THE FLASH (1990) Television Series Discussion

[The Laughing Fish]

EDIT: Okay, so I need to find an image which is actually from The Flash show in order to illustrate my point. Oh well...

Y'know, Shipp's Flash show was a pretty big hit inside Hollywood. It never really found a real audience and it cost a small fortune to produce. But "the industry" loved it, which could be why the show lasted as relatively long as it did -- considering it could've just as easily been cancelled mid-season.

And I think it would be fair to say that the show's influence and legacy are tragically unsung. The show could be a little cheesy at times, there's no denying that. Or at least I'm not denying it.

But Bilson and DeMeo seemed to want the show to be as film-like as possible. Lighting and shadow were always crafted with the utmost care as per your image above. As you probably already know, that type of lighting doesn't happen all by itself. It takes time and effort to set up light rigs like that. It's easy to overlook now but NOTHING on TV looked like The Flash at the time.

Compare any average episode of The Flash to basically anything from the first season of Lois & Clark. I love L&C but that show didn't try as hard to have feature-quality lighting and cinematography. L&C was a romantic drama with a side of superheroism while The Flash was as faithful to the comics as it dared to be considering it was an early 90's comic book show... a fidelity (limited though it may have been) for which it arguably paid the price.

Looking ahead, the visuals and cinematography of more recent comic shows gives a greater appreciation for this Flash show. No, the show wasn't perfect. But it also never even attempted to be like anything else on TV at the time, the series wore its science-fantasy style on its sleeve and it was an early pioneer in stuff we take for granted now in comic book shows.

In the final analysis, I regard The Flash (1990) as a trailblazing implosion, a pioneering (and noble) failure which set the stage for future successes with other shows.

I remember watching an episode in Flash Season 2 where Grant Gustin's Barry run through the Speed Force and there was a shot of Shipp in the Flash costume appearing among all these windows showing various multiverse dimensions. That, and Mark Hamill reprising the Trickster role were great little Easter eggs, but I thought that was as far as it got when it came to referencing the 1990s Flash TV show.

Well, I'm delighted that Shipp is playing the "original" Barry Allen once again after nearly thirty years. He doesn't look like he has aged a bit while in costume. I haven't kept up with the Arrowverse for two years because there are too many shows to keep nowadays, but maybe I should give this Elseworlds-looking crossover a watch. Love it or hate it, CW's Flash does celebrate Shipp's underrated legacy on the character, as he has ready played Henry Allen and Jay Garrick.

Going back to the original TV show, am I the only one where the final episode with Mark Hamill playing the Trickster for the second time was the best the show ever got in terms of production quality? The other episodes did have some moments were production wasn't always at the best. But I guess that was the limitation of doing a show this ambitious back then. Man...looking back at the Art Deco atmosphere and quirky sense of humour and how it reminded me of B89, I actually thought in my young little mind that this crossover would come to fruition one day. Sighs.



Maybe DC should release a comic book instead. If the Batman 60s show can be revived in comics, there's no reason why a comic crossover between these beloved screen portrayals can't happen.

[Silver Nemesis]

After almost three decades, he's finally back! It looks like his universe is officially designated Earth-90.

It's nice to hear a quotation from Elfman's theme music. And Smallville fans will notice some familiar corpses littering the scene. Normally I don't follow the Arrowverse, but this crossover event looks like a really fun idea. I'm still hoping they'll get at least one reference to the Burtonverse in there somewhere. 

[thecolorsblend]

After almost three decades, he's finally back! It looks like his universe is officially designated Earth-90.

It's nice to hear a quotation from Elfman's theme music. And Smallville fans will notice some familiar corpses littering the scene. Normally I don't follow the Arrowverse, but this crossover event looks like a really fun idea. I'm still hoping they'll get at least one reference to the Burtonverse in there somewhere.

I say they should throw in as many winks, references and nods as they can possibly afford. The whole concept is built around that.

To get back on topic though, Shipp was the gateway into The Flash for a lot of people. It's gratifying to see him back as literally Barry and literally The Flash. Stunt-casting Shipp as Barry's father is fine in its place. And honestly, I would've been content with that. But the elastic nature of the Arrowverse's approach to the multiverse allows Shipp to return as his version of The Flash and I CHERISH that.

A big part of the appeal here goes back to what that little clip suggests about Shipp's version of Barry. He's been hammering away, fighting the good fight FOR NEARLY THIRTY YEARS. That version of The Flash always bordered on being incorruptible and I savor how nobody's shying away from that.

[The Laughing Fish]

It's nice to know that Shipp's Flash has his own action figure under the DC Multiverse toyline.

[Silver Nemesis]

...a notable exception being 'Beat the Clock', which is my least favourite episode of the entire series...

Wow. My opinion of 'Beat the Clock' has completely changed since I wrote this statement. I now think it's a really strong episode. Not in my top 5 perhaps, but definitely above average. Maybe I was confusing it with another episode when I wrote that comment. Hmmm.

Anyway, here's a cool clip from a convention in Ecuador where John Wesley Shipp finally meets the Burton Batman.

That Flash costume is excellent. I wish the suit in Justice League (2017) had looked more like this one.

