'Flash' To Get Grounded On The WB In '04
In an effort to leave no comic book property untouched, Warner Brothers has announced plans to launch THE FLASH into his own live-action television series. As with Smallville, Birds of Prey and Tarzan, FLASH will be aimed squarely at
The WB has ordered a pilot for a TV series based on the DC Comics series The Flash, Variety reported. Todd Komarnicki (Resistance) is writing the pilot and will executive produce the project via Warner Brothers Television and his Guy Walks Into a Bar company, the trade paper reported. The WB has attached a hefty penalty to the project if it's not picked up to series.
The Flash, which centers on a man with superhuman speed, is the Frog network's latest attempt to reimagine a comic or literary classic for prime time, following its Superman-inspired Smallville and this season's upcoming Tarzan, the trade paper reported.
As with Smallville, the new Flash will have a "no tights, no flights" philosophy, which means the character won't be clad in his classic red suit, the trade paper reported. The new show will also reportedly incorporate a time-travel element: The hero will be a fresh-out-of-college Gothamite who discovers he has the ability to move so fast, he can travel backward or forward in time. He'll also have a cool 21st-century mantra that will guide his life.
"Once our hero gets his calling, he's given the advice, 'Live fast so others don't die young,' " Komarnicki tells Variety.
Each week will have self-contained storylines, or missions, in addition to ongoing plot points. A mentor will train him and there's a legacy of Flashes before him.
Sci-fi and comic fans may remember that this isn't the first time that THE FLASH has been on television. DAWSON'S CREEK alumni John Wesley Shipp, also on the WB, played the Barry Allen Flash-character in the short-lived 1990 CBS series of the same name. Let's hope The WB gives THE FLASH more time to develop than they gave Birds of Prey.