Flash Gordon: Eric Johnson
Dale Arden: Gina Holden
Dr. Hans Zarkov: Jody Racicot
Ming: John Ralston
Aura: Anna van Hooft
Baylin: Karen Cliche
Joe Wylee: Giles Panton
Nick: Panou
Rankol: Jonathan Walker
Barin: Steve Bacic
On TV: Friday nights at 9 (check local listings if you wanna watch it)


Flash Gordon began on the SciFi channel several weeks ago and I've reserved my comments until now because... Well, I guess I had hoped they would come to their senses?


I think I can see what they wanted to do here: create a fun, funny, contemporary version of the Flash Gordon universe. The problem is that they have stripped out everything that was good and have left only camp silliness. I mean, it's really, really bad.


Basic premise of Flash gordon has/always was: Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr Hans Zarkov have to save the Earth from the evil Ming the Merciless. There's lots involved in that of course. In the original comic strip, a series of meteor strikes prompt Dr Zarkov to build a rocket ship because he believes the meteors are actually an attack from outer space. Being more than a little insane, he kidnaps Flash and Dale and takes them with him. They actually find a planet called 'Mongo' and learn that the meteors are an attack - an attack from Ming the Merciless!


Trapped on Mongo for years, Flash and his friends try to protect the Earth by bringing down Ming. They make friends and enemies along the way but the drama builds. It's engaging and you come to care about the characters and the world they live in.


Now, believe me, I am more than a little aware that strictly sticking to such a storyline these days would just be too campy for anyone to take it seriously (see the 80's movie for proof of that folks), but, there is so much rich history here in this Flash Universe that, if done correctly, you could have a wonderful show on par with Battlestar Gallactica.



The cast of Flash Gordon


SciFi's 'Flash Gordon' goes down a completely different road. Flash travels to Mongo, but only briefly. He and Dale and Zarkov tend to stay right here on Earth and wait for the monster of the week to appear so they can defeat it. We see bits of Mongo as bad cuts take us to a pretty bland Ming who doesn't seem threatening or scary or, really, anything. He's a throw away character in this show. You could replace him with a cardboard cutout of a muppet and he would be more emotive than he is here.


I don't know what the people behind this show are trying to do - what they are shooting for. If it's to have people change the channel, they've succeeded with me! I haven't felt any connection to these characters, anything that would make me care what happens to them and if I don't care about them, why would I watch them?


I can't decide if the show runners are trying to fail on purpose or if it's all just a horrible accident. Worse, they could be thinking that it's the best SciFi on television which would just be so sad. I don't want to turn this into a rant against SciFi, they've done some wonderful things in the past, but it seems to me that this kind of show is becoming the norm for them. They get rid of anything with substance in favor of 'light hearted romps' through SciFi.


I like to call this the 'KevinSorboization' of a show. (Think 'Andromeda' Season 2 when Sorbo took over because the writing was just 'too over his head and complicated'.) I'd like to see the whole thing retooled into a serious drama and not a campy sendup of an iconic universe.


Silly stories. Horrible plots. Avoid it unless you have absolutely nothing better whatsoever to do with your time.