Supernatural & Arrow ending on a high: CW
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif, Aug 5, (Agencies): The makers of “Supernatural” and “Arrow” say they’re bringing the CW shows to a close at the right time.
“You don’t want to be the last person at a party, even if it’s the best party on the planet,” said Jared Padalecki, who’s paired with co-star Jensen Ackles as the evil-busting Winchester brothers on “Supernatural”. Its 15th season, debuting Oct 10, will be its last.
“Arrow” producer Marc Guggenheim also compared the superhero show to a gala that’s still going strong. Its eighth and final season with star Stephen Amell begins Oct 15.
“We all would much prefer to go out on a high note, and go out while people are still talking about the show rather than being, like, ‘That show’s still on the air?’” he said.
While the “Supernatural” stars felt it was time to end their long run, Ackles told a TV critics meeting Sunday that taping the final episodes will be difficult.
“I’m just hoping to stave off the emotion until at least episode 19, 18, somewhere in there,” he said. “And then who knows what’s going to happen? It’s going to be a big shift in a lot of our lives.” CW President Mark Pedowitz saluted the 15-season run as a “remarkable achievement”.
“As we always said ... when they were ready to stop, we will stop. And for them and for Stephen Amell on ‘Arrow’, these shows will go out the way they were supposed to go,” he said. “But if you can convince them to come back, I’m open.”
Ackles speculated this may just be a break in the “Supernatural” journey, although CW’s attempts at spinoffs haven’t succeeded.
“Am I saying there’s something in the works? No. Am I saying I would be open to having a conversation about this in the future? What is the harm in that?” said Ackles, who plans to take his character’s wellworn boots with him as a souvenir.
“Arrow” star Amell was asked how to square his recent claim of a happy ending for the show, despite rumors that his character Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow, doesn’t survive.
“That’s not a spoiler,” Amell replied, prompting Guggenheim to jump in.
While a character did tell Oliver that he’s going to die, the producer said, there’s more than one way to consider possible outcomes. He then proceeded to muddy the waters.
“When I read about this online and people are asking us questions, they’re thinking about things in a very binary way, that the ending will either be X or Y. And all I would say is, I think we have Z planned,” Guggenheim said.
In its final season, “Arrow” will be part of what CW is billing as the biggest crossover yet for its shows drawn from the world of DC Comics. Titled “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, the story will unfold from Dec 8 to Jan 14 on episodes of “Supergirl”, “Batwoman”, “The Flash”, “Arrow” and “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow”.
Pamela Sue Martin, TV’s original Nancy Drew, has passed the torch to the actress playing the latest incarnation of the teenage sleuth.
Martin will appear on The CW’s remake that blends mystery, suspense, a supernatural element and a bit of horror. She got her big break on “The Hardy Boys/ Nancy Drew Mysteries” with Shaun Cassidy and
Parker Stevenson in the late 1970s. Martin wrote a letter to Kennedy McMann, who at 22 is getting her big break on the remake a year after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University.
“It’s, like, tear-stained. I cried when I read it,” McMann told a TV critics gathering on Sunday. “It had a lot to do just with the industry and standing up for oneself and making your own decisions and how to kind of transition into a role like this and the repercussions of that in Hollywood. It was very thoughtful.”
Martin quit the original after one season when her role was reduced with the merger of the two shows. But she was thrilled to be asked to appear in the remake.
“She came so prepared,” director Larry Teng said. “She was a real huge contributor.”
While some of the characters and mystery theme resemble the original, McMann’s Nancy Drew has sex.
“We’re making the show for The CW and that audience,” executive producer Stephanie Savage said. “The little ones know that this show isn’t for them, and they’re going to have to wait until they’re older.”
Scott Wolf, who plays the sleuth’s father, Carson, joked, “I was just hearing about this sex thing for the first time. We’ll talk later.”
Also:
LOS ANGELES: Jennifer Cheon Garcia has been cast in a guest starring role in the fifth season premiere of the CW series “Supergirl”, Variety has learned exclusively. Described as the physical manifestation of darkness, Midnight is a murderous villain released from an otherworldly prison to enact revenge against the person who put her there. Cheon Garcia’s past TV credits include shows like “Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce”, “Zoo”, “Minority Report”, “Arrow”, “Supernatural”, “The 100”, “Lucifer” and “Travelers”.
LOS ANGELES: “First Responders Live” has been picked up by Fox for an additional six episodes. The show follows “American heroes” such as firefighters, police officers, EMS technicians and first responders as they risk their lives to save others. TV Journalist and Emmy award-winner Josh Elliot hosts the show, providing commentary and analysis. Additionally, the show will move to Tuesday nights at 9 pm beginning Aug 6.
LOS ANGELES: The “Halo” series at Showtime is rounding out its main cast.
The premium cabler announced Friday that Natascha McElhone, Bokeem Woodbine, Shabana Azmi, Bentley Kalu, Natasha Culzac, and Kate Kennedy have all joined the series adaptation of the megahit video game. They join previously announced series lead Pablo Schreiber, who will play the Master Chief, and Yerin Ha, who is playing a new character named Kwan Ha.
McElhone will star as two characters: Dr Catherine Halsey, the creator of the Spartan super-soldiers, and Cortana, the most advanced AI in human history, and potentially the key to the survival of the human race.