Spoilers DC's Legends of Tomorrow Season 5

Really? I thought it was understated, myself.

 

Ha! Bloody spellcheck.

 

Avalance has become the heart of the show. Without it, there's really no point.

 

Me neither, especially now that Routh had left the show and the replacements aren't great

 

Sarah Lance was a perfectly fine character but I was never interested in her being the main focus of the show. I liked the ensemble feel the first season had. Maybe they can get back to that if she leaves.

I'd love to see them add a couple of villains to the roster.

 

You mean a couple more villains? They've had a number already -- Sara herself (a reformed League of Assassins member), Snart, Mick, Nora Darhk, Astra Logue.

 

The shows cast changes really drove me away over time even more then the tone changes and general stupidity. As someone who was a big fan of Rip Hunter, Captain Cold, and Victor Stein, those loses all hurt the show for me. But, the show still has Mick, who is my favorite character, and I was really won over by Constantine, the original Zari and (to a lesser extent) Charlie. But, then they basically killed off Zari and replaced her with the second worst character in any CW DC show (after "Elongated Man") "Instagram Star" Zari, then added the shitty brother, along with Gary taking up even more screen time and having Ray and Nora leave, and there was just nothing left.

Sara was a good character on Arrow, but she's an absolute moron on Legends. Nate literally just forgets he has super powers to the point where I get legitimately angry just seeing him on screen, Charlie is a decent character but never does anything, and Sara's girlfriend is so uninteresting that I can't even remember her name. I don't even want to acknowledge that fucking Gary exists, he only doesn't rank as the worst CW DC character for me because he's less of a character then he is a bad joke that has gone on way too long.

I like Mick and Constantine a lot, but they can't make up for so many members of the cast being stupid and/or terrible, and the general plot of the show being stupid shit I'd expect to see on those terrible live action adult swim shows, but stretched out to 42ish minutes.

 

After the Hawks left at the end end of season 1 I though that might be a gimmick they did every season: introduce two characters at the beginning of the year and then write them out at the end. I thought that would be how they rotated the cast out.

So I expected Steel and Vixen to leave at the end of season 2 and was disappointed when they stayed.

 

And then there was one (original cast member left)...

https://www.murphysmultiverse.com/dominic-purcell-exits-legends-of-tomorrow-over-studio-differences/

 

Well than... I wonder if we will ever learn more about what the tensions between him the studio were.

I have always been surprised he stayed this long. He was always enjoyable even with little to do. I always perceived him as not putting up with BS from anyone. With the shorter seasons Legends always had this was limited commitment of time for him to do other things too.

Got to agree with others that the revolving door of cast members has hurt the show. If handled better the idea had potential was strong in theory. Biggest problem is the replacements have not been that strong. Also it’s been happening so fast that the previous “newbie” has been barely developed by the time the next one is introduced. With a shorter season there is much less time for characters to be developed at all.

Let’s not forget Brandon Routh was blindsided by his departure from the show. He was given little notice about his leaving and been very public about how unhappy he was about it. Makes you wonder if they will try to bring him back now.

 

Generally, the longer you're on a show the more they have to pay you and it looks like they weren't willing to do that for the next season.

As the most famous member of the original cast Brandon Routh would probably have been making the most, which is why I suspect they got rid of him last year.

 

You are probably right.

So the studios strategy seems to be - let’s remove the long term name characters and actors. To replace with newly created characters for this show. No comic book connections or other Arrowverse shows. To be played by newcomers who are payed much less.

I think this will backfire greatly. This show originally had a strong connection to the Arrowverse. It was a spin-off from Arrow and the Flash. Staring characters introduced on those shows.

Both Arrow and Flash had strong connections to their own past. Colton Haynes and Katie Cassidy were both full time regulars who left Arrow. To be brought back as full time regulars eventually. Even when one of their characters died. Or characters like Tommy Merlyn and Moria Queen for at least guest appearances. The Flash has also left the door open for actors/characters to return for guest appearances.

This show treats its actors and characters as disposable. There has been little to no acknowledgement of regulars who have left. Even the living characters. The studio and network are counting on Caity Lotz and the brand name of the show to keep it going. For a show in its later seasons and has not grown in ratings but decreased that is really risky.

 

Nothing unusual about that. Long-running shows do often tend to rotate out their veteran cast members that get higher salaries than newcomers. Look at Smallville. In its concluding tenth season, not only was Tom Welling the only regular cast member still remaining from the first season, but it only had four regulars altogether (also to save money).

It's actually surprising that The Flash still has nearly all of its original season 1 cast. Their salaries must really be getting up there by now. Maybe that's why Cisco keeps disappearing, like he's only signed for a reduced number of appearances.

 

Purcell deleted his Instagram post. The link is dead.

 

The CW is not the place you go to make Jimmy Smits money. Matt Ryan probably makes less than he did per episode on NBC. Didn't Ackles and Padalecki freeze their rates to keep Supernatural going? On another network, they would've been making a lot more per episode once they reached those double digit seasons.

 

Looks like the CW's lawyers have had a word with him...

 

That would explain it. I have wondered how they managed to keep that show going so long with both its original leads. Most shows that run a dozen years or more have much more cast turnover, like Law & Order or Power Rangers.

 

This is Purcell's original text if anyone is interested (warning:language )
EDIT: I removed this as I don't want to kick someone when they're down. Judging from his recent posts it doesn't sound like he's in a very good place right now.

 

Update at TV Line:
https://tvline.com/2021/04/17/dominic-purcell-legends-of-tomorrow-leaving-mick-rory-quits-season-6/

 

It's disappointing to lose one of our last two original cast members, but I like enough other cast members that it's not going to effect my enjoyment to much.
I don't the mind rotating cast since they've had a handful of people who have stuck around longer.