Rating: - The first really good comic book television movie
"The Flash" only aired on CBS during the 1990-91 season, but it is fondly remembered by those who watched it on Thursday nights, even though it was an hour-long program that started on the half-hour (ah, the joys of counterprogramming). The series is remembered fondly as one of the better television programs adapted from a comic book, and I can make the argument that historically it is an important series because it raised the bar regarding such shows. Before "The Flash" there was the all-time camp classic "Batman," "The Incredible Hulk," and television movies (a.k.a. failed pilots) for "Dr. Strange," "Captain America," and assorted other superheroes. After "The Flash" we got "Lois & Clark" and "Smallville." In retrospect, I have to believe that "The Flash" not only revitalized interest in comic books for TV but made producers think of such projects as being more than funny books for kids. The explanation for this is to be found in this 2-hour television movie, the pilot for the series.

In this television incarnation of the fastest man alive, Barry Allen (John Wesley Shipp) is a police chemist working in Central City's crime lab. One night a lightning bolt hits his lab and Barry is covered with chemicals. This causes a metabolic change in his body that allows him to move at superhuman speed (i.e., so fast that he cannot be seen with the naked eye). However, he can only do this in short bursts (otherwise there is going to be a rather limited potential for conflict in each episode). Terrified by his strange new powers, Barry turns to Tina McGee (Amanda Pays), a research scientist working for Star Labs, for help in find a cure. Meanwhile, Barry continues to get grief from his family, because while older brother Jay Allen (Tim Thomerson) is captain of the city's police motorcycle division trying to track down the Dark Riders, a violent biker gang, our hero is just working in the forensic lab.

If you grew up on comic books and are well versed with Superhero Origins 101, then you can guess what happens next to make these plot lines collide. Yes, the story is predictable, especially if you know virtually anything about the Flash character created for DC comics by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert. The script here by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo is certainly competent in setting up the necessary elements for the entire series, with Julio (Alex Desert) the lab assistant who never figures out Barry is the Flash, the demanding father (M. Emmet Walsh), and the cops who can never catch up with the Flash (Biff Manard and Vito D'Ambrosio). Director Robert Iscove makes excellent use of the special effects, which offer some nice comic moments. More importantly Shipp gets across the idea that he wants to do some good with some actual earnestness and Pays still had cache after "Max Headroom."

The bottom line is that by the standards of comic books on television, "The Flash" is the best television adaptation and pilot movie up to that time, and it continues to hold up today. The series was not great but stayed well above average on the basis of some interesting guest villains (most notably Mark Hamill). Final point: Actually, despite having the Barry Allen name of the second flash (Jay Garrick was the first), the Flash of the television series is a bit more hip like Wally West (the third Flash).