The Flash in the Media

[FurryFury]

... And hey, how about Barry? 100% wrong, admits he’s wrong, and then tries to turn it around to creep on Iris. Flipping really?

“I can’t talk about this now, the man I live with – the man I love is in danger.” (paraphrasing)

“Yeah, but after that?””

What the actual fudge, Flash writers? How is there any way you didn’t think that came off as stalkery?

Corrina: Am I supposed to like and bond to Barry? Because, at this point, he’s almost up to Oliver Queen levels of being a jerk.

 

QFT.

[phoenics]

Found an article about Eddie and possible changes coming for the character:

http://cartermatt.com/164201/the-flash-spoilers-are-changes-in-the-works-for-eddie-thawne/

[Trini]

Interview with Rick Cosnett:

 

TVLINE | Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg told me there were a lot of tears at the table read for the finale. How worried should we be about Eddie’s fate, considering who currently has captured him?

[Laughs] It’s a very emotional episode. It’s just been such a huge season. Apparently, it looks amazing. It’s mainly the scenes between Grant [Gustin] and Jesse [L. Martin] that have been the bread and butter of the show. It makes us all just break down and cry every time. It’s really touching. … It’s going to be an awesome finale.

[phoenics]

Hmmm I worry for Joe.

[SevenStars]

Hmmm I worry for Joe.

 I hope the writers know that it would be a big mistake to kill Joe now. 

[ruby24]

Oh, they can't kill Joe. There's no way. I think even if they entertained that idea early on, once they saw how great/important the Barry/Joe relationship was turning out to be, they must have realized that it's a kind of anchor for the show that they can't lose at this point. I don't think they can, anyway.

[BPOX]

Oh, they can't kill Joe. There's no way. I think even if they entertained that idea early on, once they saw how great/important the Barry/Joe relationship was turning out to be, they must have realized that it's a kind of anchor for the show that they can't lose at this point. I don't think they can, anyway.

 

Eh, I've lived this sentiment too many times. Older well established actor? CW? It was fun while it lasted.

 

[Trini]

'Producers, Not Actors, Are the Stars of TV Networks' Early Series Pickups'

Leading the powerhouse producers this time around is Greg Berlanti, who already has three shows on air (Arrow and The Flash on The CW, and NBC's The Mysteries of Laura). Three Berlanti-produced pilots have received series orders in the past week: Supergirl (CBS), drama Blindspot (NBC) and DC's Legends of Tomorrow, his Arrow/Flash spinoff for The CW. If NBC renews Laura—expect a decision later today—he'll have a whopping six series on air for 2015-2016.

 

And Laura was indeed renewed.

 

'“Flash” Star Carlos Valdes On “Zorba!” and His Musical Theater Past'

That’s right, Valdes is a musical theater kid at heart -- something he shares in common with “Flash” star Grant Gustin (“Glee”) and Jesse L. Martin (“Rent”). “Jesse and Grant are always tap dancing [on set],” Valdes explains. “I find myself tap dancing a lot, and don’t even notice it! We do all sorts of singing and impressions to keep ourselves entertained.”

 

While we might not get to see that side of Valdes on “The Flash” anytime soon, fans can see Valdes in a musical this weekend. He stars alongside “Transformers” actor John Turturro and “Frozen” baddie Santino Fontana in New York City Center Encores! production of Kander & Ebb’s 1968 musical “Zorba!”

 

I'm sorry I only now found out he was going to be on Broadway.

Edited May 10, 2015 by Trini

[MarkHB]

Greg Berlanti seems well on his way to becoming the Stephen J. Cannell of the 2010's. Good for him!

[FurryFury]

No idea who's this guy is, but JJ Abrams was the same a few years ago, he's managed to create concepts for a lot of shows, although some of them failed pretty fast (but there were quite a few successful ones, too). And his former co-writers Orci and Kutzman seem to continue in his vein (although I'm really not a big fan of their work on their own).

Edited May 10, 2015 by FurryFury

[ottoDbusdriver]

Greg Berlanti seems well on his way to becoming the Stephen J. Cannell of the 2010's. Good for him!

