As an unabashed fan of the comic books of old, I usually get pretty excited every time there is the mention of a favorite superhero getting the movie or television treatment. Of course, most of the time I'm let down, with only the occasional home run coming out of Hollywood. Then there are the ones that I think hit a home run, only to be offed by the network or studio before finding its audience. Such was the case with 1990's "The Flash." That's right, Barry Allen a.k.a. 'The Scarlet Speedster' enjoyed a single season run CBS. Well, when I say 'enjoyed'… I mean that it was given a terrible time slot, often pre-empted and never given the opportunity to show what kind of ratings it could bring in.

The series lasted for a full 22 episodes, and even had several written and ready to shoot for a second season, but was summarily cancelled by network 'suits' who didn't have any idea what they were doing. Sure the show was expensive to produce (due to the 'flashy' special effects), but despite its rather silly tone, quite a fun show to watch.

The series was created by the producing team of Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo, who were previously involved in the "Trancers" movie series and went on to produce "The Rocketeer" and the series, "The Sentinel." The first thing that they did right was to hire Danny Elfman to create the theme music, which had just the right 'superhero' sound to it. Then they decided to add Howard Chaykin and John Francis Moore as script editors. With these two guys on board, they were sure the comic book feel the show needed.

I still remember the night I sat down to watch the 90 minute Pilot episode. Prepared for my usual disappointment, I was instead treated to John Wesley Shipp as a credible Barry Allen, who finds himself the recipient of an accelerated metabolism after being doused with chemicals during an electrical storm. In this TV version, Allen was a crime scene investigator, whose brother is a police officer. The two got along great, the only evidence of sibling rivalry showing up when their father (who was a retired cop) would accuse Barry of not being a REAL cop like his brother.

This first Pilot was one of the most expensive produced at the time, and it showed. It looked more like a mini-movie than a television show. The story was great, the effects terrific (for the time) and the cast very charismatic. Shipp's approach to his character's powers was extremely well played. You really believed his shock upon learning what he could do as well as his earnestness to fight crime following the death of his brother at the hands of a vengeful criminal. Even the costume, which could have looked terrible, was designed as more of a muscle suit, sculpted to enhance Shipp's already powerful frame.

I was a fan of the show right from the start, in part because of the high effects budget and Shipp's performance. But it was also the inclusion of actress Amanda Pays to the cast. Before this series the Australian actress was best known for her role in "Max Headroom", while she rarely shows up in American television, I'll watch anything she's in. Once you see her, you'll know why…..

The first few episodes of the series were fairly down-to-earth, in spite of the superhero lead. Most of the bad guys were run of the mill criminals. But once they started introducing Super villains, the tone of the show changed and even improved. Villains like Captain Cold, Mirror Man and the Trickster leaped out of the comic pages and into TV's version of Central City. Granted, they often didn't bother to costume them like their 2-dimensional counterparts, but they served the show well, nonetheless.

The most notable of these was The Trickster, who was so popular that he wound up in two episodes, including the series finale. And what made him so poplar you might wonder? The fact that he was played by Mark Hamill, I'm sure was a big part of it. Hamill took the role and turned in a manic tour-de-force of energy and insanity. And while watching him in the role now and listening to his voice, there's no doubt that this character served as a springboard to his more famous voiceover work as the Joker in "Batman, the Animated Series. To this day, it’s still hard to believe that cool, quiet Luke Skywalker was behind that voice.

Warner Brothers has released a LONG overdue DVD set of all 22 episodes of "The Flash", and when I say overdue… I mean that I doubted we would ever see these released. I, for one was tremendously happy to see this DVD set show up on my doorstep. While there are no extra features to speak of (my only disappointment), just having this series available on DVD made it more than worth my time to watch. Warners did a great job with the overall transfer and so the episode's often garish colors leapt off the screen.

This DVD release of "The Flash" is one of those rare releases that I would have run out to buy in the store if I didn’t have the opportunity to review it. The show was great fun, and the DVD set, despite the lack of extras, is one that I would have had to have in my collection.

Episodes:
Pilot
Out of Control
Watching the Detectives
Honor Among Thieves
Double Vision
Sins of the Father
Child's Play
Shroud of Death
Ghost in the Machine
Sight Unseen
Beat the Clock
The Trickster
Tina, Is That You?
Be My Baby
Fast Forward
Deadly Nightshade
Captain Cold
Twin Streaks
Done with Mirrors
Good Night, Central City
Alpha
The Trial of the Trickster

Starring: John Wesley Shipp, Amanda Pays, Alex Desert
Extras: None
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital Stereo
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 1/17/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
Website

We'll give The Flash: Complete Series a B.