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  • The Old Flash Series

    Well, we know how we feel about the premise of the new Flash series. So, what did you think of the old one?

    I love the old Flash series. Okay, so they went a little crazy with the suit (it was all bulked up, when something like Spiderman's streamlined ware would have been, well, not as funny) but I loved it anyway. The writing was good, and it fully embraced the camp. And I really liked the Mark Hamill, Joker-type character.

    I remember seeing the pilot on Sci-Fi Channel a while back. I remember the last line giving me chills. When Barry is talking to his nephew, whose father had been murdered (the Flash avenged his death, so it's cool), and he says something like, "If you ever need me, I'll be there. Like a flash."

    Why that gives me chills, I have no idea. But it kind of reminds me of the moment in the Superman movie when Supes is flying around all suave and cool, and he looks directly at the camera and sort of smiles before pealing away. I loved that!

    Anyway, I loved THE FLASH. One aspect I liked is that most people in Central City weren't sure he even existed. Most thought he was an urban legend. He was just so fast, very few people actually saw him, but they did see the results of his actions. And a lot of people only saw a red blur, which is why some people thought he was a ghost or something.

    I hope Sci-Fi Channel starts airing THE FLASH again. I'd be there.

  • #2
    I have two beefs witht he original Flash show. Well three now that i think about it. One, He was too slow. Flash can run at the speed of light. I remember one episode he had to run 3000 miles in like half an hour, and wasnt sure if he could make it. Two, he doesn't pass out and be like all out of energy if he isnt constantly eating. Yes he needs to eat a lot, but thats not where the energy he gets to use his superspeed comes from, it comes from the speed force, so if he skips breakfast he can still run around the world 7 times a second at lunchtime. Three, No iris west. That was his love, not some scientist named tina mcgee.

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    • #3
      Iris appeared in the pilot. Does that count for anything?

      Comment


      • #4
        I think you have to remember that for TV you have to factor in the equation of villains that have the possibility of beating the hero X amount of money in your special effects budget. They had to power down Flash to give the show suspence.

        Besides, if memory serves the show came on just as Wally West took over as Flash and got his own comic. At that time he had been through some kind of illness and could only run about the speed of sound and needed to eat constantly to keep up with the amount of calories he was burning so he did get dizzy from time to time.

        I think they were trying to make the Flash more believeable and come up with some kind of science to explain what he did or at least how he did it. The comics even postulated that Barry hadn't been human and this was the reason he could run as fast as he did and vibrate through solid objects. The Speed Force theory didn't come out until years later when they realized that they were writing a comic book and didn't have to have a valid scientific explanation .

        I agree with the Iris Allen comment though I did like the character of Tina. I think whoever developed the show got Barry and Wally mixed up, which contributed to the way the show was staged.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by hanemg
          I think whoever developed the show got Barry and Wally mixed up, which contributed to the way the show was staged.
          When it comes to developing a tv series from a comic book, I think a lot of producers figure most people haven't seen the comics, so it's okay to just use what they want, leave out what they don't like, change this or that, borrow character traits from one and give them to another. It's not unusual for a series not to be faithful to the comic it's based on. (THE INCREDIBLE HULK for example. BIRDS OF PREY for a less successful example.)

          Also, I think powering the heros down for tv and the movies is a good idea. Sure, special effects are an issue. But, when a hero is too powerful, it's hard to find villains that can honestly give them a "fair" fight that's exciting for the viewers to watch. I mean, that's why they powered Superman down in the comic books. He had gotten so powerful, could do almost anything. The writers had to go to ridiculous lengths to create threats that were actually challenging for him.

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          • #6
            Well, i do think the show premiered the same time as wally's book, but he was Flash long before then, the last issue of crisis in fact.

            And Wally could run at the speed of light before he had an accident anyway, and later it was revealed all of his problems with superspeed were psychosomatic. He was just afraid people would forget barry if he was too good of a flash.

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            • #7
              Wally's book was actually near issue #50 around the time the FLASH TV show premiered. It was then that he got a costume that more resembled the TV show.

              But, some could argue that the Wally West character didn't really get noticed until Mark Waid wrote the "Return of Barry Allen" storyline from #74-78 or so... then of course people went back and got the "Year One" story and saw, hey, there was some good Flash before then too.

              Now there doesn't seem to be many "Bring Back Barry!" peeps. And if there are, I'm just not noticing...

