW show Arrow things began to change. Oliver’s look became more modern and by his 2016 Rebirth series, his costume was nearly identical to that of Amell’s on Arrow. The hood, mask, armored chest plate, and shorter sleeves make these two iterations stylistically very similar.

Edited August 22, 2018 by tv echo

[tv echo]

13 CW Besties Who Are Pure Friendship Goals
By Keisha Hatchett | Aug 21, 2018
https://www.tvguide.com/news/cw-best-friendships-of-all-time/

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Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Diggle (David Ramsey), Arrow
Oliver and Diggle didn't exactly hit it off from the get-go — their first week together involved a gnarly escape from a moving vehicle — but their partnership quickly became one of the strongest in Arrow's history. Even when they've come to blows in their disagreements (Season 6 was a rough time), there's always been a brotherhood and a respect that runs too deep to be ignored between these two. What else do you expect from a bestie who's ride or die enough to officiate your impromptu wedding on the fly?

Edited August 22, 2018 by tv echo

[tv echo]

20 TV Characters Who Really Need a Hug
August 21, 2018   Mary Misasi
https://www.telltaletv.com/2018/08/20-tv-characters-who-really-need-a-hug/2/

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20. William Clayton – Arrow
*  *  *
They say that superheroes have tortured pasts. What about the children of superheroes?

William is the son of Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow. In his young life, William has seen many sorrows and suffered torturous pain at the hands of his father’s enemies.

William not only has to deal with the death of his mother but then has to move in with a father he barely knows. Now, even that life may be in danger of falling apart.

He clearly gets plenty of love from his father and step-mother. However, he still constantly looks like he desperately needs a hug.

Edited August 22, 2018 by tv echo

[Soulfire]

[insomniadreams88]

I'm sorry, are they really saying "hero training in progress" and showing Black Siren? Especially since this was all filmed last year, right? When she was 100% villain? 

[apinknightmare]

13 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

I'm sorry, are they really saying "hero training in progress" and showing Black Siren? Especially since this was all filmed last year, right? When she was 100% villain? 

I like that the editing makes it look like Oliver's shooting her with an arrow.

Also, Rene's really showing that bike who's boss!

[statsgirl]

1 hour ago, apinknightmare said:

Also, Rene's really showing that bike who's boss!

He's such a superhero that one.

[JamieLynn832002]

Hey, when the phantom bicycles come for Star City, we'll be really grateful for Rene's badass bike-murdering skills. What thought process leads to "let's show him shooting the heck out of a bicycle?!"

[Angel12d]

I sure do love it when promo excludes Felicity and Diggle. ?

[thegirlsleuth]

I knew I'd be annoyed by the promo, but Rene shooting up the bike is full on hilarious.

[calliope1975]

I wasn't going to watch the promo but all the bike murdering talk changed my mind. Hah, that was terrible. Always consistent, that CWPR!

[tennisgurl]

Look out evildoers, Green Arrow is gonna shoot you, Black Lightning is gonna electrocute you, and Wild Dog is gonna...shoot your bicycle! Beware!

Seriously, does whoever made that promo hate Rene as much as I do? 

[BkWurm1]

I thought for sure it was going to be at least a motorbike bike but nope, just an old beat up bike bike.  I swear my mom had one that looked like it.  Thanks Rene for killing it dead!  

[tv echo]

Kiss and Make Up Day: TV Characters From Arrow, Gotham, Walking Dead and More That Need to Make Amends
By Team TVLine / August 25 2018
https://tvline.com/gallery/tv-characters-kiss-and-make-up-day-photos/#!1/collision-course-3/

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Team Arrow and Evil Laurel
Sure, her attempt to help apprehend Ricardo Diaz in the finale would allow the Big Bad to escape Oliver’s grasp. But it’s the thought that counts…? Don’t let Quentin’s sacrifice have been for nothing. He saw a spark of our Laurel in her doppelgänger, and now it’s time for others on Team Arrow to open their eyes to the same.

