stars on screen
Last ‘Arrow’
Series kicks off 10-episode swan song
By Michelle Rose
TV Media
Last ‘Arrow’: Goodbye, Oliver
Queen? Maybe. At least, it could
be on this Earth.
On Tuesday, Oct. 15, “Arrow”
debuts its eighth and final season
on CW. The DC Comics series that
launched the Arrowverse will
have an abbreviated run of just
10 episodes to bid farewell. But
in that short run, anything and
everything is possible.
Last season’s “Elseworlds”
crossover event opened the door
for CW to explore the idea that
every DC Comics TV show ever
made might have been set on
parallel Earths within the Ar-
rowverse.
The collapse of that multiverse
was one of the biggest comic
book arcs of all time, with Earths-
shattering events that resulted
in the deaths of classic DC char-
acters. On TV, “Crisis on Infinite
Earths” is the mega crossover the
Arrowverse has been building
towards. And that’s why we’re
hearing about former DC Uni-
verse stars, such as Tom Welling
(“Smallville”) and Brandon Routh
(“Superman Returns,” 2006),
suiting up again this season,
although we don’t know exactly
when or where they’ll appear
just yet.
As for the Arrowverse’s
original hero, “Arrow’s” Oliver
Queen (Stephen Amell, “Private
Practice”) will likely be a “Crisis”
casualty, but not before some
return appearances from fan fa-
vorites such as Thea Queen (Willa
Holland, “Legion,” 2010) and
Katana (Rila Fukushima, “The
Wolverine,” 2013).
The Oct. 15 season opener
picks up one week after the
events of the Season 7 finale,
when The Monitor (LaMonica
Garrett, “Designated Survivor”)
asked Queen to make good on
his deal to help “prevent the
inevitable.” It wouldn’t make
sense for CW to kill off Supergirl
and The Flash, the leads on two
other popular series, to match the
events in the comics. However,
Queen sacrificing himself to save
them does make sense, and end-
24 | Screentime
Stephen Amell stars in “Arrow”
The “Big Bang Theory” co-
ing “Arrow” now will free up
stars are reteaming to bring you
space in CW’s lineup for a new
“Carla,” a new comedy series
Arrowverse series in 2020.
that is touted as “an unapologeti-
Whatever happens to Ollie
cally big, broad multi-cam with
in these next 10 episodes, fans
a strong female point of view”
can take solace in knowing
(per Fox Entertainment president
the series’ TV legacy seems
Michael Thorn).
secure. After all, it single-
Bialik will play the titular
handedly breathed new life into
DC Comics (and CW) in the post- character, a 39-year-old woman
who is constantly struggling to
”Smallville” TV era.
show her mother that you can still
As for the five-part “Crisis
be happy in life without having
on Infinite Earths” TV event, it
everything you want. And Carla
will begin on the Dec. 8 episode
hopes to prove it by opening a cat
of “Supergirl” and continue on
café in Louisville, Kentucky, using
“Batwoman” and “The Flash”
the money her parents had set
that week before impacting “Ar-
aside for her wedding.
row” and “DC’s Legends of To-
The comedy is based on the
morrow” in January 2020. “Black
hit BBC sitcom “Miranda,”
Lightning” characters will also
which ran from 2009 to 2013 and
appear in the crossover event.
earned BAFTA TV nominations.
And while this TV project is a
Big ‘Bang’ Reunion: Amy and
reunion of sorts for the former on-
Sheldon … sorry, Mayim Bialik
screen couple, only Bialik will ap-
and Jim Parsons are headed to
pear before the camera. Instead,
Fox.
October 9, 2019 | East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald
Parsons, who is the narrator in
the CBS series “Young Sheldon,”
will serve as co-executive pro-
ducer.
Both are under overall devel-
opment deals with Warner Bros.
TV, the studio behind “The Big
Bang Theory.” And it’s interest-
ing to note that the series is a
co-production between WBTV
and Fox Entertainment; partial
ownership is a must for Fox since
it no longer has an in-house stu-
dio after the Disney deal.
“Carla” is currently slated for
fall 2020 but it’s already a win-
ner — at least for the team be-
hind it. All broadcast networks
were bidding on it, but Fox went
all in, and the series pickup
came with a hefty commitment
penalty.
Seacrest In: When “Ameri-
can Idol” starts up again in
2020, the only new faces will
likely be the hopefuls audition-
ing for a spot in the competition.
In August, ABC announced
that Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and
Luke Bryan would be returning
as judges while Bobby Bones will
reprise his role as in-house men-
tor. But at the time, there was
no mention of Ryan Seacrest in
the news release. And naturally,
some began to wonder if the
longtime host was thinking of
leaving — especially after his
first “Idol” sick day back in April,
when Bones filled in as host.
Despite rumors of cost-cutting
measures, ABC/Disney sources
were quick to say Seacrest wasn’t
out for the next cycle, they were
still negotiating his involvement.
Well, a deal has now been inked
and the last piece of the puzzle
has fallen into place: Seacrest will
be back again as host.
It’s hard to imagine “Ameri-
can Idol” without Seacrest, who
has been a constant on the show
since it debuted in 2002. He
shared hosting duties with come-
dian Brian Dunkleman for Season
1 — the one that launched Kelly
Clarkson’s career — but he’s
been the sole emcee ever since.
This upcoming 18th edition
will be “Idol’s” third season
on ABC (you’ll recall seasons
1 through 15 aired on Fox).
That means more frequent
flyer miles for Seacrest, but he’s
already used to splitting his
time between Los Angeles and
New York. After all, the busiest
guy on TV and in radio still has
his iHeartMedia morning radio
show, the daytime TV show
“Live With Kelly and Ryan,”
the weekly “American Top 40”
radio program, plus a host (pun
intended) of ABC specials and
scripted projects to produce
through his Ryan Seacrest Pro-
ductions company.