【dreams of eroticism】

In the current era of Peak TV,dreams of eroticism shows are considered lucky if they can score a full season pickup, let alone multiple season renewals. But Arrow, The CW's first Greg Berlanti-produced superhero series, defied all the odds.

Five seasons after it first premiered on the network, Arrowis not only reaching a milestone of 100 episodes this week during the big DC TV crossover with The Flash, Supergirl andLegends of Tomorrow, but it is also responsible for spawning all three of those other DC Comics series.

Without Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) saving the city in his green hood, there would never have been Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) zipping through the streets of Central City or Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) piloting the Waverider throughout time or even Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist) soaring through the sky in National City.

SEE ALSO: 3 big reveals from 'The Flash' installment of the 'Invasion' crossover

Berlanti's Arrowinspired an entire comic book empire on The CW, so it's only appropriate that the show is taking its part of the three-episode crossover to celebrate reaching 100 episodes by looking back on the past five seasons. It's a nostalgic hour that brings back many fan-favorite characters that are no longer on the series and recreates some of the most iconic moments from the show.

"It's a very proud moment for everyone involved," Berlanti told Mashableof reaching 100 episodes. "When you're passionate about a thing, you don't know if everyone else is going to love it. And then it takes on a life of its own. It becomes its own thing. That is very much informed by everything, from the cast, the audience, the crews that work on it. It's a proud thing to be a part of that. And I'm very much just a part of it, not necessarily at the top of it."

While the show's creators certainly hoped to have this much success when they first developed the series, they had no guarantee that Arrowwould be a hit at the network. According to Berlanti, there is no surefire formula to get the ratings and critical love needed to keep a show alive.

"You never really know for sure," Berlanti said. "I know what I like about it. I think the cast is terrific and we're really passionate about the stories we tell and the look and the scope of it. Everybody really kills themselves to deliver something that's as strong as any hour of any feature film that's out there. I think the company really gets their money's worth in that regard. And it's emotional. We really connect with the characters. I'm not sure exactly what the reason is for the lightning in a bottle. I'm just really grateful that we have it."

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Executive producer Marc Guggenheim credits the show's passionate fanbase with their long-running success, regardless of whether the fans are happy or mad about where certain plotlines and relationships are going.

"We are very, very blessed. We have the most passionate fanbase," Guggenheim said. "There's always a lot of controversy surrounding the show because everyone is so passionate. I remember during the directing of the pilot, David Nutter, in an incredibly prescient statement, almost predicting the Twitterverse's responses to Arrowover the years, said, 'You know, the opposite of love isn't hate, it's apathy.' The people who tweet about Arrowand Reddit and Snapchat and all the different ways that people express their frustrations with Arrowand their love for Arrow, they are the ones who have kept us afloat."

For most of the Arrowproducers, working on a series they were passionate about only to see it get canceled too soon is a familiar feeling.

"It's true! We've all been on a lot of shows that didn't reach that milestone so to be here, it's really exciting," said executive producer Wendy Mericle. "It's really tremendous. It's a testimony to the cast, to the crew up here in Vancouver who make it happen every week, and to the writers who do this every week. I mean, it's 23 episodes, and it's not an easy task and we've been really lucky. We're very grateful to everyone's who has contributed and committed to the show. It's been an amazing ride."

For some, like series star Amell, reaching a milestone like 100 episodes can feel almost surreal when you're constantly focused on the work. Playing Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow andStar City's newest mayor is no easy task.

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"It's a challenge to think about that when you're in the mix of production, you know what I mean?" Amell said. "I can't really see the forest through the trees."

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But once he was able to stop and truly take in the moment while at the 100th episode wrap party in Vancouver, he let the feeling of accomplishment sink in and reflected on just what the milestone meant.

"I do think that this is the biggest moment for comic book shows in the history of television," Amell said. "So the fact that we were at the beginning of that is nice. But if The Flashhad come along and not been as awesome as it is, then maybe all of this doesn't happen. That was the hurdle that we were given and the people behind that show, the same people that are behind our show, took that opportunity and ran with it. I feel like that was the real tipping point of everything just blowing up."

