Eobard Thawne in The Flash
By
Ben Gibbons
Published 16 minutes ago
Ben is a Senior Writer on the New TV team at Screen Rant. He graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class B.A. Degree in English Literature and History.
Born and raised in Ireland, Ben has always had a love for storytelling in all forms of media and operates multiple projects under the name Benjamin Blogs. Ben is a comic book writer and podcast host, in addition to his work as an entertainment journalist. He has worked as both a writer and editor for Screen Rant, Collider, and other media outlets across various departments, including features, news, reviews, and interviews.
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The Arrowverse was home to a whole host of characters who brought their own unique perspective to the DC shared universe, but one in particular seemed to have a particularly insightful take aimed at The CW itself. The CW had a spectacular run of being the home of DC superhero adaptations from its earliest inception.
When the network debuted late in 2006, it was an amalgamation of two other channels, CBS' UPN, and Warner Bros.' The WB. As a result, they combined the initial letters from those parent companies to form "The CW." And as part of their regular schedule from the moment they launched, they became the home of Smallville, a show about Superman in his teenage years.
The CW also hosted several shows that were sometimes called out for being a little too formulaic. The network had a clear target audience that was younger, and so their shows reflected that. Which made it all the more interesting when one of the Arrowverse shows made a pointed remark, specifically highlighting this.
Cat Grant Broke The Fourth Wall And Called Out The CW In Supergirl
Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) and Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) in SupergirlMovieStillsDB
Cat Grant is the founder and CEO of Catco Worldwide Media in Supergirl. She is incredibly smart, observant, and unafraid to speak her mind at any given moment. This is showcased incredibly well in Supergirl season 1, episode 18, when she is speaking with her team of journalists about a new hero popping up in National City.
Kara Danvers, James Olsen, Winn Schott, and Barry Allen from Earth-1 were all together in Cat's office when she said, "You look like the attractive yet non-threatening, racially diverse cast of a CW show." Cat's comment is both hilarious and incredibly accurate. Which makes it all the more fun that the show ultimately became a part of the Arrowverse on The CW.
It Wasn't Too Long Before Supergirl Became Part Of The CW's Arrowverse
Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) teaming up with other Arrowverse superheroes in Supergirl season 5.MovieStillsDB
Initially, Supergirl began airing on CBS for its first season. While Arrow and The Flash were both performing well on The CW, Supergirl appeared to make some effort to distinguish and separate itself from the other DC adaptations. However, with major Arrowverse co-creator Greg Berlanti serving as a co-creator on Supergirl, the show still had strong ties to the Arrowverse.
This can be clearly seen by the fact that even in season 1, there was a crossover with Barry Allen traveling from his alternate world and meeting Kara. But it wasn't technically until the show was moved from CBS to The CW that it became an official Arrowverse series.
After that, it was much later when the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover happened that Kara's world merged with that of The Flash and Arrow's to become Earth-Prime. As complex as these moves and technicalities are, the show always felt very similar to what was appearing on The CW, which makes Cat's remark even better.
Supergirl's Best Season Was Not On The CW
Chyler Lee as Alex and Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers in Supergirl.MovieStillsDB
Unfortunately, the shift from CBS to The CW wasn't an all-around win. While this did put the show more in line with the other Arrowverse entries, and it opened the show up to having more crossovers, it also lost some things in the transition to becoming an official Arrowverse show.
Prior to the move, Supergirl season 1 had a larger budget. The series appeared to be a trial for these niche comic book shows to be aimed at a wider audience and potentially break out of their niche. As a result, they used some of the usual Arrowverse formula, but they also made it feel a little more robust and broad.
Kara Danvers' Supergirl struggled with her personal life, her work, and juggling what it means to be a hero in season 1, which all combined to make this one of the best seasons of the entire series. After moving to The CW, there were still traces of all of these other topics that the show tackled, but the focus was clearly moved to having a central "Team Supergirl" and her work with the D.O.E.
That's not a bad thing, but it is remarkably similar to Team Flash and everyone at S.T.A.R. Labs, and Team Arrow working alongside A.R.G.U.S. All of these associations helped to make the shows work as procedural superhero dramas with a villain of the week format, but they lost a lot of their identity and originality in following the formula as laid out by The CW.
Evidently, each of these shows still thrived for several seasons, and each garnered its own fanbase, but it's hard to deny how much The CW treatment ultimately created carbon copies of the same format and then threw in a new mix of characters to make it stand out.
And Cat Grant was someone who saw past that facade and openly called it out. Yes, she wasn't technically a part of The CW yet, which is probably why the line even made it into the final edit, but the remark highlights something important and true. The CW's Arrowverse was prone to repackage similar products in a way to appeal to a broad audience. Unfortunately, Supergirl also ended up getting The CW treatment.
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Supergirl
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