'Doom Patrol' and 'Titans' Ending, as Greg Berlanti's TV Empire Fades

By Dustin Rowles | TV | January 26, 2023 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | January 26, 2023 |

At the age of 26, Greg Berlanti landed his first writing job on Dawson’s Creek. Within two years — at the age of only 28 — he was promoted to showrunner. Within two more years, he’d created two series, Everwood and Jack and Bobby, and soon thereafter, ABC’s Brothers and Sisters. From there, he created even more television series, some successful, some not: Political Animals, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, and No Ordinary Family. He also directed and wrote a couple of films (Broken Hearts Club, Life As We Know It), that were not particularly successful. However, in 2012, Berlanti — coming off of writing Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern flop — co-created, co-wrote, and co-produced (along with Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim) Arrow. He managed to parlay that into a television empire.

Arrow begot the Arrowverse (The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, etc.), and Berlanti’s successful relationship with the CW allowed him to launch more series like Riverdale, while he also expanded into the DC Universe with Stargirl, Superman and Lois, and Batwoman, etc.

But all good (and not-so-great) things must come to an end. The Arrowverse will come to a close this year with the end of The Flash; Riverdale ends this year, too; and now, even the Berlanti shows outside of the CW are ending. It’s unclear if Kaley Cuoco’s Flight Attendant, which Berlanti produced, will ever return to HBO Max, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina over on Netflix has ended, his efforts on other networks (God Friended Me, Prodigal Son) haven’t panned out.

Now HBO Max has announced that two other Berlanti series — both from the DC Universe — are ending after their forthcoming fourth seasons. Titans and Doom Patrol — originally created to launch the failed DC Streaming service. With the conclusion of those series, Berlanti is expected to largely transition out of the DC Universe.

So, after creating dozens of series, many of which ran for several seasons, by the end of 2023, the Berlanti empire will have contracted considerably. What’s left? You on Netflix, should it go beyond its fourth season, and All American on the CW (which has been renewed). With the fate of bubble shows Superman & Lois and Kung Fu uncertain amid ownership changes at the CW, it’s possible Berlanti enters 2024 with only one or two series on the air.

But don’t worry about Berlanti. He’ll be fine. He’s still working on that television reboot of The Powerpuff Girls, as well as a Green Lantern television series. In fact, he has 16 projects in development, including a film he has directed for Apple TV+, Project Artemis, starring Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Jim Rash, and Ray Romano.