Amnot Borg Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 from Smallville to Flash Gordon... Eric Johnson's career is moving into the future. Eric Johnson (Smallville) has landed the title role in SCI FI Channel's upcoming original series Flash Gordon, the network announced. The 22-hour series updates the comic-strip franchise and is slated for an August premiere. Johnson will play space-traveling adventurer Gordon, who is joined by companions Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov. Ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances, they find themselves as Earth's last line of defense against the forces of the merciless dictator Ming. Peter Hume wrote the first two episodes, which will be directed by Rick Rosenthal (Smallville). Production is to begin May 1 in Vancouver, Canada. Flash is being produced by Reunion Pictures under an agreement with King Features Syndicate, which owns the franchise. RHI Entertainment's Robert Halmi Sr. and Robert Halmi Jr. (SCI FI 's Legend of Earthsea) are executive-producing, with Hume also expected to executive-produce. Matthew O'Connor and Tom Rowe produce. Canadian actor Johnson is perhaps best known for his role as Whitney Fordman on Smallville, a character he portrayed from 2001 to 2004. Casting is under way for the other roles. Flash Gordon was created in 1934 by Alex Raymond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFMF Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 This looks like an interesting show. Is that August this year it's meant to air? :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilander72 Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 Premiere (pilot) 10th August 2007 according to scifi.com schedule. Going by the directors and producers previous track records, I'm prepared for a disappointment. I'll have to watch the pilot and a few episodes, just in case I'm wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amnot Borg Posted August 3, 2007 Author Share Posted August 3, 2007 I'll have to watch it to see how it goes but.... So anyway, is the new Flash any good? Yes, probably. Here's the thing: the advanced copy I saw had little or no special effects. It seems the special effects people are still working on that aspect of the series, so instead of seeing spaceships and laser blasts, I saw actors responding to things that weren't there, and occasional text popping up on the screen telling me what I was supposed to be seeing. So yes, it's like judging a beauty pageant by reading essays rather than actually looking at the participants, but I have to deal with what they give me. Besides, special/visual effects are nice and all, but without a good story and strong actors, they don't mean much. Was I floored by Flash Gordon? Was I on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next? No, not really, but not all shows can be judged by their first episode (and, in this case, an unfinished one). Flash Gordon lands somewhere between camp and dramatic science fiction, resulting in something that's not as dark and brooding as Battlestar Galactica, but not quite as quirky as Eureka. Eric Johnson plays Stephen "Flash" Gordon, a young man who's a fast runner. Flash is adored by the people around him, but Johnson plays the character as vulnerable rather than arrogant. In the first 90-minute episode (which airs August 10 at 9:00 PM Eastern), Flash learns that his destiny is not winning marathons and rebuilding cars with his friend, it's saving the universe from complete and utter annihilation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenebrae Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 I guess we'll just have to see how it goes - given the number of sci-fi original series that strike out... I'm not getting my hopes up. Personally, I think it's a series that lends itself better to cartoons these days. In fact, it might be nice to see Sci-Fi make some original animation/CGI for a change but presumably you can't knock that out for a fiver in an old warehouse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slug Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 At least he'll be lucky if he doesn't end up having all his dialogue dubbed by another actor like the guy in the 1980 version. I'd rather see another stab at Buck Rogers, in a kind of Idiocracy style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalith Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 i hope this is more like the 50's version than the 80's one tbh but i'll be keeping my mincers on this one (mincers is cockney rhyming slang for eyes lol mince pies in case anyone thought i was going loopy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnifex Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 Nah.. not for me. I thought that Eric Johnston was a noob in Smallville and can't really see him carrying this show (and such an iconic character) with his talent (or lack thereof). Nevermind though.. if it is really bad Sci Fi will commission it for four years! The Dresden Files.. bah. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amnot Borg Posted August 6, 2007 Author Share Posted August 6, 2007 lol, the Dresden Files novels are interesting and written fairly well. the adaptation to television and a short fixed 40+ minute timeslot is what screwed that up. each would make a decent movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 i hope this is more like the 50's version than the 80's one tbh but i'll be keeping my mincers on this one (mincers is cockney rhyming slang for eyes lol mince pies in case anyone thought i was going loopy) My question is how many people actually remember the 50's series? while I have not seen the orginal in many years I do remember watching it on saturday mornings when I was a kid...in glorious black and white lol Anyway someone said about having a stab at buck rodgers...nawww if they where to bring back any old sci fi shows it should be either blakes 7 or space 1999 especially now special effects have moved on so much, saying that space 1999 ended way to early if you ask me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiggy Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 KING OF THE IMPOSSIBLE!.........in the lyrics of Queen. I`m glad Flash is making a return after 20 years. They should of made another film, the end sequence certainly was geared up towards the return of Ming or should I say Ring! Bring black Brian Blessed is what I say - Prince Vultan. This time grow the beard twice the size of that in the film! Then again he was in Phantom Menace so does that mean hes bound by contract? Forget your poetry Brian..........Gordons alive! My guess is I`ll be disappointed as I've always hated Smallville with a passion. To me it was just another poor excuse for more teen drama drivel. Then again how can a writer turn Flash into a teen drama.......the mind boggles. I just watched the Trailer and the man who kept the Queen theme is a genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tierkreis Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Saw parts of it, didn't seem too spectacular. Looks like it might have some potential later in the series, but I'm not too sure about it from the first episode alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalith Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 My question is how many people actually remember the 50's series? while I have not seen the orginal in many years I do remember watching it on saturday mornings when I was a kid...in glorious black and white lol yep i remember it (tho not at its first running lol, tho my dad used to go the saturday matinee to watch it regularly) Anyway someone said about having a stab at buck rodgers...nawww if they where to bring back any old sci fi shows it should be either blakes 7 or space 1999 especially now special effects have moved on so much, saying that space 1999 ended way to early if you ask me now that i would love also, especially space1999 (tho i'd hate it if they remade it like the 2nd series and not the first one) blakes 7 has kinda been remade several times (farscape etc) but yeah bring that back too. course both these series and UFO have had plenty of talk recently about remakes but i'm not going to hold my breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slug Posted August 11, 2007 Share Posted August 11, 2007 Erhhh.... Aren't there some rather fundamental problems with the idea of remaking Space 1999? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amnot Borg Posted August 11, 2007 Author Share Posted August 11, 2007 hmmm, it reminded me of Smallville with more scifi shots. Flash is searching for his dad. Dale Arden, his high school sweetie is engaged to someone else. Ming is NOT the guy we are used to. A dimensional rift is how they travel back and forth to Mongo reminding me of Stargate for some reason. Zarkov worked with Flash's dad on an experiment that opened the first rift. For a weekly series, it's not terrible. It's just not great....yet. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megalith Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Erhhh.... Aren't there some rather fundamental problems with the idea of remaking Space 1999? lol well the running title for the remake is Space 2099 if thats what you mean lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnifex Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 I was right.. it sucked balls.. ...and you ought to see what they've (not) done with "MING" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiggy Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 Sucked sacks. I hate Smallville Smallville should of been cancelled after season one, it was a mistake letting a numpty who made that show near Flash. Letting Sc-Fi re-make these big names is a mistake..........if they havent got the budget to hire good script writers, directors and cast then why even bother if all one is going to achieve is the total destruction of a franchise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rara Avis Posted August 14, 2007 Share Posted August 14, 2007 I was right.. it sucked balls.. ...and you ought to see what they've (not) done with "MING" Ditto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mav Posted August 18, 2007 Share Posted August 18, 2007 Saw the pilot, it was pretty wooden acting all around. They also seem to be really budget constrained, they spent how much time on Mongo? This really seemed compounded by the fact that episode 2 was also mainly on Earth with little to no special effects. If BSG can recycle the same "landing" sequence of CGI, they couldn't just shoot a couple CGI scenes for traveling to Mongo and reuse them as needed for later episodes if they ever traveled back to Earth? They aren't even really trying to shoot "Mongo", just a city or so of it that happens to have Ming, for all we know the rest of Mongo is a barren planet ;\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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