Edited August 26, 2018 by tv echo

[insomniadreams88]

No. That’s just stupid. She wasn’t trying to “apprehend” Diaz but kill him (which could easily have been seen as helping him escape if they didn’t plan to put her on the path of redemption). 

Am I the only one who feels like this sounds like the team owes BS something for ... Lance’s crazy thinking in season 6?

(Also maybe it would be easier to accept if the article didn’t call her Evil Laurel but E2 Laurel instead.)

I think articles like this wouldn’t bother me so much if the show had actually written a semi-decent path to redemption story in S6. It could have been done. It wasn’t. 

[apinknightmare]

32 minutes ago, insomniadreams88 said:

Am I the only one who feels like this sounds like the team owes BS something for ... Lance’s crazy thinking in season 6?

Yeah, I mean...Lance was also legitimately out of his mind with luring her to a creepy makeshift theater to watch photos of some other person who wasn't even her, and, you know, handcuffing her to a car and kidnapping her to a cabin. 

I know that she's not irredeemable by this show's standards, but at this point she hasn't done anything other than fuck-up the capture of a guy she wasn't going after because it was the right thing to do, but because he threatened her and a guy who was nice to her who looked like her dad. It's not "time for others on Team Arrow" to do anything, LOL.

Edited August 26, 2018 by apinknightmare

[Angel12d]

Meh. Matt from TV Line is an LL fan, it doesn't shock me that he'd feel this way. Still doesn't make any sense to me though. She's E2 Laurel which means THEY DON'T KNOW HER and have no connections to her whatsoever. She's also still evil, as the article calls her, and she was happily with the bad guys up until she saw him burn someone alive because supposedly that was too much for her poor sensibilities, even though she happily snapped necks and screamed down buildings full of people. 

LOL. When you type it out, it really highlights how ridiculous it all is and how badly they messed up. 

Edited August 26, 2018 by Angel12d

[kes0704]

Team Arrow would have to be as delusional as Quentin to believe the E2 Laurel is in any way “their” Laurel. The whole thing becomes even less believable when you consider that no one felt the need to try and redeem their evil Earth X counterparts on the off chance there was a “spark” of goodness in them.  

Oliver killed his own doppelgänger (and Quentin’s?), but sure, let’s for one minute think he now can’t tell the difference between the Laurel he knew and the one from E2, who didn’t shy away from brutally killing people (until plot demanded that she did). 

It’s kind of awful to think that “their” Laurel, who was supposed to be such a beloved friend and hero to them that they erected a statue to her, can be so easily replaced by someone that just happens to wear the same face. 

Edited August 26, 2018 by kes0704
Spelling

[insomniadreams88]

You know what confuses me the most when I see articles like this? The fact that I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that for The Flash with Harrison Wells. The articles treat each Earth’s version of that character like a different person. Every season. It’s simple. Because they’re not the same person. Same universe, characters around all the time and not just for one crossover like E-X. 

Then you bring in E2 LL, and all of a sudden, it’s like, “she can be E1 LL! There’s a piece of “our” Laurel in her!” Even when we’ve seen the opposite of that onscreen, that doesn’t change. We’ll keep getting articles talking about how E2 LL can be E1 LL, no matter what. 

[SmallScreenDiva]

Because this whole redemption BS is not about BS or even LL, for that matter. It's all about KC. So it doesn't matter if the there's no real foundation for a redemption. 

[tv echo]

Andy Poon has been an Arrowverse concept illustrator since 2012 (warning: although my transcription below is spoiler-free, if you listen to this podcast, they talked about an Arrowverse spoiler)...

Interview with Concept Creator and Illustrator Andy Poon
Published on Aug 15, 2018, by Jay Washington

-- Andy Poon (AP) started working with Arrow first: "That's my main show." He worked/works with Arrow costume designer Maya Mani. He said that Arrow is the most "grounded" of the DCTV shows.

-- In designing superhero costumes, AP said that they take inspiration from the original comics source first. However, some things "don't work exactly as we would like" for the TV versions. AP: "Would I like to see Black Canary with fishnets? Hell, yes! But, you know, when people are shooting fall-ups[?] of her on screen, I'm not quite sure how well that is protecting her, so... yeah."

