FLASH GORDON Tv show

[RedKing]

I just picked up Digiview's vol2 of this cool show for a buck. Volume 1 has 3 episodes and Vol 2 ups the content by including 6, although on the back it says the sixth episode is Return of the Androids, but it's actually The Forbidden Experiment. This is an neat series filmed in 1953 and aired on the old Dumont Network in the 54/55 season. It was filmed in West Berlin so there are alot of German accents in the cast. Steve Holland stars as Flash and he's pretty good. Steve is best remembered as the male model artist James Bama used for his Doc Savage paperback covers in the 60s. Irene Champlin plays Dale and Joe Nash is Dr Zarkov. The series doesn't follow the storyline of the comicstrip-there is no planet Mongo or Ming the Merciless, but seems like it could be seen as a sequel to or continuation of Flash's adventures. Flash and company work for the GBI-Galactic Bureau of Investigation- and pilot the rocket SkyFlash in defending our galaxy against intergalactic despots and evil armies. the stes and FX are a bit sparse when compared to the similar series ROCKY JONES SPACE RANGER, but atill quite good for early 50s tv. Some of the episodes are quite good-Forbidenn expieriment has a long lost colleague of Zarkov's suddenly radio the doctor for help on a small planetoid. When Flash Dale and Zarkov arrive, the man is dead and his captor appears-a vicious lionman that demands Zarkov take over for the deceased scientist. It seems the scientist actually created the LionMan by using certain drugs and agents on one of the planetoid's native lion-like animals, and now the monster wants to be fully human, yet retains the lion's instinct for svagery and survival of the fittest. The makeup is actually quite good with the guy having a mane of hair and beard, large fangs and even longer claws, plus short hair on his body(at least i think that was make-up. He may have just been a hairy guy). He looks kind of like Glenn Strange in THE MAD MONSTER. This show was distributed by Motion Pictures for Television, which is the same company involved in the Sherlock Holmes series starring Ronald Howard that was filmed around the same time. Like Flash, the Holmes series concists of 39 episodes and was filmed in Europe-this time in France. Another interseting thing about the Flash series is they make excellent use of West Berlin as settings for ramshackle alien worlds. From the looks of things here, even by 1953,8 years after the end of the war, alot of West Berllin hadn't been repaired.

[Xenorama ™]

i've tried watching a few episodes of this series, but just can't quite get through it. it looks like fun, but it doesn't grab me. i really enjoy Holmes, but this one? well, perhaps if i got all 39 episodes at once like i did with the Holmes.

[Zone Fighter]

I prefer Rocky Jones Space Ranger.

[Shonokin]

I tried an episode, Akim the Terrible and I thought it was well... terrible. Talked about it some at the serial message board that David turned me onto a couple of years back. So there's some more info on it there as well.

Oh yes, and about the Holmes, liked what I saw of those. Especially since they seemed to be including a lot of snippets and scenerios from Doyle's original stories in them. Howard made a very good Holmes, but when I think of Holmes in my mind's eye, it will always be Rathbone.

[Torgaman]

I have six epsiodes on dollar tv.Really cheesy.


Perhaps the worst aspect is the rather unattractive actress that plays Dale Arden.

[Zone Fighter]

Rathbone was good as Holmes but Nigel Bruce was nothing like Doyle's Watson.

[RoadWarriorYajuta]

I picked you up a Flash Gordon DVD, hope it isn't one of these that you dislike.

[Xenorama ™]

it's cool Chad- i always appreciate anything i'm given, even if the actual show isn't that great, i like the thought behind it. so thanks, no matter what!