I caught the premier of the new Flash Gordon on the SciFi Channel Friday night. And wasted a good hour of my life. They cancelled the Dresden Files and put their hope in this show? I think something is seriously wrong with these people. They wouldn’t know a good show if it slapped them in the face.
Not only was Flash Gordon as corny as a B movie, but the special effects look like they came out of someone’s basement. The dialog and writing was laughable, and not in a good way. Basically, Doctor Who (for the bizarreness) threw up on Flash Gordon. Every cheesy science fiction element is here.
Way to give science fiction a bad name, SciFi Channel!
I’m sorry to hear they cancelled the Dresden Files, I didn’t catch all of them, but I liked the episodes that I caught.
Well, I was kinda looking forward to this… but that’s one less show I have to try to keep up with!
See, I think that part of the problem with Flash Gordon was that they didn’t fully embrace the inherent cheesiness of the premise. It’s like they couldn’t decide whether to go with comedy or drama and so did both poorly. Also the plot was completely predictable ( “Imex” = “Timex” was clear to me the first time they mentioned it.) and the actors had no chemistry.
Dr. Who is corny and cheesy and great fun to watch, because it’s done well – and of course David Tennant is an excellent actor.
From what you say, instead of modernising the style of Flash Gordon, it’s made it a parody of itself.
Peggy – I think you nailed it. They either needed to go with a serious action/drama or a cheesy comedy. You can’t just modernize that old corny movie without making some major changes.
Jean-Luc – That’s basically what it looked like. I’d rather watch the old versions.
Oooh, glad I forgot to set up a recording for this one then!
Dresden files was pretty much doomed to fail because they went too far away from the books, from what I’ve heard. Why anyone would think you could take a set of critically acclaimed yet well known only to a marginal commmunity set of books and turn them into a television show without staying faithful to the source material and expect anyone to be loyal to it is beyond me. Television producers must get kickbacks to put forth bad ideas on a regular basis.
Dresden Files was an excellent show. It didn’t really deter that far from the books. At least not in any truly important ways. If it wasn’t for the show, I would have never picked up the books. In fact, I loved the changes made for the show. They were all positive changes. I’m really hoping it gets picked up on another channel if SciFi officially lets go of it soon.
I agree with Peggy. Half the fun of the original Flash Gordon and the movie version was in its absolute campiness. I saw the SciFi version and thought it dreadful. The acting was mediocre, too.
As for The Dresden Files, I hate that it was cancelled. But, I have to agree with Carl V. They did a poor job casting and didn’t stick with some of the major cannon points of the books. Like, the Blue Beatle.
cjh
They cancelled Dresden Files?!? *sob*
I didn’t have high hopes for Flash Gordon, but now I won’t even bother to watch the one I have on tape.
Recall that until Farscape came along, much of the original SciFi original programming was as bad, if not worse than this.
I’m afraid I have to disagree with you on The Dresden Files, Angela. The biggest problem with the program (in my opinion) was that the Harry Dresden of the series wasn’t the Harry Dresden of the books. They changed who he was so fundamentally that the existing fan base wasn’t able to embrace him. The best episode they did, and the one that was closest to Jim Butcher’s creation was the one based on the first novel – Storm Front. I’ve talked to a lot of people who are fans of the novels and they all agree that if the writers and producers had made Harry like that in every episode, it would have been a better series.
Oh, and I’ve read that Paul Blackthorne has recently signed on to join the cast of an ABC series, so I think we can officially say that The Dresden Files is gone.
John – I definitely don’t mind other opinions. I have to admit that I even prefer the TV Dresden to the books. Don’t get me wrong. I do love the books, but the humor and the characters that got fleshed-out onscreen just appealed to me more. So it’s probably why I didn’t mind any of the changes made!
And yes, I read that Blackthorne signed on for that other series. I’m now a big fan of his, so I may watch. Even though I doubt it’ll go anywhere, just another office drama without a distinct niche.
The only good thing about THE DRESDEN FILES television show was that it introduced me to the terrific book series. I’ve now read all of the DF novels with increasing delight. I can’t say that about the clunky crap of a show with no acting chemistry at all between any of the principals. Come on, it was dreadful. Good thing I didn’t judge the books by the show.
Glad I skipped Flash Gordon. The previews looked unpromising.
I hope they can keep pumping budget bucks into EUREKA. Now, that’s a fun show with chemistry between actors and imaginative plots.
What they should have done with DRESDEN FILES was make a series of feature television films or miniseries, actually using the characterization Butcher offers and give us the humorous thrill ride and chills. I think that could have been a hit for them had they cast properly and expended the due money for effects and better scripts.
Mir
I too, was so dissapointed with Flash Gordon. I was watching it on the HD chanel and I was far more excited that they were going to show the Firefly reruns in HD then I was with watching Flash.
I didn’t catch FG, but I don’t have a lot of faith in Sci-Fi’s ability to pick and choose shows. (I’m still mad that they didn’t pick up the Amazing Screw-On Head as a series.) Also hadn’t heard that Dresden was canceled… as someone who hadn’t read the books but liked the concept, the series just didn’t get a chance to get its footing yet. A shame.
Seems that the SciFi channel is on a crash course. They are losing Battlestar Galactica next year, because the producers “can’t think of anything else to happen”. Instead they want to do a prequel?! I wish they would have picked up Surface and Invasion, two great shows that the networks dumped. I knew Flash was going to be bad and your post confirms I was right.
This is sad. Flash Gordon could be an amazing franchise, if they embrassed the pulp and the eye candy, a la The Fifth Element. Still, concur with your comments. With so much smart SF being done now, there is no excuse for sloppy nonsense.
I will agree that Scifi channel is in a rut when it comes to new series lately. Flash Gordan played like one of their awful Saturday night movies. I will also add though that I’m no fan of Dresden Files, Painkiller Jane, Eureka, or Ghost Hunters. If it wasn’t for Battlestar or SG Atlantis I wouldn’t be watching anything on the channel.
Dresden cancelled? My friend just bought season 1. I saw Flash too. Bring back Dresden.