-- AP also noted that some of the comics costumes were designed in a different time/era. AP: "I think there is a time and place for the faithful comic book costumes, but not, like, a whole show of it... As a fan, like, yeah, I would love to see just a full episode that, for some reason, like, Arrow's wearing the Robin Hood suit... Just for whatever reason, like, uh, Twin Peaks version."

-- On his most challenging design, AP said: "Deathstroke... So, the character of Deathstroke himself actually wasn't the most difficult to design, but it was because, when we got the task to - or we got informed that Deathstroke was showing up on Arrow, it was the same time that he was showing up in the Arkham game. And it looked freakin' amazing, the first cinematic fight of him fighting Batman, like, around these cargo containers in the snow. Like, we're like, 'what the hell are we going to do?' ... At that point, we're like, 'okay, we know our show is not Arkham. Arkham is realistic but it still got a trace of fantasy element to it. Like, the Deathstroke armor in the game is still actually quite medieval, in [unintelligible word], the chin guard and everything and the scale mail. So we know, we're not doing that. So in some ways, that's a restriction, but that helps in separating our course. Um, and we know our show is very, like, uh, tactical, military-based. So we're like, 'okay, great.' So that's when we start, you know, going towards that realm of, uh - in terms of his gear. Like, you know, it could be a military, events military type prototype, some sort of armor. And we know kind of what Slade Wilson went through, he's a little bit cuckoo, so, okay, maybe there's a little bit of the eccentric touch from him that he adds onto the armor. And also there's an underlayer of some of the actual pieces from the original Deathstroke costume that he was wearing on the island. So I think with the amalgamation of those three factors, I think that's kind of where we landed on. And the funny story also - Season 1 Arrow and Season 2, everything is very dark and black and you know. And then, my first question was, 'can we use orange?' Like, 'can we have color?' And then costume designer Maya Mani was like, 'yes, we can.' I was like, 'yes!' So, we ended up having orange and blue, which was groundbreaking for the Arrow universe, 'cause, you know, Starling City only sells black clothing... That was exciting. I was like, 'yes, we can have pops of color.' 'Cause, I mean, how do you build Deathstroke without the orange? You can't... So in that sense, he was quite challenging just because of, like, the game came out with this amazing Deathstroke that we know ours is going to get compared to, and thank god, it was received very well. And, you know, the creator of Deathstroke actually said that he likes it."

-- AP said that the next most challenging to design was the Atom suit. He also said that the character was originally supposed to be Ted Kord, but Arrow couldn't use Ted Kord because "they had plans for Ted Kord," so they had to switch to another DC character and landed on Ray Palmer. He then talked in more detail about designing the Atom suit. He also said that, at the time, he thought that the Atom was just going to be a secondary character on Arrow and didn't know he was going to become a main character on another show, so he was surprised at how much money they were spending on this suit.

Edited August 27, 2018 by tv echo

[tv echo]

If you're wondering what happened to Chris King's SDCC interviews with the Arrow cast...

[tv echo]

21 Heroes Who Could Never Get Insurance IRL
Diana Keng at August 26, 2018
https://www.tvfanatic.com/slideshows/21-heroes-who-could-never-get-insurance-irl/

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1. Oliver Queen - Arrow
...
You'd think coming back from being presumed dead for five years would give your creditors some confidence in you but, since coming back, Oliver's been shot at, shot up, blown up, elected mayor, and sent to prison. That's a lot of risk right there.

[tv echo]

Another review of S6...

Arrow: The Complete Sixth Season (Blu-Ray + Digital)
Blu-Ray Reviews | By Creature of War on Aug 27th, 2018
https://www.readjunk.com/reviews/blu-ray-reviews/arrow-the-complete-sixth-season-blu-ray-digital/

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I feel like season six is the tale of two seasons. The first half of the season was a carryover of more of the same from season five with villains of the week and Oliver once again denying that he’s the Green Arrow. My interest was piqued slightly when Cayden James and his cabal appeared but the resolution of that arc and the reveal of Diaz as some badass ultimate villain fell short for me. Again, Diaz felt too similar to last season’s villain Prometheus…as in generic criminal mastermind out to get Oliver and company for some reason of obsession.