 

Completely agree with that @MarkHB.  Greg Berlanti certainly has potential to become the next Cannell, but he has a long way to go as Stephen J. Cannell was probably one of the most prolific creators/writers/producers of TV shows in the 70s, 80s, and 90s -- shows like the Rockford Files, The A-Team, Wiseguy, The Greatest American Hero, and 21 Jump Street and many more.  Cannell has the "created by" tag on so many of them.

 

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004798/

[Trini]

Firestorm "Fight Club" poster.

 

ETA: and Capt. Cold and Heatwave.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Trini

[Trini]

Short interview with Tom Cavanagh.

Reverse-Flash is so powerful. Even with Arrow and Firestorm helping out, is it a fair fight?

 

Three against one doesn't seem that fair. But he is powerful. Thank God it wasn't a handsome-off.  Because they are so damned good looking, these three guys. I would say its a good matchup. And you will see.

 

[Trini]

Another Cavanagh interview from the same conference call.

[Trini]

Boy, Cavanagh really knows how to tease without giving anything away, Cosnett -- not so much.  :-p

 

Mildly spoiler-ish Rick Cosnett interview.

 

Interviews with Armen Kevorkian, visual effects supervisor:

LA Times:

Was there any project you found particularly challenging?

 

I mean, they’re all challenging. It’s been a pretty challenging year. But you know, it’s all fun, so you kind of forget the challenge aspect of it as far as it being a handicap but more of a booster to do a better job in next week’s episode. I think a lot of the expectations on shows like this is you deliver a really great pilot, and everyone says, “Well, they blew their load on the pilot.” So you want to prove that wrong and do better week after week after week and kind of give everybody what they’re expecting on a show like this.

 

Comic Book.com:

Can you walk me through what is a normal episode for you? How far in advance do you know what you have to do versus when you actually get the footage and can start doing it on a practical level?

 

It actually depends on the episode. Our writers have been really good this year as far as giving me a heads-up on some things that are coming down the pike. So we can start on some things, at least the R&D part of it. A good example is once I did the pilot, Greg, Andrew and Geoff Johns told me that there is going to be an episode with a train crash -- that we do when we introduced Captain Cold.

So I knew in advance to build a train asset, so that gave us a head start on some aspects -- but the work itself begins when you get the actual footage, so the time is still crunched. But we do get a good heads-up on some assets we can build, like Grodd, or if there's a person coming in with powers who can do this or that. So they've been really good to us in that way.

 

Interview with Danielle Panabaker, mostly about her new film, but there's one question about The Flash:

Before I let you go, could you please tease the season finale of The Flash?

 

Oh, man. Our season finale is absolutely incredible. All season, we’ve been slowly uncovering more and more about Dr. Wells and it’s finally time to understand who he is and how evil his masterplan is.

You will see a lot of familiar faces and, truthfully, the finale is devastating. There’s a lot of consequences—some really, really sad ones.

 

'11 Questions with The Flash’s Danielle Panabaker' (video)

Edited May 12, 2015 by Trini

[driedfruit]

[Sakura12]

Sara and Iris, I can get behind that friendship too. 

 

[MarkHB]

Sara can be her Schrödinger's Friend: Iris can never know, at any given moment, whether Sara is alive or dead. For her own protection, of course.

[dcinmb]

[Sakura12]

Some fun things from the City of Heroes con.

 

Anne Smart @annesmart  ·  May 16
Candice: "From Iris I've learnt to trust no one, not even your own father!" #thecityofheroes

 

Anne Smart @annesmart  ·  May 16
Jesse on improv on set: "Sometimes I just say what I feel like saying" #thecityofheroes

 

Anne Smart @annesmart  ·  May 16
Will we find out about Iris' mum? Jesse: "I don't even know what's up with my wife!" #thecityofheroes

 

Anne Smart @annesmart  ·  May 16
Other DC roles - Jesse would love to play Cisco, Candice would love to play Harley Quinn or Poison Ivy. #thecityofheroes

 

[Trini]

Video: The Flash's Grant Gustin Previews 'Gut-Wrenching' Finale -- It doesn't give away much more than what's already been given away in the promos, but spoiler-phobes should avoid.

