Posted in: TV | Tagged: arrow, arrowverse, the cw

Arrow: "There Would Be No More CW" If Show Wasn't a Hit: Guggenheim

During a recent interview, Arrowverse's Marc Guggenheim shared how he was told "that if 'Arrow' wasn’t a hit, there would be no more CW."

Last week, Walker star and executive producer Jared Padalecki made his feelings clearly known about the direction that the new CW is taking (more on that in a minute) – and considering how much he was a part of the popular network back during its heyday and up through its demise as the network we've come to know and love, he's earned that right. Another person who has more than earned that right is one of the masterminds of the "Arrowverse," Marc Guggenheim. But instead of offering a look at where the Nexstar-owned CW is heading, Guggenheim is revealing just how important the Stephen Amell-starring Arrow was to the network.

Imagine the pressure that comes with launching a live-action superhero series based on a popular DC Universe character – and then add on top of that the pressure that comes with knowing that if your live-action superhero series isn't a hit, it could sink an entire network. That's what Guggenheim and the team faced heading into the premiere of a series that would go on to run for eight seasons and serve as the "big bang" for an entire universe of heroics. "Shortly after the pilot got ordered to series, Peter Roth [president of Warner Bros. TV] took us out to lunch and basically laid out for us, in incredible detail, the reality that if 'Arrow' wasn't a hit, there would be no more CW," Guggenheim shared during the latest episode of The Showrunner Whisperer (above). "So it was the pressure of having a show and keeping the show on the air – that's one thing – but now we also have the pressure of keeping the whole network on the air. That's another thing."

Walker: Jared Padalecki Offers "Brutally Honest" Thoughts on New CW

During an interview with Variety that went live shortly after the series finale "See You Sometime" aired last week, Padalecki addressed the situation with the network and his thoughts on where the CW's new ownership and how it differs from the network he was an essential part of making a success. Before discussing the network, Padalecki shared how he appreciated CBS's David Stapf and CW's Brad Schwartz giving him a chance to inform the team that the show was canceled instead of having to work off of the network's timeline. But when asked if he had a chance to speak with anyone at the CW about the reason it wasn't bringing the series back, Padalecki noted that he was able to speak to two of the major players to get an answer – and it doesn't sound like he was impressed.

"I talked with the head of CBS and the head of Nexstar/CW, I talked with the other [executive producers] on 'Walker,' and I think it was a multivariate kind of issue. My understanding is — and again, this is just what I'm told — that Nexstar is going in a different direction with The CW. I mean, they have an hour of 'Trivial Pursuit' and an hour of 'Scrabble' coming up. I don't know why you wouldn't just download the app or grab a board game and play with your friends, but they're clearly just — what's that great quote? It's like, 'If somebody tells you who they are, ask questions. If somebody shows you who they are, believe them," Padalecki shared.

The actor and executive producer continued, "I feel like The CW that I was a part of last year is not The CW that I was a part of under [former chairman and CEO] Mark Pedowitz for that entire, almost 20-year stretch. They're just changing the network around, where it's not really going to be a TV network as much as it's going to be, 'Here's something fun for an hour that you'll never watch again, but hopefully you watch it. And it's cheap!' And I hate to say that, but I'm just being honest. I mean, fuck it. They can't fire me again. I'm just being brutally honest. I think it felt to me like they were looking for really easy, cheap content that they could fill up time with."

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