The 100th episode of a show is a milestone for people associated with a show not just because it's one of those nice round numbers humans give significance to, because but it's a commonly used threshold for lucrative series syndication.
I'll say it if no one else will: Green Arrow is stupid. Green Arrow is so stupid, he makes you admit that Batman is stupid (B A T M A N !). Green Arrow is stupid, and always has been stupid. In fact, I have said it a million times before, and I'm not alone in that.
The success of Arrow doesn't lie with the character Oliver Queen/Green Arrow. Green Arrow isn't Batman. He's not intrinsically interesting. He's not some character people will watch no matter what. He has no cache of popular good will, No movie. No previous teevee shows. He wasn't a Super-Friend. No Filmation cartoons. Heck, even his sidekick SPEEDY got into Filmation.
And Donna was not happy about it.
Yeah sure he was on Smallville. But is that really in the plus column...?
The success of Arrow lies not with Green Arrow, but with the showrunners, who with cleverness, artistry, and love for comics created an Ollie Queen (and a cast and world around him) that interests and entertains viewers. That ain't a given, folks.
The Plastic Cat Arrow.
Never forget.
Not only has Arrow been on teevee for 100 episodes, it made television a safe space for superheroes again. After, say, Birds of Prey, there's little reason to expect that EVER to happen. It's generated a universe of shows around itself and bought scores and scores of DC characters to the public's eye, many for the first time. It led to the first generally loved portrayal of Superman in the last forty years.
We owe a great deal of the current state of superhero popularity to...Green Arrow.
I may still think he's stupid; but I thank him for it nonetheless.