Starting with the awesomely awesome crossover “Crisis on Earth-X”, the latter half of season six became much more interesting with the disassembly of Team Arrow. I enjoyed it mainly because I’m not much of a fan of Dinah, Rene and Curtis. I’ve always felt that they were tacked on and that, with almost no training and crime-fighting experience (except Dinah as a cop) that they always think that they know more about every situation, gang and villain than the guy that has been doing it for over a decade. I was hoping that their exclusion from the team would be final. But this tension really made things interesting as Oliver found himself pushing everyone away and going solo for quite some time. It had a lot of similarities to Frank Miller’s seminal “Born Again” storyline from the Daredevil comics. Oliver hit rock bottom and lost everything all the while realizing how important everything that he lost was to him.
*  *  *
As I mentioned before, season six started off really slow and was quite uninteresting in the beginning but, from the crossover episode on the episodes and storytelling got much better. The writing was much better this season as smaller story arcs built upon each other leading to the last couple of action packed episodes of the season, instead of one continuously boring lead villain throughout all 26 episodes like the past season of “The Flash”. There were quite a few somewhat self-contained guest star episodes with Slade, Anatoly, Nyssa and Roy that added depth to the overarching story without bogging it down with too many additional characters or new team members.

It was interesting to slowly see Team Arrow stripped down and then built back up again. It will definitely be a change of pace for season 7 with Oliver in prison and the rest of the team feeling guilty about it. The cliffhanger at the end of the season as well as the loss of Quentin Lance were some of the biggest surprises of the season and should do well to set up a lot of human interest stories for the upcoming season. Personally, season 6 was probably the best season of the series since the fourth season. Hopefully, Diaz is more of a side story in season 7 and they can finally solve that drawn out, generic villain syndrome that the show suffers from at times.
*  *  *
Bottom Line: With a slow start to season 6, a four-part alternate reality with Nazi ass kicking as well as internal strife within Team Arrow helped alleviate the boredom and kicked off a pretty satisfying end to the remainder of the season. But…where Rag Man go?

Edited August 28, 2018 by tv echo

[statsgirl]

That is a very weird review.

4 hours ago, tv echo said:

Again, Diaz felt too similar to last season’s villain Prometheus…as in generic criminal mastermind out to get Oliver and company for some reason of obsession. {snip}

Starting with the awesomely awesome crossover “Crisis on Earth-X”, the latter half of season six became much more interesting with the disassembly of Team Arrow. I enjoyed it mainly because I’m not much of a fan of Dinah, Rene and Curtis. I’ve always felt that they were tacked on and that, with almost no training and crime-fighting experience (except Dinah as a cop) that they always think that they know more about every situation, gang and villain than the guy that has been doing it for over a decade. I was hoping that their exclusion from the team would be final. [snip]

As I mentioned before, season six started off really slow and was quite uninteresting in the beginning but, from the crossover episode on the episodes and storytelling got much better. The writing was much better this season as smaller story arcs built upon each other leading to the last couple of action packed episodes of the season, instead of one continuously boring lead villain throughout all 26 episodes like the past season of “The Flash”. There were quite a few somewhat self-contained guest star episodes with Slade, Anatoly, Nyssa and Roy that added depth to the overarching story without bogging it down with too many additional characters or new team members.

Basically he's saying that the season started slow but then got better in the second while also saying that Diaz was generic and idsliking NTA, which was all the second half really was, and liking Slade who was in the first half.  Also like Nyssa and Roy but they were barely there, and Anatoly was (IMO) badly underused so that the could do all the Diaz gotchas.

[tv echo]

News articles resulting from SA's Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast interview (posted in Social Media thread yesterday)...