His co-star Emily Bett Rickards – who plays Team Arrow's IT guru Felicity Smoak – agreed that Arrowdid something truly unique and was the first of its kind when it sparked an entire TV universe with three other shows.

"We've created a world," Rickards said. "I don't know if I can say that we didn't before, but now, it's 100 episodes and 100 stories and we've created this world."

The third point of the original "Team Arrow" triangle, David Ramsey, still can't believe what the series has accomplished over the past five years.

"I'm pinching myself," Ramsey said. "I'm a nerd so to be able to do something like this has been the biggest treat in the world. I don't think I'm speaking too boldly when I say that the success of our show has spawned a whole universe, particularly on The CW and most definitely with Warner Bros. Television. To be a small little piece of that has just been amazing. There's an enormity to what we're doing. We're not curing cancer, but we're entertaining people and changing some lives on some level for the better."

Arrowhas always been a high-stakes show with an even higher body count, so some of the actors like Paul Blackthorne – who plays Deputy Mayor Quentin Lance – are just grateful to have made it to episode 100 with their characters alive.

"I feel very fortunate," Blackthorne said. "It's amazing. Every show starts with the intention of going on forever and obviously most of them don't. Some land, some don't. But this one seems to be getting stronger each year and marching onwards. I'm just grateful to be involved in it thus far."

But death isn't the only way a series regular can be written off the show, as Colton Haynes proved. After recurring as Oliver's sidekick Roy Harper in season one, he signed a two-year deal with the show before leaving in Season 3 to focus on his movie career.

"100 episodes is not easy. I only made it 44," Haynes said. "And I can say that they did invite me [to appear in episode 100], but scheduling didn't work out so I couldn't be there. But I'm still looking to come back and play some more on Arrow."

With so many character deaths and departures over the years, it's only logical to inject some fresh blood each season to balance that out. Season 5 introduced three new characters to Team Arrow: Evelyn Shaw aka Artemis (Madison McLaughlin), Curtis Holt aka Mister Terrific (Echo Kellum), Rene Ramirez aka Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez) and Rory Regan aka Ragman (Joe Dinicol).

SEE ALSO: 'Arrow' star Stephen Amell on facing off with Dolph Lundgren

"Reaching 100 episodes, you don't see that every day," McLaughlin said. "The biggest thing is that when I joined the show, I didn't realize I was joining a family. It sounds like a cliché but it's entirely true. From the moment I stepped on set, the cast and crew welcomed me, and the fandom welcomed me as well. There are some great fans of all the DC shows and they just welcomed me with open arms and that felt amazing."

For Dinicol, being a part of the younger generation of Arrowcharacters tasked with keeping the legacy of the series alive is no small thing.

"It's a real honor," Dinicol said. "You bounce around in this nomadic actor life. Everyone treats this show like they want to keep it going, and the new team has certainly been treated like that within the show, like we're the new horizon, however short or long that might be. That's an exciting thing to be a part of."

That excitement doesn't even diminish when an actor joins the show in a controversial role, like Tyler Ritter did as Felicity's new boyfriend, Detective Billy Malone. Since fans are extremely passionate about Oliver and Felicity's relationship – dubbed "Olicity" online – he knew that it was going to be a risky role to take, but he didn't hesitate.

"It's huge. I'm so lucky," Ritter said. "Most people on the show have been pouring in their blood, sweat and tears for five years and I got to jump in for some months now. And for the record I also did pour in a little blood, and I sweat a lot and there might have been tears in my trailer, so we have all spilled the same bodily fluids."

He paused to laugh, then continued, "It's been an absolute honor and these are real pros working on the show. I've been having so much fun with everybody. I've been working mainly with Emily and Stephen and they have just been cracking me up the whole time. And then someone says ‘action’ and they're on and making TV magic."

Now the countdown begins to the next major Arrowmilestone: episode 200.

Arrowairs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.

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Topics The CW