I still haven't watched the recent CW Elseworlds event yet, but I'm planning to soon. Has anyone else seen it? And if so, what's the verdict?

[thecolorsblend]

...a notable exception being 'Beat the Clock', which is my least favourite episode of the entire series...

Wow. My opinion of 'Beat the Clock' has completely changed since I wrote this statement. I now think it's a really strong episode. Not in my top 5 perhaps, but definitely above average. Maybe I was confusing it with another episode when I wrote that comment. Hmmm.

Anyway, here's a cool clip from a convention in Ecuador where John Wesley Shipp finally meets the Burton Batman.

That Flash costume is excellent. I wish the suit in Justice League (2017) had looked more like this one.

I still haven't watched the recent CW Elseworlds event yet, but I'm planning to soon. Has anyone else seen it? And if so, what's the verdict?

It's... eh. Without giving much away, there's fairly minimal Shipp-as-Flash stuff going on. There's also a development which presents itself as a subplot but quickly became a main plot very quickly involving Barry and Ollie. You'll know it when you see it. That story element got a bit tiresome very quickly.

There's also a really idiotic resolution for Superman in the story. I have yet to "meet" anybody who approves of it. Nearly everybody seems furious, if anything.

On a general note, these annual crossovers started off great. But I guess it's sort of like the Avengers effect, where simply seeing them all together on the same screen is novelty that doesn't last very long... not least because it's happening more and more frequently now. I have less of a stake in the Arrowverse than most people do. So bear that in mind as you consider my ambivalence here.

[Silver Nemesis]

I stopped following both Arrow and The Flash during their first seasons. And now, after watching all three episodes of the recent Elseworlds trilogy, I remember why. I thought this 'event' was more or less on a par with the 1997 Justice League TV movie. It was bad.

JWS's Flash is hardly in it. He appears in about four scenes, the longest of which lasts maybe two minutes. What really bugs me about this though is the fact they just annihilated the whole of Earth-90 for the sake of such a brief cameo. Tina, Julio, Barry's nephew Shawn – unless I'm missing something, all of those characters are now dead. I know reality was reset in the primary universe, but they didn't say anything about restoring Earth-90. And what actually happened to JWS's Flash? The Monitor apparently banished him to some other dimension, but his fate was never explained. Maybe they'll bring him back in a later episode and have him restore his own universe to its original state. I hope so, because otherwise this was a horrible send-off for Shipp's incarnation of the character. I guess you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a lame cameo in a CW show.

In the past I've said I'd like to see the nineties Flash TV show connected with the Burtonverse Batman films and Lois & Clark. But in retrospect, I'm very glad that didn't happen. I'd hate to see what the minds behind the Arrowverse might do with the Burton/Schumacher Batman or Cain's Superman if they ever got hold of them. I've also said in the past that Batman-without-Batman TV shows don't work for me. And they still don't. I'm baffled why WB keeps making them. They're all the same: Bruce Wayne has mysteriously disappeared, so we're left with an endless stream of Easter eggs and cameos by his gallery of rogues while some other DC character steps in to fill the void. It looks like the new Batwoman series is going to follow this same tired formula.

On the Easter egg front, they used Chicago for the Gotham City scenes and even the Chicago Board of Trade Building for Wayne Enterprises. Nolan used that same building for Wayne Enterprises in Batman Begins. Some of the location shots were clearly intended to evoke the look of Nolan's films.

When Oliver, Barry and Kara first arrive in Gotham they get mugged at 'Nolan and Burton'. Subtle.

Later Kara finds the Shakespeare bust from the sixties TV show in Bruce Wayne's office.

Alfred gets mentioned, and the names on the doors at Arkham Asylum include Cobblepot, Isley, Karlo and Nigma. The Nolan Bane's mask is also present in Arkham.

As is Mr Freeze's gun and Scarecrow's fear toxin. All of these Batman references felt like hollow fan service to me. This sort of thing was old when the first season of Gotham aired. By now it's prehistoric.

But what of the Earth-90 Flash? Well the scene where he appears through the interdimensional breach to issue a warning was obviously a nod to Crisis on Infinite Earths and Batman v Superman.

In the original series episode 'Watching the Detectives' Tina had mentioned Carter Hall. Now, almost three decades later, we finally get to see this version of Hawkman. Or at least his corpse. We also see the corpse of Captain Cold – the only other character to return from the nineties TV show.

Last time we saw him in the classic series he'd been frozen by his own gun. Evidently he was thawed out at some point and eventually joined forces with the Flash, only to be killed by the Monitor. Seems a bit pointless really.

But like I say, hopefully they'll bring JWS back and do right by his version of the Flash and the universe that spawned him. The last time we saw him in the original series he was triumphantly patrolling a city that had finally embraced his presence.

But now, thanks to the Arrowverse, our final glimpse of JWS's Flash is this humiliating defeat.

There's also a really idiotic resolution for Superman in the story. I have yet to "meet" anybody who approves of it. Nearly everybody seems furious, if anything.

Add me to the list of people who didn't like it. But sadly this reflects a larger trend right now. Not just in terms of DC repeatedly benching Superman (I shudder at the thought of Brainiac making his cinematic debut in a Supergirl movie instead of Man of Steel II), but also with regards to male heroes surrendering turf to their female counterparts. We saw this in Iron Fist season 2 where Danny, to make amends for the sin of mansplaining in the previous season, literally gave his powers to Colleen and left her to protect New York City as the new Iron Fist. Now we have Batman abandoning Gotham to Batwoman and Superman leaving Supergirl in charge of Earth. Why bother having the male heroes exist in the first place if they're only going to be absent?

[thecolorsblend]

I can halfway see the argument for the Arrowverse dismissing Superman the way they have. First, there's nothing to stop future Hoechlin cameos in the future. But being written out in the way he was while hopefully quell the demand for a solo Hoechlin show. Frankly, Supergirl has covered so much of Superman's ground that it's fair to suggest that there's nothing left for Hoechlin's Superman to have for himself in a solo Superman show. His origin, his powers, a lot of his supporting cast, several of his primary enemies, etc, all have been poached by Supergirl. What's left?

The broader trend of male character infrastructure being given to somebody else originally didn't bother me at first. But now that the agenda is becoming clearer, yeah, I'm done with it. At this point, it's a hack idea.

[Silver Nemesis]

Here are some new pics of JWS's Flash in the upcoming Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event. Hopefully they'll treat him with more respect this time around and give him a bigger role.

He can also be glimpsed on the poster.

Producer Marc Guggenheim has said there's at least one big cameo which has yet to be spoiled online. Some are speculating it could be Cain's Superman or Hamill as a live action version of his Joker. Some are even saying it might be O'Donnell as Nightwing, though I can't see that happening as long as he's starring in NCIS: Los Angeles. It's possible Guggenheim is simply referring to someone that's been unofficially reported but not yet confirmed (e.g. Robert Wuhl as Knox or Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman). But I'm hoping it's Cain. And if it is, I want Hatcher to put in an appearance as well.

[The Laughing Fish]

I'm sure everybody has seen Shipp's Flash making that sacrifice in the third episode of the COIE crossover, which is a nod to the character's selfless act in the original source material.

I have to say that although the scene itself was performed well, I'm disappointed to admit I didn't feel anything. At all. The reason is because the Elseworlds and COIE crossovers were the first productions we got to see of Shipp reprising the role for the first time in nearly thirty years...and what, he had a total of ten minutes of screentime altogether? That's it? That's so disappointing. It makes the moment feel incomplete. Even more so when you consider that CW's Flash had the likes of Amanda Pays' Tina McGee, Mark Hamill's Trickster and even Vito D'Ambrosio guest starring before. If the Arrowverse wanted to pay tribute to the original show's legacy, I would've preferred they spent some time for one more hurrah for Shipp and all of his surviving characters before their world gets destroyed. Instead, this is how that show's continuity ends: just a few quick scenes of Shipp, he makes a selfless act together with a hastily edit to call back to a moment from a thirty year old episode, and that's all.

I didn't get to watch Elseworlds until only a month ago, in tandem with COIE. Instead of having that stupid body switcheroo between CW Barry Allen and Oliver Queen, wouldn't it be better to give Shipp's Flash a more prominent role? They couldn't think of a much better storyline, if this prequel was about the Monitor testing that world's best heroes for the impending threat ahead? Or would giving Earth-90's Barry Allen more screen time take too much away from bland characters like Batwoman or Hoechlin's Superman? 

While I'm complaining about missed opportunities, it's a missed one for the CW Flash continuity too. Shipp had been playing Henry Allen for the first couple of seasons, and he was murdered by Zoom in front of Barry's eyes in the second season. Had they put in more time to develop Shipp's return and get acquainted with Gustin's Barry, it could've increased the emotional resonance of Shipp making that sacrifice, as Gustin's Barry is reminded of the death of his father yet again.

I'm aware the Arrowverse has too many productions going on to worry about before putting in a greater effort to honour the 1990 Flash TV show, but if you ask me, this goes to show what's wrong with this franchise nowadays. They're biting more than they can chew. They simply can't to do these crossover storylines and certain characters (i.e. Supergirl AND Superman) any justice with their cheap TV budgets. The Arrowverse, in my opinion, was at its peak when it focused only a couple of shows - Arrow and The Flash. Sure, neither show at their peak were in the same league as Netflix's Daredevil, but they were still better and more focused than what the Arrowverse has become today. Trying to incorporate Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Batwoman and Superman and Lois (God forbid  ) is only making the quality worse. In many ways, Arrowverse's excess of shows is similar to the problem I have with the MCU's need to increase its number of movies per year. Less is more!

Apologies for the long-winded rant, but I'm disappointed. I never thought I'd ever live to see the day of watching John Wesley Shipp play the Flash again...and come out of the experience saying "it could've been better". Oh well.

Fun fact: In Elseworlds, Shipp's Flash greets John Diggle, and mentions that the other John in his world carries a ring. This is a nod to the old Arrowverse fan theories speculating that John Diggle is CW's version of John Stewart aka Green Lantern.