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Flash Gordon TV series(2007)
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 7:50 pm
enterprise_admin
SCI-FI 'SPACE' GENERAL
Joined: 05 May 2007
Posts: 728
Quote:
The US press didn't take to the new Flash Gordon - but what did our own Stateside correspondent make of it? Er, even less, it seems...
American Bob
"What John Ralston was told to do with Ming I've no idea, but the Teletubbies are substantially more threatening"
Rumours of how bad this new TV series is have been circulating for a while. And the rumours were right.
Remember the Queen anthem, brash colour, OTT performances and general grandeur of the 1980 Mike Hodges directed movie? Wonder if any of that made it to the new TV show?
It didn't, not an ounce of it. This has to be one of the most disappointing pilot episodes for a TV show ever, and based on what we're presented with here this could be an amazingly short lived production.
It starts with Flash wining a 'triple marathon', which is why he's called 'Flash'. This is so contrived it's painful. Eric Johnson, who plays the character, doesn't have the physique of a long distance runner. He seems pleasant enough, as is Gina Holden playing Dale, but there is no chemistry to speak of, even though we're told they previously dated. Obviously, the characters' 2-D comic origins were considered to have one dimension too many.
But there are two performances in here that are truly horrendous: Jody Racicot as Zarkov and John Ralston as Ming.
Instead of being a scientific genius Zarkov comes over as a complete idiot and geek that couldn't fix his own toaster. But Ming makes the Zarkov character look positively deep in comparison. When he first appears I assumed he was some underling to Ming, who'd get a build up to a reveal.
Instead we get this short guy who wanders around in an outfit that looks like it was borrowed from one of a hundred other productions where the script said 'military person from unnamed 18th century European principality'. What John Ralston was told to do with Ming I've no idea, but the Teletubbies are substantially more threatening.
Actually the costume department limitations hint at a bigger issue here, which are the production values that the show presents. The whole exercise looks very cheap. Ming's palace is a series of dark corridors with no open spaces, there aren't any 'wow' effects in the entire thing, and most of the outdoor action takes place in the same field, somewhere.
We get to see virtually nothing of Mongo, and although we see the other worlds in the sky above it, they're not talked about, and aliens from those worlds are never seen.
Considering the textural richness that shows like Farscape, Galactica and Babylon 5 have managed, this seems really piss poor and not remotely interesting.
The script is equally duff. Given that with the pilot you're supposed to try hard, some of the dialogue in this show is diabolical. Dale says at one point, "If she's an abbot then I'm Costello". I'm not sure which of the five writers credited for this show wrote that, but his contract needs ending right now.
The only real humour comes from some unintentionally hilarious sequences with Anna Van Hooft who plays Ming's daughter Aura. While Miss Hooft is very nice to look at, making the Dale actress seem even less interesting, she hasn't mastered the art of moving gracefully over rough ground in heels.
But I'm making Flash Gordon seem more involving than it actually is, which is not at all. For all its faults, the killer aspect of Flash Gordon is that it's boring. Maybe Dale and Flash will find some spark, and the design department might suddenly kick into action, but if the scripts are as turgid as the pilot one then this won't last long.
i have watched the forst 3 eps and i rreally enjoyed it. its a bit smallville and a little stargate atlantis with the scenery but overall very good.
there is lots of talk about the hawkman and other characters but we will have tro see
ill bew doing a full review on the next show
Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 3:27 am
laracroft
SPACE Lt. Commander
Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 93
Location: solve the world's problems
i saw the first ep and i loved it. eric jonson is so cute and the story was easy to follow.
ming is not as scary as i thought he would be.
7/10
i hope they keep going with this series
_________________ i'll always be watching
Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:34 am
mr_sledgeka
SCI-FI 'SPACE' ADMIRAL
Joined: 06 May 2007
Posts: 919
Location: Rock Concert
I'll reserve my opinion on this show at the moment but what I have seen on youtube it doesn't look anything like the Comic Strip I read as a Young Lad and the 1980 Movie Version(which I still like very much even if its abit campy NOW!) and that Theme By Queen 'FLASH'!!!
Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 11:19 pm
enterprise_admin
SCI-FI 'SPACE' GENERAL
Joined: 05 May 2007
Posts: 728
this show is doing ok in the usa atm. the ratting are ok for it but it will take a while for fans to gel to it.
the hawkman ep was good and how they did it was very good
ming's daughter is a cunning and sexy as ever.
check it out and its a relook on the old series, not camped up like the 80's movie was
Flash Gordon TV Series cancelled!!
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 5:05 pm
mr_sledgeka
SCI-FI 'SPACE' ADMIRAL
Joined: 06 May 2007
Posts: 919
Location: Rock Concert
Well folks this show has finally been cancelled which I'm not surprised. Next time Sci-Fi Channel make Flash Gordon in what it should be not some cheap crappy production and characters.
Quote:
Apparently, SciFi Channel is not big on formal announcements when it comes to the quick cancellation of some of its not-so-strong series.
SciFi Channel president David Howe told trade publication Variety March 21 that the network didn't treat the character of "Flash Gordon" the way he should've been treated,(TOALLY AGREED!!) and the network may try to do it again sometime ... just not right now, which reading between the lines means that "Flash Gordon" is no longer on the schedule.
yFy Portal reported through sources last September that "Flash Gordon" was on the chopping block. However, SciFi Channel responded officially to SyFy Portal that the series was not in trouble, and that while ratings were below expectations, the show's production was a lot cheaper than many of its other scripted series and that it didn't need to generate as much advertising revenue as shows like "Battlestar Galactica," "Eureka" and "Stargate: Atlantis" needed
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