Stephen Amell Admits He Started Off Earning Less Than His ‘Arrow’ Co-Stars, But Insists ‘It Was A Fair Deal’
By BECCA LONGMIRE.   AUGUST 29, 2018
https://etcanada.com/news/361960/stephen-amell-admits-he-started-off-earning-less-than-his-arrow-co-stars-but-insists-it-was-a-fair-deal/

Quote

Stephen Amell has admitted he started off earning less than some of his “Arrow” co-stars despite being the leading man in the hit series.

The 37-year-old discussed his paycheque on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast Tuesday, insisting he “didn’t really care what the deal was” when he first got the role in 2011.

Amell, who plays Oliver Green/Green Arrow in the CW show, shared: “It was a fair deal. I had no quote. I had never been a series regular before. I was a series regular on ‘Hung’, technically, but I wasn’t going to be bumped up to a series regular price until the fourth season—if there was a fourth season, which there wasn’t.

“It was a very, very fair deal. I mean, the first thing they did was try to hire me as a Canadian… That’s the first conversation that they have and my agent shut it down immediately. Basically, the business affairs person comes back, semi-embarrassed, and says, ‘You know, I gotta ask…’”
*  *  *
Amell said he put his foot down in the end, insisting: “The only issue I had in the first couple of years was, I think, that up until the end of the second season I was the fourth or fifth highest-paid cast member, because I had no quote.

“They gave me what they termed as a ‘gift’ after season 2… it’s them raising my salary without asking for anything in return. My thing was very simple. I just said, ‘Quite frankly, I work way more than everybody else.’

“Especially in season 1 and season 2… it was way more disproportionate than it is now. I think somebody was making X. They’re like, ‘OK, your new salary is going to be X minus, like, $1,250 per episode.’ And I go, ‘What are you doing? That’s not the most amount of money.’ They said, ‘Yeah, no. It’s the most amount of money over the course of 23 episodes because the person above you is not in all episodes produced.’ I was like, ‘OK, technically you’re right…’ That leaves a little bit of a sh**ty taste in my mouth. Just a little.”
*  *  *
Amell then said that when he did do his renegotiation, “it wasn’t fun, because I have a lot of friends who have been in similar positions, and I knew what the actual numbers were.

“I’m very good friends with Jared Padalecki, and he shared information with me that [Tom Welling] shared with him. It’s everyone trying to help each other out, right? And I have gone on to share that information with people that I think it might be beneficial to.”

Stephen Amell admits he’s only the star of Arrow because HBO cancelled its comedy Hung 
JJ Nattrass   Wednesday 29 Aug 2018 11:45 am
https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/29/stephen-amell-admits-hes-only-the-star-of-arrow-because-hbo-cancelled-its-comedy-hung-7892876/

Quote

The CW has built its phenomenally popular DC Universe around the character and the success of the show, which is down in no small part to the man playing the Green Arrow.

But were it not for a decision at HBO to switch up its offering then Stephen Amell would never have taken the role, and Arrow (and the rest of the Arrowverse) could be very different – and may even never have got off the ground.

Speaking about how he landed the role of Oliver Queen on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside Of Your [sic] podcast, the 37-year-old actor explained: ‘I only go [sic] Arrow because Hung got cancelled.’

Blown away by the revelation an incredulous Rosenbaum asks the Canadian actor if he’s telling the truth, to which he replies, ‘Yeah.’
*  *  *
Going into details Stephen – who has played the role since the show’s inception in 2012 – said if it wasn’t for change in the wind at HBO he wouldn’t have gone for the part of Oliver.

‘The third season of hung  [sic] did better ratings from my understanding than the first couple seasons of hung [sic], and it was very well received critically… but basically they wiped the comedy slate in December of 2011.’

Admitting that he was bummed about that, Stephan admitted he’d never have gone for the role if Hung was commissioned for a fourth season.
*  *  *
‘If it just doesn’t get cancelled… I’m not… I’m just not available, I can’t go do it,’ he told the former Smallville star.

His motivation? A regular paycheck – which we can understand.

