MovieChat Forums > The 100 (2014) Discussion > Jason Rothenberg starting a new series

Jason Rothenberg starting a new series

posted 8 years ago by hihihi-42
14 replies | jump to latest

The CW is developing a show called Searchers that Rothenberg wrote. The synopsis sort of reminds me of Bellamy and Octavia:

Written by Rothenberg, Searchers is about a group of unlikely heroes who find themselves on the journey of a lifetime. Ten years after the death of their parents, a pragmatic brother and free spirited sister are forced to team up when they learn that their mother’s terrifying and bizarre stories may be a road map to discovering the great legends, myths, and unexplainable mysteries of the world.

The network just recently bought the idea so there's no timeline yet, but I wonder if this will impact The 100 at all? He has other writers on the show but I get the feeling he's really passionate and involved. If the new show does take up too much of his time I can see one of the other writers (maybe Aaron?) taking the lead while they continue to follow Jason's overall vision for the show.

Here's a link to the article: http://deadline.com/2016/10/searchers-cw-action-drama-the-100-creator-jason-rothenberg-greg-berlanti-1201842759/

[–] milennas 8 years ago

Sounds interesting. I think you're right, that Aaron will take the lead to make sure Jason's vision is carried through, especially if Jason is being tied up in two projects.

[–] brooklin-15050 8 years ago

Yes Aaron tumblr say : Season 4 is going to be epic. Trust me. We can’t wait to share it.

Which is a long way of saying: I will be intimately involved in ALL of the episodes, so you can look forward to THE ENTIRE SEASON!
3 months ago 189 notes

[–] gemjudith 8 years ago

As involved as he was in The 100, it's suspicious that he had find time to write another show. Maybe The 100 is really getting to its ending or maybe Rothenbert is exchanging shows, which I wouldn't mind.

[–] hihihi-42 8 years ago

I was kind of worried about that too, especially with the rumours about the show being cancelled going around lately. But I thought about it and I really don't think the CW investing more money in JRoth is a bad sign. The reason they'd cancel The 100 is because of Jason, at least that's what I assume, because he's the one the controversy is surrounding. The antis wanted him to be replaced and the majority of the harassment is targeted at him, but instead the network is investing in him even more. They don't seem to care about whatever negative image he carries with these people.

I'd like him to stay on the show so it continues in the direction he envisioned. I think it's possible. Look at Shonda Rhimes, she's a part of three shows right now on ABC. So ultimately I think this shows that the network trusts him and it will be good for exposure.

[–] gemjudith 8 years ago

IMO these rumors are spread by fans because of their disappointment with the show and Rothenberg. Usually low ratings are the reason of a cancellation and fact is ratings have been going down since S1 and after all the issues with S3 I highly doubt S4 can reverse the situation, who knows.. so maybe Rothenberg, with this new project is just paving the way towards the future since he probably has had enough with The 100 and its controversy?

I don't think the network invests in him, I rather think they invest in viable projects to develop and I guess they liked his idea.

Maybe you're right and Jason could take part in both projects like Rhimes, anyway I never liked him, he's been quite obnoxious with fans in twitter, he blocked a lot of them just because they didn't agree with him and I'm talking back to S1 and S2, before S3 mess. I loved the original idea of the show which was not his but Morgan Kaas, and I didn't quite like the direction Jason gave to the show, too many characters, too many scenarios, too many storylines, sometimes a confusing ones and so little time to develop it all properly. Bigger was never better!

[–] hihihi-42 8 years ago

I didn't mean that the network is investing in Rothenberg specifically because they like him or anything, but that if the controversy did bother them they wouldn't be giving him another platform under their name. I think that's a good sign that ultimately the network isn't bothered by the Lexa controversy anymore, so you're right, if it were to be cancelled it would be because of the ratings. And that wouldn't be determined until S4 starts, meaning there's likely no credence to any of the rumours.

The ratings for the show have decreased since season 1, which is normal for a TV show, but even taking viewership numbers from after 3x07 The 100 is still average compared to the other shows on the CW. It's one of its most popular non-superhero shows and it's consistently doing extremely well on Netflix. But I guess we'll see how it does next year.

Rothenberg is obnoxious but honestly, I think he's a great writer and his personality doesn't impact my experience with the show, so it doesn't bother me at all. I like that he'll be sticking with his story and won't be pandering to the fans that are upset.

The book is okay, it's a good concept, but IMO Jason made the idea into something so much better. The book is slow and super focused on romance, and the characters are all watered down. It doesn't really have any strong female characters either which is something that attracted me to the show. (this isn't meant to bash the book btw, they're both good and likely just targeting different demographics with romance vs a more scifi centred story)

Even if JR does want to get away from the controversy, which I doubt because he is so narcissistic and doesn't care what people think about his show, I don't think that's an indicator that The 100 is ending either. In the case that he would leave he could just pass it on to another writer. I think this is all just a mix of people starting rumours because they're upset with Rothenberg like you said, and fans freaking out and making this a bigger deal than it is.

[–] Zuko_Reborn 8 years ago

To me the show has only gotten better with each season. Although, season 2 and 3 did rush some story lines but overall they are really great. The only thing I hated in season 3 is what they did to Bellamy. He was starting to become a better person and they undid all the character development that he received in season 2.

"If you say I have a motive then it's to punish all of you who brought pain to my friends!"- Zidane

[–] hihihi-42 8 years ago

I think the writers 'undid' it on purpose. They redeemed Bellamy too much too fast in S2 and they needed to give him more internal conflict to keep him interesting for the remainder of the series. He's one of my favourite characters but I still appreciated his arc last season because realistically, redemption isn't linear. I like complex characters and I think making him more morally grey is more interesting, and it gives the writers more options for his character in the future.

[–] troyplafond 8 years ago

The CW loves having showrunners work on multiple shows. Greg Berlanti does all the DC superhero stuff. Julie Plec does both Vampire Diaries and Originals, and made Containment last year. They also picked up a new show from the iZombie team. I think that this only shows that they are confident in Rothenburg's ability, and is a good sign for The 100 going forwards.

[–] zyrah-88144 8 years ago

IMO Berlanti's name is what helped this show land the development cycle. Berlanti has 2 shows on CW's development slate for next Fall. Rothenberg is only the writer.

[–] avildsen-610-19446 8 years ago

For his sake, he better stay away from LGBT characters this time around.

[–] hihihi-42 8 years ago

yeah lol he probably won't be writing another lgbt character ever again

[–] tessany 8 years ago

This sounds almost exactly the same as the first season of Supernatural.

[–] hihihi-42 8 years ago

It does! I don't watch it so I didn't notice that at first. Maybe that means Supernatural will be ending soon and this will be a replacement