Also doesn't the newspaper kind of undercuts any threat to Barry.
No more than him being in the title of the show

Given that Smallville and Supernatural lasted 10 seasons, it was reasonable to assume that that The Flash could do the same.
When the show was originally conceived Arrow was the only superhero show on TV, I doubt anyone was that optimistic back then, in fact Kreisberg spoke how they decided to go all out with the Weather Wizard, Captain Cold, Reverse Flash and all right off the bat because they weren't sure they will get to make more than the initial order of 13 episodes, so they tried to cram as many things as they could in there.
Green Lantern could be fun on TV, and would he require THAT much more effects than Flash?
I would love if they did a Earth-based Green Lanterns TV show with Jessica and Simon.
