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Neosmith writes...

First of all, I’ve noticed that the approach as a whole is to make standalone/arc episodes. In other episodes, nearly every single episode so far has a self-contained storyline that additionally builds on the longer running plotlines.

Why did you choose to approach the series in such a way in particular? Was there perhaps talk that the series might become too complex for audiences to follow?

During the show’s development stages, was there ever consideration of making the show a more standalone show in general? Or of making more two-part episodes that tackle a single standalone/arc plotline?

Or conversely, having multiple ongoing plots unfold over the course of one episode without resolution, leading to a cliffhanger ending and necessitating more episodes to bring everything to an end (I think it’s referred to as the ‘flexi-narrative’ structure)?

Has there ever been any pressure (from the network, DC or outside forces) to de-serialize the show and make more standalone episodes that don't connect to the main arc of the season at all?

Do you ever feel that having only 22-minutes to tell a story hurts the quality of an episode, or forces you to rush through material?

Do you know pretty much every major plot beat of the season when you started writing the episodes or are certain key plot points figured out along the way?

Have you ever been in a situation where you decided to take the main story in a bit of different direction and so had to go back you to earlier episodes and re-write them to make sure everything fits together seamlessly?

Given that the first season so far has begun many different plot points, can we expect all of them to be resolved by the end of the first season or will certain threads carry over to next season and beyond? In other words, are the arcs self-contained or will they span multiple seasons?

Greg responds...

In the future, please NUMBER your questions.

1. I think it's the best of both worlds to have coherent stand-alone adventures (great yarns) that still forward an overall arc. That way anyone can enter at any time and pick up what's going on.

1a. I pitch my shows as "Episodic but Sequential" because that's how I prefer to work. No one's forcing me to do it this way.

2. No.

2a. No.

3. No.

4. No.

5. Not to rush, but we almost always feel like we're leaving out things that would add richness to stories and characters. I'd love to do hour episodes, which is NOT the same as doing two-parters.

6. We work it all out in advance.

7. Occasionally, we go back and adjust little details here and there.

8. Almost everything is on-going. But I hope episode 26 left everyone with an appropriate amount of open-ended closure. Also some things will be addressed in our companion comic-book.

Response recorded on April 24, 2012