AHC: Save the "The Flash" TV series

[Pyro]

Exactly as it says on the tin, I do not think many people here would remember "The Flash" television series from 1990 that starred John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen/The Flash. And yes it is odd that they chose Barry Allen over the then-current Flash, Wally West, for the show but what are you going to do? According to Wikipedia and this DC history book by Les Daniels (I forget the title) the series was cancelled due to frequent pre-emptions as well as the Simpsons and the Cosby Show at occupied the same time slot. To say nothing of the high productions costs.

Could the show have lasted longer than its only season, and if so, how?

As for Barry Allen, I am guessing they used him because Wally's origin is tied to Barry Allen in the comics and Barry actually had a job. :P

[Stalin]

Originally Posted by Pyro

Exactly as it says on the tin, I do not think many people here would remember "The Flash" television series from 1990 that starred John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen/The Flash.

I do since they showed reruns for awhile!

And yes it is odd that they chose Barry Allen over the then-current Flash, Wally West, for the show but what are you going to do?
As for Barry Allen, I am guessing they used him because Wally's origin is tied to Barry Allen in the comics and Barry actually had a job. :P

That's not really odd at all, Wally had only been the Flash for about 4 years at that point and was hardly known to people not familiar with the comics. Barry Allen had been around for about 30 years when DC killed him off.

According to Wikipedia and this DC history book by Les Daniels (I forget the title) the series was cancelled due to frequent pre-emptions as well as the Simpsons and the Cosby Show at occupied the same time slot. To say nothing of the high productions costs.

Could the show have lasted longer than its only season, and if so, how?

Well one obvious possibility is getting Deborah Joy LeVine to develop the show, she was very successful with Lois & Clark. Another is to maybe contact Spielberg or Zemeckis. Beyond that? There's a LOT they could do. For starters, tweaking Barry Allen's character heavily. Let's face it Wally West is just much more fun as a character. He's got a real sense of humor and youthfulness. He's basically a lot like Spiderman personality wise but with the ridiculous angst and hackneyed soap opera nonsense heavily toned down. Barry Allen is honestly pretty bland. He's your standard somewhat reserved but 'stalwart' hero. He's just not that charismatic and other than being late constantly and the whole retcon with his father being falsely charged with his mother's murder he doesn't have any serious problems or angst or anything.

[Brady Kj]

I own the pilot episode but haven't seen anything else of it. It seems the only thing that episode was lacking was jokes. The plot was good, the villain was good though a little dated now, and the explanation for the costume was good.

[Blackfox5]

The TV show came out soon after the blockbuster Batman movie, and it got a lot of hype. In my opinion, the series failed for several reasons:

1) TV show seemed embarassed to have supervillains. It introduced them belatedly, and did everything possible to not have them look like supervillains. Big mistake. They should have introduced the Trickster and other villains (Captain Cold, Mirror Master) much earlier and made them more obvious super villains.

2) The plots were very pedestrian - generic crime stories. Super villains need to do acts of super crime in order to justify the presence of a superhero.

3) Need better supporting cast. I'm not complaining about the actors, it's the characters. There needed to be ongoing minor characters - someone for Barry Allen to be with, and people the Flash would work with.

4) Not everything needed to happen in Central City. Givent he Flash's powers, Barry could remain in Central City, but fight villains elsewhere. This would prevent the problem of staging all the weirdness in one city.

The Flash simply wasn't a good TV show. It had good production values, but the concept was not implemented well, and it had so-so writing. It really needed a thorough revamping.

The bad time slots are definitely one reason it failed, but it's rare a strong show is given such. Even with a better time slot, I doubt it would last more than a second season.