[Trini]

Preview clip: Barry and Wells/Thawne

[Trini]

The Flash and Supergirl together!

[Trini]

Variety article about Berlanti and his shows; with photos of him, Grant, and Melissa Benoist

 

“The first thing I’m thinking about in the morning, and the last thing I’m thinking about at night, are usually the newer ones, because you haven’t figured out the algorithm yet,” Berlanti says. “From the moment the shows get picked up until we have an episode that’s as good as the pilot, I’m usually stressed about how we can do it again.”

 

That comicbook shows are now a success seems a no-brainer, given that they’re all that seems to be scoring in movies, but “Arrow” was a smallscreen breakthrough. And everyone involved credits Berlanti, a self-professed comicbook geek. It was his passion for the source material that infused the show — along with its successor, “The Flash” — with its emotional heart, compelling narrative and whiz-bang visual effects that have stirred fans and critics alike.

 

Er-- This makes me a little worried about Flash next season, because he'll be concentrating on Supergirl. I don't think Flash has quite found it's "algorithm" yet, plus, the finale is going to change the status quo. (My speculation.)

[ruby24]

Doesn't Andrew Kreisberg mostly run The Flash though? I think as long as he's focused on it, it'll be okay.

[Sakura12]

Berlanti is mostly the name, Kreisberg runs the Flash and he's not involved on Supergirl. Which airs on a different network so it won't effect Flash at all. 

[Velocity23]

All of them will be part of the spin-off. Legends of Tomorrow.

[ruby24]

Yeah, it seems to me Guggenheim runs Arrow, Kreisberg's in charge of Flash, and Berlanti is kind of like the name behind all the shows, but not directly running any of them. He says as much in the article, that he's not involved in every single creative decision, but he's always available if they need him. So there's probably another person who's going to be doing Supergirl too.

[jaytee1812]

Yeah, it seems to me Guggenheim runs Arrow, Kreisberg's in charge of Flash, and Berlanti is kind of like the name behind all the shows, but not directly running any of them. He says as much in the article, that he's not involved in every single creative decision, but he's always available if they need him. So there's probably another person who's going to be doing Supergirl too.

I think it's Ali Adler on Supergirl.

[ruby24]

I also heard that CBS doesn't really want to let Supergirl cross over with the CW shows, so I wouldn't hold my breath for that. Also, in the Supergirl universe, Superman exists (he kind of has to), so it seems to me that this one really is separate from the CW shows universe.

 

Does anyone know who's doing the day-to-day running of LoT? Is it really all three of them? I know it's a miniseries, but I still worry about burnout and the separate shows suffering when the talent is stretched too thin and everyone's working on too many separate things at once.

Edited May 18, 2015 by ruby24

[Trini]

Thanks for the reassurances, everyone.  :-)

[Velocity23]

They put named an additional EP for Arrow because Marc Guggenheim will be involved with the spin-off LOT also. AK/MG/GB/ are all listed as showrunners for LOT.

[Trini]

More spoiler-y teases for the finale.

Carlos Valdes interview.
 

So who does Cisco want to interact more with in season two?

 

CV: Umm, you know, honestly, I love the scenes where Cisco and Joe West get to play around. I love playing off of Jesse L. Martin; he’s the best. I don’t often get scenes with him; I do every now and then, and when we do, we get along like gangbusters. I think there’s a really nice dynamic there between Joe West and Cisco. I’d love to work with Jesse a bit more.

[Trini]

The latest (last??) Chronicles of Cisco post.

 

IGN and People each have a clip from the finale --

Man, is half the episode going to be Barry crying? Poor Grant.

 

Non-spoilery Gustin and Candice interviews.

While Barry has been put through quite a bit this season, especially in the last month or so of the show, Gustin hopes that he’s holding onto that sense of fun, and he talks with the folks in charge about it regularly.

“I had actually gotten to a place where I talked to [EPs] Andrew Kreisberg and Greg Berlanti about it, because I felt like Barry had gotten to this really dark place, and he maybe wasn’t having fun anymore,” he told us, expressing his concern. “They promised me that Barry was still having fun, and he’d still get those moments.”

IGN: Immediately, she’s kind of right in the thick of it. She got to help save Caitlin last week.