Edited August 29, 2018 by tv echo

[Featherhat]

2 hours ago, tv echo said:

Stephen Amell admits he’s only the star of Arrow because HBO cancelled its comedy Hung 

Well Duh! If had gone on for a 4th season he would probably have missed pilots season 2012/fall season 2012, that's not news. If Nu!Melrose had taken off KC wouldn't have been LL either. I guess it's not too surprising that he was earning less 1st season than some others. Others were more established actors and/or better known CW stars, though slightly surprised he claims he was 4th or 5th even with the other caveats, but as he says he was basically an unknown, so.... 

Edited August 29, 2018 by Featherhat

[way2interested]

23 minutes ago, Featherhat said:

Others were more established actors and/or better known CW stars, though slightly surprised he claims he was 4th or 5th even with the other caveats, but as he says he was basically an unknown, so.... 

It's not really surprising. ST, PB, KC, and then SA makes 4th or add CH in there and he makes 5th, still probably more than DR, WH, EBR, or CD probably got.

[Mary0360]

I'm guessing he knew EXACTLY what he was doing by bringing up his poor salary conditions in public as his contract is about to be up and he's likely going to demand CW make it rain greenbacks to resign. 

[Featherhat]

1 hour ago, Mary0360 said:

I'm guessing he knew EXACTLY what he was doing by bringing up his poor salary conditions in public as his contract is about to be up and he's likely going to demand CW make it rain greenbacks to resign. 

Possibly but didn't we already have word that he renegotiated last year? Or was that never confirmed?

[Mary0360]

14 minutes ago, Featherhat said:

Possibly but didn't we already have word that he renegotiated last year? Or was that never confirmed?

He said in his podcast that he's contract ends this season and he indicated that he was undecided  on whether he would re-sign  or not. Considering that multiple sites are picking up his salary comments I'm assuming they were made intentionally to amp up pressure on the CW in renegotiations but who knows I suppose. 

Edited August 30, 2018 by Mary0360

[Featherhat]

37 minutes ago, Mary0360 said:

He said in his podcast that he's contract ends this season and he indicated that he was undecided  on whether he would re-sign  or not. Considering that multiple sites are picking up his salary comments I'm assuming they were made intentionally to amp up pressure on the CW in renegotiations but who knows I suppose. 

Ok, thanks. To be fair in that situation I'm more worried about DR and EBR's re signing/being offered re signing and salaries than SA, but I suppose it could go either way for him as well. 

The boobs and KC will probably be the last to leave. 

[tv echo]

More media reporting on SA's podcast interview with Michael Rosenbaum...

GREEN ARROW AND LEX LUTHOR (STEPHEN AMELL AND MICHAEL ROSENBAUM) TALK SUPERHERO SALARIES, CROSSOVER EPISODES AND DONUTS
Brian Stillman   Aug. 29, 2018
https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/green-arrow-and-lex-luthor-stephen-amell-and-michael-rosenbaum-talk-superhero-salaries-and

'Arrow's Stephen Amell Respects Rick Gonzalez For Calling Him Out Over Set Incident
By NICOLE DRUM - August 29, 2018
https://comicbook.com/dc/2018/08/29/arrow-stephen-amell-rick-gonzalez-set-incident-respect/ 

'Arrow's Stephen Amell on What Oliver Queen's Final Story Arc Needs to Be
By KOFI OUTLAW - August 30, 2018
https://comicbook.com/dc/2018/08/30/arrow-oliver-queen-death-retirement-stephen-amell/

Arrow's Stephen Amell says the show could continue without Oliver Queen as the lead
BY DAN SEDDON    31 AUGUST 2018
http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/arrow/news/a865214/stephen-amell-arrow-could-continue-without-oliver-queen/

Edited August 31, 2018 by tv echo

[Velocity23]

8 hours ago, Featherhat said:

Ok, thanks. To be fair in that situation I'm more worried about DR and EBR's re signing/being offered re signing and salaries than SA, but I suppose it could go either way for him as well. 

