Beyond the yearly The Flash and Arrow crossover event, the two CW superhero shows share characters all of the time. And why not? It allows fan favorites on both shows to interact with one another, it spices things up and can even lead to interesting flirtations and friendships. While most people are down with The Flash and Arrow crossing over, there’s one group that decidedly doesn’t enjoy it when the two shows share characters or plots. Recently, executive producer Gabrielle Stanton spoke out to say that it’s the line producers that go crazy anytime an actor or actress has to shift around to pop up on both shows.
It’s neat to be able to do. It’s hard because of the scheduling and production. All the line producers go crazy when we talk about doing it. Fortunately Arrow and The Flash shoot right next door to each other, up in Vancouver. We can be like, ‘Just go across the hall.’
Running a TV show is a complex process that involves a lot more than the executive producers we hear from and the actors and actresses we see on the small screen. In order to actually get the filming done that is needed to be accomplished each day, an entire team of directors, assistant directors, wardrobe and lighting people and a slew of other positions have to be coordinated on set each day. The line producer often has to deal with time management and logistics stuff during shooting, so if Felicity, say, is gone for three hours on the Arrow set to pop over and shoot a scene for The Flash, the scheduling could become a nightmare. Glad that’s not my job.
In the interview with Collider, Stanton also says that The Flash is lucky to be able to intertwine worlds with Arrow and they do what they can to work schedules out.
It’s just what works for us, story wise, and what works for what we’re doing with Barry and the team, at the time. Sometimes Arrow will start things, or we’ll start things, and we’ll cross them over. We had Captain Cold and Heat Wave last season, and they were so popular that we have Legends. We juggle, but it’s fun. We have so many different worlds to play in that we can say, ‘Hey, can we borrow Felicity this week?’
The Flash is returning for Season 2 on Tuesday, October 6 at 8 p.m. ET. Arrow will return a day later on October 7, also at 8 p.m. ET. We already know there will be plenty of crossover between the two shows, as well as with new series Legends of Tomorrow. Characters and storylines from the new show are set to be introduced early via the shows that are already on the air. Plus, the CW has already stated that a big Arrow and The Flash crossover event will air in December of this year.
