Like so many super hero live action presentations, a TV show is frequently the best vehicle for character exposure. One semi-success example in this manner was CBS’s 1990 “the Flash” TV show. In that Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo developed TV show, one can see many of the costume attributes of strong super hero live action features.
The Original Flash and Subsequent Live Action Presentations
Starring actor John Wesley Shipp and costume developed by special effects giant Stan Winston, the Flash/Barry Allen TV show had many assets of the comic book. Strangely this was the first live action presentation of the character but not the last. Unlike the later WB/CW “Smallvile” series, the character operated in full costume for the entire run of the show. In terms of the costume, the design was fairly representative with some distinct changes. Oddly though the character was very different from Batman, it none-the- less was extremely influenced by those productions. Like the Tim Burton directed versions it was common for the character to appear in shadow for many of the promo images yet the character was psychologically light by comparison.
Like the earliest live action Superman features, the Flashes costume was almost identical to the comic version as visible by the Carmine Infantino example. These are aspects that were different. Flash’s boots were red as opposed to comic book yellow. I can only assume that like the cat suits of the Batman TV show, the designer really wanted the viewer’s eyes to be in constant motion from Shipp’s head to toe. For these reasons the boots needed to be the same color of most other rest of the suit. Not a bad choice considering the character was a speedster and needed to act in and inspire fast reactions.
Those aspects of the suit that were presented in 2D in the comics were oddly embossed on the TV show. His forearm lighting bands, belt lighting band and even his insignia were raised above the surface of the suit. All of this may have purely been an asset of the suit’s unique manufacturing.
Related to that, one of the clearly most astounding applications of previous costume design, the flashes suit was supremely muscular. Few heroes other than Lou Ferrigno’s hulk had a better set of pecs than the Flash. It was odd to replicate the desire to give Michel Keaton a super hero body when it appeared that Shipp already had an athletic build.
The only other distinct aspect of the costume was Barry’s cowl. As accurate as his ear wings appear, the cowl used a nose cover like Batman’s. In the comics his facial masking more resembles Batgirl’s or Captain America. Maybe there was a desire not to look like Batgirl and to instead favor the appearance of a fairly serious live action super hero (of that period) the Dark Knight.
The Flash had a fairly successful one season run, yet another production would seek to correct many of the aspects of the suit I have just remarked about.
Finding one more opportunity to present the Adam west/Burt Ward duo, the T.V. show 1979’s NBC’s “Legends of the Super Heroes” Flash was symbolic yet far less detailed and defined than the Wesley Shipp personified example of the character.
Few can forget Jimmy Bennett’s child like example of the character, incidentally in a every similar version of the suit, presented within Eddie Murphy’s ____________ production of “Daddy Daycare”.
1997’s NBC TV production of the Justice League of America, included the Flash character. Attempts to improve the cowl ended up as awkward as Adam West’s cowl from the 1960’s Batman TV series. With the stylied lighting ear wings and all of the odd forehead articulations one could barely notice that the nose cover was removed from the influential TV show version.
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