The boobs and KC will probably be the last to leave. 

Didnt Ken imply that everybody was up for negotiations during s6? That would mean EBR and DR also. Also i would guess the noobs and KC all get only 1 year contracts. 

Edited August 30, 2018 by Velocity23

[tv echo]

I came across this 2015 interview with KC that included some specific Black Canary comments that I hadn't read before (like, for example, what I quoted below)..

Interview with “Arrow” actress Katie Cassidy
By Preview This! October 7, 2015 
https://cwatlanta.cbslocal.com/2015/10/07/interview-with-arrow-actress-katie-cassidy/

Quote

So after two years of seeing everybody else get into costumes and having fights and being able to do all that was it exciting to be able to get in there and join in?
Katie:  Oh my gosh, yes, absolutely! I met with the CW even before “Arrow” was around. I told them I wanted to do action. I have always worked out. I told them I want to do some badass, kick-ass action show.  If you guys have one, let me know. So “Arrow” came about and I met with Greg, David Nutter, and Marc Guggenheim and they pitched me the show.  They told me that Laurel Lance is Black Canary, and Black Canary will be appearing sometime in season one or season two. But its television and anything can happen.  But I am grateful and glad the way that they went about it. It gave my character some place to go, and when you’re on a show season after season after season, I’m so lucky that I’ve had this wonderful arc that they wrote for me. But yeah, defiantly after the seasons it was a little frustrating for me. I wasn’t apart of the “A” story and wanted to be in there. And then when Caity Lotz came on, who by the way I love, she’s amazing. It was definitely hard because I didn’t know, they hadn’t told me that she was coming ’til like a week before, and I was like … I mean I didn’t say this, but I thought this in my head like, “Pretty sure they sold me the show where I was supposed to do that!” And then I was like, you know what, just have to have faith, and I trust them.  They know what they’re doing. It’s television; I’m a professional. I tried to handle it in the best way possible, and she was so great. It was also good just watching, I think because we were still just trying to find our legs Season 1 and 2. And it’s obviously been an honor and I’m so happy and lucky, and I’m so grateful to finally a part of Team Arrow! The one thing I will say, though, is when you’re a superhero and you’re on our show, you work until four or five in the morning, so now I’m nocturnal.

Edited September 2, 2018 by tv echo

[BkWurm1]

2 hours ago, tv echo said:

And then when Caity Lotz came on, who by the way I love, she’s amazing. It was definitely hard because I didn’t know, they hadn’t told me that she was coming ’til like a week before, and I was like … I mean I didn’t say this, but I thought this in my head like, “Pretty sure they sold me the show where I was supposed to do that!”

Not telling her about a Canary seems to me once again a big indicator that the show runners were trying to pivot away from their original plans even if they weren't allowed in the long run to do it.  Otherwise you'd have clued the female lead in right from the inception of the idea, wouldn't one think?

[SmallScreenDiva]

The behind the scenes stuff with KC sounds messy. They also seemed to have not clued her in with regards to the love interest situation because she was still giving "soul mates" interviews way into Season 3 when the pivot had already happened. But with regards to BC, I wonder if TPTB toyed with the idea of taking that away from her permanently as well. Like, make Sara the one and only BC instead of proto-BC. I guess the plunging ratings after the lunge didn't help CL's case though.

[BkWurm1]

15 minutes ago, SmallScreenDiva said:

The behind the scenes stuff with KC sounds messy. They also seemed to have not clued her in with regards to the love interest situation because she was still giving "soul mates" interviews way into Season 3 when the pivot had already happened. But with regards to BC, I wonder if TPTB toyed with the idea of taking that away from her permanently as well. Like, make Sara the one and only BC instead of proto-BC. I guess the plunging ratings after the lunge didn't help CL's case though.

That's what I do believe, that they were thinking about it, hard.  

