The DC TV world was left shaken late last year when exec producer Andrew Kreisberg was fired by The CW due to multiple allegations of sexual harassment laid against him. Kreisberg was one of the big three architects of the Arrowverse, along with Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim. In particular, he served as the showrunner for both The Flash and Supergirl. With him gone, then, it stood to reason that the ongoing trajectory of the current seasons for those two aforementioned shows would likely change.
The CW president Mark Pedowitz has now revealed, though, that things will stay the same for The Flash and Supergirl in the wake of Kreisberg’s exit. Pedowitz confirmed as much when he spoke to EW at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour. He also took the time to address the mixed reception to the addition of the misogynistic Ralph Dibny AKA Elongated Man to the team.
“Well, ironically the allegations came in after the first [Ralph] episode of the show was shot, so there was a heightened awareness as we went through it. It’s an old-time cartoon character, so at a moment, it became cringeworthy, but if you look at the character now, as the episodes go on, he’s not that character anymore. It was the direction it was always going to go.”
As for the move to fire Kreisberg, Pedowitz confirmed that it was a very straightforward decision once the allegations were verified by an internal investigation. On why the writer/producer’s connection with the network had to be ceased, Pedowitz said: “No one should have to live in the world with sexual harassment or misconduct and people should feel free.” In particular, he praised Warner Bros. Television for handling the matter in a satisfactory way.
“When we found out, the studio informed us about the potential allegations, the studio investigated it, we supported the studio and their perspective. … From a policy point of view, the system worked when the complaint came forward. And to the studio’s credit, and we support them, they did the right thing.”
Arrowverse fans will be pleased to know the problems behind the scenes won’t affect their favorite shows and surely, the working atmosphere on these series will no doubt improve from now on thanks to the individual who was poisoning the environment being removed.
Supergirl season 3 and The Flash season 4 will continue next week when they return to The CW.
