Studio:
Hearst Entertainment, Lacewood, Audiovisuel Dupuis-Carrere Television, France 3
Release History:
1996 syndicated
Created as a comic book character in 1934 by Alex Raymond, Flash Gordon appeared on television for the third time in 1996 with a new series. He had already made fans with his many movie serials, a 1980 feature film, and two animated TV series, The New Adventures of Flash Gordon and Defenders of the Earth.
The ’96 version made our blonde space hero a teenager, along with his pretty sidekick Dale Arden. Scientist Hans Zarkov remained an adult in this one. Flash’s parents, both astronauts, get pulled into a dimensional hole beyond the earth’s atmosphere. The portal was created by Ming the Merciless, Emperor of the planet Mongo, as he tried to create a pathway for his armies to invade the earth.
Flash and his crew go after his parents and successfully rescue them and close the hole. But the hole is shut before they have a chance to get back through it and Flash, Dale, and Zarkov are trapped on the Mongo side. Together they seek out anti-Ming organizations on other planets and put together a loose group of rebels determined to overthrow the Emperor, while trying to get back home.
Flash Gordon aired in weekly syndication in the fall of 1996, but our space hero was cancelled after only 26 episodes.
