Flipper

The first season of this show was pretty decent. The characters were interesting, the writing was reasonably good, and the chemistry between the two adult leads (Brian Wimmer as an adult Bud (now Keith) Ricks, from the original '60s "Flipper" TV series, and Colleen Flynn as Pam Blondell, a fellow dolphin researcher) made the show fun for adults as well as kids. The two kids (Payton Haas as Pam Blondell's son Mike and a young Jessica Alba as Maya) were pretty likeable as well. Unfortunately, the producers evidently felt that a show about scientists wasn't interesting enough (exact same thing seemed to happen to "Seaquest DSV" as well), so for the second season they fired the entire cast except Jessica Alba (who afterwards seemed to show up in a bikini far more often) and turned it into a sort of aquatic cop show instead. The quality of the show went downhill in a big way, with lame writing and even lamer characters.

The first season of flipper follows Keith Ricks, the grown up version of Bud Ricks from the 1960s series, his fellow marine research Pam Blondell, her son Mike and his friend Maya. The plot was fairly interesting and there was definitely room for it to grow into a compelling program, and you can watch it without the acting making you cringe so thats always a plus. The second season of flipper all of the characters from the first season are scrapped (except for Maya) and the series begins to follow Dr Jennifer Dalton who takes the place of Keith Ricks, her interns Holly and Dean, her father Cap, and two deputies, Quinn and Tom, from the local search and rescue station. In this season the plots become a bit more ridiculous and hard to fathom, and the acting is mediocre at best. The third season gets rid of the cast of season two, except for Tom, Cap, and Holly so at this point its really hard to follow except in addition to being hard to believe so I just stopped watching. Im not sure who you would keep making a show try to work if you were just going to try to make the viewers get used to a new cast every season, they have a hard enough time accepting one character change. all of the seasons are posted on hulu, if you are going to watch it i'd recommend only watching the first season, if you try to watch any others you will only find them disappointing.

It looks as if there isn't a way to get a copy of the first Flipper....I actually had a small part in it...but have yet to SEE it! Any ideas out there?? Living in Florida it was appropriate to take part, when, doing others in Calif, I felt this to be neat in my "own back yard" (living in the Keys) Amazing how long it took to shoot a scene that was only actually 2 minutes long. Now, after seeing everyone "sweat" in the humidity, I REALLY want to see how they 'covered it up'! Me on the other hand, was amused by the carefree attitude of those who, like myself, were the "extras". Was it the ocean air, the chance of "fame" or simply an excuse off of work.

PAUL ;-)

I really love this show, and I love dolphins. The best part of this program was the relationship between Keith and Pam. They would have been the perfect couple!!!

This American-Australian co-production about the adventures of the dolphin who's faster than lightning (no one you'll see, I'm told, is smarter than he) is far from the worst way to while away an hour, although it lacks the original song and most of the characters except for Brian Wimmer in the first season (as the grown-up son of Porter Ricks). Then again, the version with Paul Hogan was based more directly on the source and look how well that turned out...

Because your average dolphin has an even more limited range of abilities than Champion the Wonder Horse - as opposed to Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, the Littlest Hobo etc - the scripts are often a stretch; the one where interns Holly and Dean discovered a group of teenagers living on an island after their plane crashed and building their own society was particularly contrived, although it wasn't the worst episode. The overuse of the FX shots of our finned hero diving in and out of the research facility around which the action revolves is also a bit grating, and the acting's not exactly Emmy-winning.

For all that, it's hardly unwatchable with lots of attractive Australian (and Floridan in the first few episodes) scenery and nice music - though the second season's music is better than the first. Definitely not one for cynics, but pleasant family fare, and you just have to go all warm and gooey inside at the sight of that sleek, cuddly, giggly, adorable creature. (As well as Jessica Alba, Flipper's pretty cute too.)

Note: The above only applies to the 1995-97 episodes, not the ones from 1998 onwards known as "Flipper: The New Adventures" - beware of anything with "The New" in its title. And while some would say this is a plus, there's no Jessica either :-(