 

Patton: I think that what we see now is that when we give Iris the knowledge and the ability to really help, she’s actually great at helping and she comes in handy a lot. She’s always there to save someone or have some piece of knowledge and going into Season 2, I’m hoping we see more of that.

 

AV Club article generally praising The Flash, but doesn't ignore it's flaws.

 

And I think these Panels.net reviews are fun, and they echo a many of the comments here.

-Grodd Lives,

-Rogue Air

 

And FlashFans.org has a bunch of outtakes from the Variety photoshoot.

[phoenics]

Sara can be her Schrödinger's Friend: Iris can never know, at any given moment, whether Sara is alive or dead. For her own protection, of course.

LMBO! Well done.

[Trini]

Post-finale comments from Kreisberg:

EW,

THR,

Deadline

[Trini]

Grant Gustin Looks Back On His First Year As A Superhero

 

 

While the actor still dreams of a career on stage, it’s a goal that — given the time commitment live theater requires — will likely have to wait until his time on The Flash ends. And that reality that doesn’t bother Gustin. “I have pinch-myself moments every single day on set,” he said. “I feel so lucky to be on a show that has some of — if not the — best special effects that have ever been on television, really smart writing, and really good characters. We make people cry and then have them laughing one second later. As an actor, you can’t ask for a better show. … I want to continue making sure I’m doing the best job possible on the job I already have before I’m worried too much about something else.”

 

And some post-season comparisons:

Flash vs Daredevil

Flash vs Arrow

Edited May 22, 2015 by Trini

[FurryFury]

io9 have said The Flash is the best comic book show. Ha ha ha. Excuse me, but this is ridiculous.

[Trini]

Not just io9.

[Trini]

The CW website now has these 3-minute video summaries of each episode.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

io9 have said The Flash is the best comic book show. Ha ha ha. Excuse me, but this is ridiculous.

 

I'll straight up admit that I haven't watched the likes of Gotham or Daredevil (yet), so maybe that automatically disqualifies me from commenting in this case... but having seen the likes of Smallville & Arrow; The Flash [at least for one season] is the best comic book show I've seen.

[FurryFury]

Daredevil and Agent Carter are much, much better. In a league of their own, I'd say. Hell, even AoS is better, at least the last 10 episodes or so.

[ottoDbusdriver]

I concur with @FurryFury -- Daredevil is really good, as is Agent Carter.   @iRarelyWatchTV36 -- you should check both of them out.

[Trini]

TVLine's Performer of the Week: Grant Gustin

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Daredevil and Agent Carter are much, much better. In a league of their own, I'd say. Hell, even AoS is better, at least the last 10 episodes or so.

 

I concur with @FurryFury -- Daredevil is really good, as is Agent Carter.   @iRarelyWatchTV36 -- you should check both of them out.

 

I plan on starting a Netflix account soon, and Daredevil will be one the first things I will be checking out, as I've heard nothing but good things about it.

 

Despite considering myself a light CBM "fan" (definitely a non-hardcore one), I need to catch up on the recent & current Marvel movie 'verse.  IE, all the individual Avengers team members' movies, plus the actual Avengers movies themselves.  So that said, I haven't watched AoS or AC because of that. 

 

I have got some relevant movie and TV viewing coming up in my future - will be a way to pass some time this summer, I'm thinking.

[Sakura12]

For Agent Carter, you pretty much only need to watch the first Captain America movie, if you want to know the story of Peggy and Steve. Her show takes place before the current movies.

The beginning of the Marvel Time Line starts with CA: The First Avenger then goes to Agent Carter, then everything else.

Edited May 24, 2015 by Sakura12

[Trini]

IGN Season 1 Review of The Flash:

... It's also worth noting that, while The Flash built out of Arrow's relatively grounded superhero universe, the show was never afraid to be more ostentatious or comic book-y than its sibling. When you have a hero who can jog faster than the speed of sound, what's the point of keeping things too realistic? Whether the show juggled time travel, telepathic gorillas or weather-controlling super-criminals, it always managed to celebrate those more colorful elements of the DCU while making them work in the context of this world where metahumans are a new phenomenon and most people don't know what to make of them. The humor played a huge part in keeping the show grounded and not too caught up in its own drama. ...

 

[Trini]

io9: 4 Lessons We Learned From This Year’s Superhero TV Series :

1) It’s Finally Time to Embrace the Comic Book.

...

But last fall The Flash debuted, and decided to bring practically every insane bit of the character’s mythos to the screen, and made it work. The show managed to make reasonable foes out of the Flash’s extensively ridiculous rogue’s gallery. It debuted Grodd, a giant evil telepathic gorilla, and made him genuinely menacing. Hell, it somehow included all of The Flash’s time-travel shenanigans, and not only has it not lost audiences, it’s beating Arrow, the show it spun off from!

 

2) But You Still Need to Take It Seriously.

...

And the season’s best comic book have used the wild, impossible events and to provide real character drama. For instance, Barry’s ability to run into the past is time travel nonsense, but it becomes incredibly compelled when Barry has to choose between the life he’s had and the life he could have had, and what he’d lose in order to save his mother. ...

 

3) You’re Only as Good as Your Bad Guys.

...

Just look at The Flash and iZombie, two shows that both began with random bad guys of the week, and suffered because they quickly became repetitive and predictable. But when The Flash revealed Harrison Wells as the Flash’s archenemy (from the future!) the Reverse-Flash, and once Liv discovered [...], both shows improved considerably, because now they have a worthy antagonist for their heroes to fight against. ...

 

4) Seriously, You Don’t Have to Have Terrible Female Characters

...

Seriously, it’s not that difficult a problem: All you have to do is make sure they’re more than just a love interest and let them in on the main plot. The Flash’s Iris was the most grievous example of the former type of female character, existing for no other reason than to be Barry’s unattainable, mostly oblivious love interest (she had a small story where she was trying to figure out Barry’s identity and Harrison Wells’ secrets, but because the main cast already knew the answers, this was just busy work for her character). But when Iris learned the Flash’s identity...

 

 

An Afternoon with Danielle Panabaker:

What’s it like working on a TV show?

We usually take nine days to shoot an entire episode, with 12 hour days on average, less for a particular character [depending on the script]. We do a table read before [we start shooting]. It’s a great opportunity to find where the emotional beats are.

 

What’s it like working with your co-stars?

I’m so lucky to be on The Flash. I love my co-stars. Grant [Gustin] is always very prepared. I work a lot with Tom Cavanaugh; he usually has the biggest chunk of material, but he has a really intense sense of comedy. Crossovers are incredibly difficult to shoot, but it’s so much fun. [My co-stars] are always singing and dancing on-set, and there’s not a whole lot of singing or dancing on Arrow, so it’s great.

 

[tv echo]

Costume Designer Colleen Atwood on Making the Heroes of ‘Flash’ & ‘Arrow’ Look Super
JUNE 3, 2015 | 10:00AM PT  Laura Prudom
http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/supergirl-costume-colleen-atwood-flash-arrow-emmy-1201511007/

Usually, I test a lot of different colors, and in the case of The Flash it was a screen on a background, so I played around with different colors applied to a darker surface to give it light when moved at certain angles, because if you get it too dark you don’t see any detail. So you have to be careful to have some kind of highlight to it or capacity for it to light when it’s in a night situation.

*   *   *
For the scene work they do, I made it so you could unzip it really quickly, and so he could just open it in between when he had more than a two minute break, which kept it from being a hotbox.
*   *   *

I love that the print on [The Flash] suit is actually little bolts of lightning but really it just looks like a texture. I had fun with that, and I changed up the medallion a little bit in the center logo [since] I love graphic art. I’ve always got to play around with those things but it’s quite dangerous, because it’s such an iconic thing you have to be careful not to do too much. So with Flash it was good fun, and the headgear is always tricky and a great challenge to pull off, to make a guy look cool with a bathing cap on. [Laughs.]

Edited June 4, 2015 by tv echo

[Trini]

TCA Awards nominees, with one for The Flash:

OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM

“Better Call Saul,” AMC

“Empire,” Fox

“The Flash,” The CW

“Jane the Virgin,” The CW

“Transparent,” Amazon