1990 - THE FLASH, pilot for the earlier TV series

With the release of the expensive 2023 superhero film called The Flash it's time to take a quick look at the TV pilot for a series that ran for 22 episodes in the early 1990's.  For a TV pilot and especially a TV pilot made almost 20 years ago,  this show had a fairly decent budget.  The creators of the series Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo were basically writers and producers of "B" movies such as the Trancers series, and Zone Troopers.  They had also worked in the video game and comic book industries so they brought a comic book sensibility to the series. Their one big credit was for Disney's film of The Rocketeer.

This pilot had an above average cast for a TV show,  Tim Thomerson, Richard Belzer, Mark Hamill and M. Emmet Walsh.  The lead role of The Flash was played by John Wesley Shipp who had spent a lot of time in the daytime soap opera world. Amanda Pays is his scientist/girlfriend partner who is there to support his superhero abilities,  a typically standard and thankless character for these kinds of shows.

 

The TV pilot is decent enough.   It's your standard superhero origin story. Scientist Barry Allen gets struck by lighting and gets weird chemicals dumped on him which turns him into the fastest man alive, blah blah blah. The pilot episode has The Flash learning about his new powers and taking on an evil motorcycle gang,  blah blah blah.  Frankly the story is nothing special but the speed running special effects and actions scenes are well done and hold up well.

 The Flash TV series probably hit at the wrong time, the superhero craze didn't really take off until around 2008 with the Marvel movies. 

 

Running time, 94 minutes, written by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo.