Green Arrow, Black Canary Get TV Dads

Having already cast Stephen Arnell (who recently wrapped up a two-episode stint on the FOX Television hit The New Girl) as Oliver Queen and Pan Am's Colin Donnell as a revamped version of Merlyn, it would appear the Arrow, The CW's modern reinterpretation of DC Comics' Green Arrow, was rushing toward being able to film a pilot. Today, Deadline reports that another couple of pieces fell into place to make it clear that this show is moving forward, even while some fans are scratching their head over the network's decision to do so without Justin Hartley, who played the character in Smallville. Jamey Sheridan, a character actor best known for his performance as Captain James Deakins on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, will join the cast as Robert Queen, Oliver's father. Sheridan is busy right now, having just wrapped a season of playing the President on the Claire Danes vehicle Homeland and about to debut as John McCain speechwriter Mark Salter on HBO's much-hyped TV adaptation of Game Change. Detective Quentin Lance, father to Laurel "Black Canary" Lance and the cop tasked with bringing Green Arrow to justice when he runs afoul of the law, will be played by Paul Blackthorne, currently starring in ABC's The River. While the smart money has The River ending after this season and not being picked up for a second, the actor is technically cast in "second position" to his existing show, meaning that should it return next year he won't be able to live up to his CW deal and will either be downgraded to recurring guest star status or recast. While Arrow will be the first TV adaptation to revolve specifically around Green Arrow, the character was featured prominently on Smallville for a number of years. His love interest, Black Canary, was one of the main characters on the short-lived Birds of Prey TV series ten years ago, which saw her team with Oracle and a version of Huntress who, like Earth 2's version, was Batman's daughter. Both Green Arrow and Black Canary have appeared in minor roles in a number of DC's animated features and TV series.