              By the way, the other thing I notice when watching the few eps of FLASH I have on tape (the Pilot and the Trickster episodes), is that this series did Batman better than Birds of Prey or even the last two Batman movies did Batman. Very moody, with a lot of atmosphere. It really was a classy show. Maybe a bit dark -- I remember being 12 and getting bored a little easily sometimes.

              But also, the show gave us Mark Hamill as the Trickster. If that wasn't his audition to voice the Joker, I don't know what is. And Prank? Harley-Lite all the way.
              Last edited by KSiteTV; 09-15-2003, 12:15 AM.

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              • #8
                Barry Allen, unfortunately, was one of those characters that became much more interesting after he was dead. The writers starting trying to portray a great guy who became a hero in the true Superman tradition, somene who helped just because he could and it was the right thing to do.

                This at least was transferred to the TV show. He may have gotten started in the show because of his brother's murder, but after that he continued because he was...how did John Doe put it? A darn nice guy.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by KryptonSite
                  By the way, the other thing I notice when watching the few eps of FLASH I have on tape (the Pilot and the Trickster episodes), is that this series did Batman better than Birds of Prey or even the last two Batman movies did Batman. Very moody, with a lot of atmosphere.
                  I loved the set design. It was kinda Gothic/art-deco/1930's, mixed in with modern styles. On a lot of shows, the setting is very generic. They might tell you it's in such-and-such fictional city, but it could be just about any city anywhere. With Central City, you knew it was Central City.

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                  • #10
                    Maybe the grim moody Central City of the Flash series is what's inspiring the WB to make the new Flash (or whatever) a Gothamite.

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                    • #11
                      WB will make this new Flash series alot cooler...Trust me...It will be cool in the way Smallville is...

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                      • #12
                        I loved the original show... i love the dark feeling it started out with, and love how human flash was, if the hero can run as fast as light it takes away from the character... i also liked the villians... my only beef was the camp...

                        Oh, and am i the only one that really loved the bulked up flash suit... i mean i thought it SCREAMED the comic book flash, he was always bursting with muscle

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                        • #13
                          Ah, the suit. The much maligned suit.

                          I'll say this. I got used to it. And, when I got used to it, it didn't seem so bad. The problem is, if I go a few weeks without seeing the suit, the next time I see it, I have to get used to it all over again.

                          Anyway, it always seemed weird to me that

                          1. A character who isn't super strong would be that bulked up.

                          2. He would get so much bigger just because he put on the suit.


                          Besides, considering JWS's build, he didn't really need that much bulking up.
                          Last edited by Dannyblue1; 09-16-2003, 12:10 AM.

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                          • #14
                            I absolutely loved this show when I was 10!!! It was on just before my bedtime, than in the summer I only saw some of the reruns (couldn't watch it during hockey games either - my dad's a hockey fan). For not seeing all of the episodes, I still remember most of what I saw, and I've not seen the show since!!

                            Does anyone know of where I can get a copy of the show? I'd love to watch it again.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by HalJordan84
                              I have two beefs witht he original Flash show. Well three now that i think about it. One, He was too slow. Flash can run at the speed of light. I remember one episode he had to run 3000 miles in like half an hour, and wasnt sure if he could make it. Two, he doesn't pass out and be like all out of energy if he isnt constantly eating. Yes he needs to eat a lot, but thats not where the energy he gets to use his superspeed comes from, it comes from the speed force, so if he skips breakfast he can still run around the world 7 times a second at lunchtime. Three, No iris west. That was his love, not some scientist named tina mcgee.
                              You youngins' will have to remember when this was made. It was in/around 1991. some of you may not have even been born yet.

                              Here's some clarification for the above.... the show was taken from the comics of the time. Even though he was named "Barry" he was modeld after Wally.

                              1) At the time in the comics the Flash couldn't run that fast. He was nowhere near as fast as Bary Allen. It took a whole issue for him to run across country once. He was about the speed of sound. That's it.

                              2) The speedforce wasn't around. At the time Wally had to eat constatnly to keep his motabolism from slwing down. The speed force has just been recent (and a real cop out of story- telling in the comics). It was a sense of Realism that was interjected into the comics for Wally's new series.

                              3) I'll give you no Iris. but from the shows point of view it made more sense with the work/love relationship.

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