Of course I don't think they at the time realized why the ratings plunged.  It in my opinon wasn't a poll against Sara's Canary but against how a new character was now crowding out the other characters that people had been tuning in for all season.  If those back half episodes had more evenly distributed the focus of the storylines, I suspect the rating would have been very different.  There were soooo many people that gave up during that interminable stretch where the storylines initiated in the first half of the season all seemed to be pulled off the burner.  

[kes0704]

The back half episodes where Sara was pushed into every plot, both past and present, was what turned me off the character completely.  Those episodes were a chore to get through and I still don’t like Sara Lance as a character. It’s one of the reasons why I could never get into watching Legends of Tomorrow.

[Featherhat]

So it seems from those interviews that Ken Pursuit *was* wrong and the cast haven't se signed for S8. Hmm mm. Ok back to worrying about DR and EBR.

I love Sara and I don't think she was pushed into everything, Dig and Felicity were certainly pushed to the side but it wasn't just about her.

[way2interested]

13 minutes ago, Featherhat said:

So it seems from those interviews that Ken Pursuit *was* wrong and the cast haven't se signed for S8. Hmm mm. Ok back to worrying about DR and EBR

Wait, when did he say that? I just remember them talking about the whole cast going onto s7, but nothing about s8. If SA was never confirmed for s8 I couldn't imagine anyone being already definite about DR and EBR. 

[BkWurm1]

1 hour ago, kes0704 said:

The back half episodes where Sara was pushed into every plot, both past and present, was what turned me off the character completely.  Those episodes were a chore to get through and I still don’t like Sara Lance as a character. It’s one of the reasons why I could never get into watching Legends of Tomorrow.

Once they stepped back on overusing her at the expense of everyone, I was back to liking her.  I never really disliked her, just got sick of the change of focus.  I loved how she interacted so much more with all the other characters so sticking her over and over and over again just with Oliver got to be a chore.  And of course that meant I got nothing with Oliver and anyone else either.  

[Featherhat]

1 hour ago, way2interested said:

Wait, when did he say that? I just remember them talking about the whole cast going onto s7, but nothing about s8. If SA was never confirmed for s8 I couldn't imagine anyone being already definite about DR and EBR. 

He or one of the other paps said the cast was in negotiations for further contracts last year, obviously that wasn't the case.

Just me being paranoid that they might decide to go full noob and not negotiate more seasons with DR or EBR or either of them might want to walk away. I don't think SA will despite the posturing. 

[statsgirl]

I think much of the problem was that Sara was front and centre in both the flashbacks and the present day story.  That was the only time it ever happened on the show that a character other than the Big Bad was in both.  It made sense in terms of the plotting since Slade's story was about Sara too but when Sara appeared in the present day too and then in the Arrow cave and suddenly she was the one going out with Oliver on missions and then sleeping with him and Diggle and Felicity were pushed into the background, it was too much. In one episode Felicity had only two lines.  The idea Sara as Canary and Oliver's lover wasn't bad but the execution was terribly.

The one thing they really did right was to have Sara friends with Felicity rather than her rival.

[way2interested]

11 minutes ago, Featherhat said:

He or one of the other paps said the cast was in negotiations for further contracts last year, obviously that wasn't the case.

I just thought that meant for s7 is how I interpreted it.

If they actually wanted to go full newbies (immediately. I think SA is arguing that they could, but I don't know/think that CW see it that way) I doubt they would have let Olicity get married, and if SA comes back I think that makes it more likely that DR and EBR (the characters mostly tied to his) would come back, at least for the one season that he could probably agree to.

Edited September 2, 2018 by way2interested

[kes0704]

It would be interesting to see what happens if Emily chose not to come back or they didn’t renew her contract. Her popularity drives a lot of social media activity, which I imagine would drop off if she left.   

As it stands now, I don’t think the newbies can carry the show because their just not popular enough and I don’t think they could carry it with only Oliver still present on the show either. 

If SA wants more money to stay, would they need to look at cutting the number of season regulars to balance the budget, or would a producer credit be something that could give him more money and some control over the show (which I’m guessing he wouldn’t mind having)? *

*Disclaimer: I have exactly zero knowledge of how any of this stuff works. :)