Flash

This was a "cute and fun" show which stands out in my mind as one of the first and most unfortunate examples of network mismanagement I'd seen.

I recall The Flash being bounced around the schedule more than a superball without advance warning. If I recall correctly, the third or fourth week it aired it was already a rerun! To make matters worse, the show was often not aired in the slot advertised in the TV schedules (which, in 1990/91, before the net, was pretty much the only way to know what would be on). The worst example was once when I tuned in to see The Flash, I was just in time to see it going OFF! I called the local TV station about this who informed me that "it was moved an hour earlier at the last minute by the network". No new show could have survived this kind of treatment.

Oh, well. It was a show that was genuinely fun to watch and captured a true "comic book" feel. It died far too early.

It just ran one season, 1990, and there were 22 episodes, including the 2hr pilot. It was heavily inspired by the recent Tim Burton Batman movies, even as far as a Danny Elfman theme. But still stylish, silly, and a lot of fun. They managed to capture the Barry Allen costume and not look silly, along with lots of innovative sets and lighting, and the effects were quite good for the time. The character was a mix of Barry Allen, killed off several years earlier in the comics, and Wally West, the current comic book Flash, and played by John Wesley Shipp. Amanda Pays played a sidekick/romantic interest fairly similar to her character on Max Headroom. Mark Hamill played the Trickster in two episodes (sidekick Prank seemed like a fairly direct reference to Joker & Harley Quinn), David Cassidy played Mirror Master in another. Another episode was a nice homage to the popular team-ups of "Golden Age" WWII era Flash with the modern day Flash in the comics, here a retired hero called the Prowler, complete with a deep-frozen villain of the originals. But, it was up against The Cosby Show and the Simpsons, got bounced around all over the place schedule-wise, and interrupted several times by Gulf War I. And it must been very expensive to produce. It never really had much of a chance.

It was great to find this series again as I missed many of the original episodes when they came out. This series is great in that it has more heart than the new series. The special effects are, at times, better than the CGI intensive new episode. It is refreshing to see the Flash speed pummel an adversary, old Flash is more buff an less wimpy/whinny then new Flash. Old Flash is more action and less angsty than new Flash.

The new series does have some better villains and Cisco's humor is great. It is interesting to see that the main characters from the first series are given roles in this series. I like both, but the old one has the edge!

I thought this was a great series. The wonderful theme by Danny Elfman rivalled his other great creations. John Wesley-Shipp was not a bad cast. I knew him from his Guiding Light days.

At the time it came out, it might have been a tad confusing for comics fans who had just seen Barry Allen extinguished in the Crisis of Infinite Earths. But such is Network TV

It was a bit camp, but I didn't feel it was overdone. It had the feel of the early 70's Flash comics.

I remember a particular episode where the villain sprays a drug in the Flash's face, and he starts tripping out a bit. He uncontrollably vibrates through a wall without damaging it. His hi-speed activity have caused his body to burn off the effects of the drug and he realizes what has just happened (that he can vibrate through walls). He then goes back inside (some sort of auditorium) grabs a guitar on stage and plays a frantic hi-speed solo that makes the baddies pass out. It was hilarious.

Also, similar to the old Batman series, celebs wanted to play baddies on the show. Mark Hamill as the Trickster, David Cassidy as the Mirror Master, and others...

As the shows progressed, the creators gained to confidence to make him do the stuff he did in the comics, and it worked.

unfortunately, someone didn't think it worked.

The Flash is one of DC comics most endearing heroes for this simple reason; even though he has been given a tremendous gift of super-speed, he is still only human. Superman always could do the incredible tasks of saving the world and managing to rescue Lois Lane from the bad guys... The Flash is always trying to beat the clock. Batman makes detective work look easy, The Flash spends the majority of his day painstakingly analyzing evidence in a lab. Imagine one of the crew of CSI spending the whole day collecting evidence and then trying to stop villains in whatever time he had left of his day: all of this while working in a police station that is hunting down his alter-ego! For those who were not comic book fans, this series is still worth a look. It was ahead of it's time in many ways: X-men, Spiderman, and the upcoming Batman Begins all focus in on the people behind the masks and the costumes to reveal the true character of the Hero.

The Flash Series had a hero who was fast, but not too fast. He had weaknesses and limitations and problems with his love life. And no matter how fast he was he never seemed to be on time! Memorable performances from John Wesley Shipp, Amanda Pays, and Mark Hamill as the Trickster.

Budgetary reasons were the reason the show had to shut down, which was unfortunate. The show was definitely hitting a good stride between good characters and great plots. There was a large body of rogues to choose from, and I personally loved the adaptations of Captain Cold and the Mirror Master. No need for flashy outfits for these guys, the writing and action was so stylish that there was no need to put these two in ridiculous colored spandex.

If you can find either the Pilot or the Trickster episodes to rent, give them a look. You will be able to see where the movies of today were able to prosper for the ideas that either flew or fell in this show.