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Original Flash TV Series Co-Creator Paul DeMeo Has Passed Away

Flash TV producer Paul DeMeo has died.

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The modern Flash TV series is a marvel, but a lot of elements from the show come from the original Flash TV series which aired in 1990.

The show starred John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen/The Flash, and of course, he has had a presence on the new series as Henry Allen and Jay Garrick. Other veterans from that series who have shown up on the new show have been Mark Hamill (whose Trickster pre-dated his Joker by several years), Amanda Pays (Dr. Tina McGee), Alex Desert (Julio Mendez), Corinne Bohrer (Prank), and Vito D’Ambrosio (Anthony Bellows, the former Mayor on the new show who was a cop on the original).

The original Flash series was developed by writer-producers Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo, who originally had the Flash as part of a larger DC series called “Unlimited Powers” that they were directing. At the time, it was one of the most expensive series CBS had ever had. The team of Bilson & DeMeo also had their hands on a few other comic book properties over the years, including The Rocketeer movie and the first Human Target TV series. There was talk at one point about getting the pair to write for the new show at some point but it never transpired; they did, however, return to The Flash with a brief comic book run after the Infinite Crisis event for DC Comics.

Sadly, Bilson has Tweeted this morning that his “brother, friend, and creative partner in all things” has passed away. No details about DeMeo’s passing have been revealed as of yet.

Current Flash writer Sterling Gates — who was a co-writer on the Flash episode “The Elongated Knight Rises” which had many callbacks to the original show — posted his own tribute on Twitter this morning.

“I had the honor of meeting Paul DeMeo twice: once when he was writing Flash: The Fastest Man Alive and once at the ’90s Flash Anniversary event at Cinefamily. His contributions to all things Flash are immeasurable (not to mention The Rocketeer!). Rest in peace, Paul,” Gates said.

John Wesley Shipp himself has also posted a tribute.

“I’m shocked and terribly sad to learn of Paul’s passing,” the actor posted on Twitter. “@DannyBilson and Paul DeMeo changed the course of my life 28 years ago by trusting me with their Barry Allen, and I am forever grateful. My heart goes out to family and friends.”

We will share more information when and if it becomes available. In the meantime: Thank you, Mr. DeMeo, for some really fun adventure.

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John Wesley Shipp Is Rewatching Flash 1990: “I Can See So Much More”

Actor John Wesley Shipp has revealed that he is watching the classic Flash series for the first time in 34 years.

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1990 Flash actor John Wesley Shipp, who later played Henry Allen and Jay Garrick and reprised his original role in crossovers, is currently rewatching his classic series as it was recently released to Blu-ray.

Some very exciting news came today courtesy of the Warner Archive… the 1990 Flash TV series starring John Wesley Shipp is coming to Blu-ray!

“Watching series straight through for first time in 34 years,” the actor posted on Twitter/X. “Now in blu-ray – Man! I can see so much more. It’s cool, like watching somebody else, discovering things I didn’t know were there.”

The six-disc set was released on June 14 from the Warner Archive Collection and it featured the entire first season with new 2024 1080p HD masters from 4K scans of the original camera negatives. Here’s how the set is described; the box art can be seen below. Hopefully, this means we’ll get remasters on other classic series in the future.

Order The Flash 1990 Blu-ray through our Amazon affiliate link HERE and support FlashTVNews!

Who-o-o-o-osh! The origins and exploits of the crimefighting DC Comics superhero come your way in this 22-episode live-action series, from the 1990-91 television season. John Wesley Shipp portrays Barry Allen, a police crime technologist endowed with sudden talents after a fluke lab accident. He pledges to use his new powers for good, powers that include ultra-speed reflexes and the ability to vibrate his molecules so rapidly he can pass through solid walls. Amanda Pays is medical researcher Tina McGee, who monitors Allen’s accelerated metabolism and guards his secret identity. The Tricksters, Captain Cold, the Ghost, mad inventors: Central City is rife with criminals. Now there’s a hero to keep pace with them. He’s called The Flash. And in our era of instant communications, he’s more in step with the times than ever.

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New CW Head Throws Shade At The Flash

New CW President Brad Schwartz has thrown shade at The Flash while propping up another series.

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New CW Entertainment President Brad Schwartz today threw some shade at The Flash when propping up one of The CW’s better new performers, Wild Cards, when doing an interview with Deadline.

“You’ll probably be hearing more announcements from us very soon,” he said. “That show did great. It grew 10% versus what The Flash did in the same spot the year before. So, here we are beating shows that everyone’s very romantic about. We’d very much like to renew that one.”

Obviously, this is to show that Canadian imports perform better than more expensive fare… but might it be considered that The Flash was a show in its ninth season – a time when new audiences might not be interested in jumping on to series? Or, perhaps that portions of The Flash fandom had moved on, with no interest in The Cecile Show? Finally, The Flash Season 9 mostly aired at a time where producers and/or cast were unable to promote it, during the 2023 strikes, which makes the comparison very unfair.

Wild Cards is a fun series, but there’s no reason to denigrate The Flash or the superhero shows that made The CW great. Hopefully this was just a wild misunderstanding of his quote. The fact of the matter is: Sometimes more expensive fare is worth investing in. Especially considering how Schwartz hypes up the new season of Superman & Lois, that should be known to the new people in charge of The CW.

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Flash Cast Member Returns for the Superman & Lois Finale

A major actor from The Flash will be playing a role in the series finale of Superman & Lois.

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A major cast member from The Flash will be appearing in the series finale of Superman & Lois.

No, it’s not Grant Gustin, sadly… the actor in question is Tom Cavanagh, the actor who brought us infinite Wells variants. Cavanagh revealed this recently at a convention, where he talked about how he usually enjoyed directing season finales for the show, but was unable to in this case because Gregory Smith had already signed on to direct the Superman & Lois finale.

Superman & Lois showrunner Todd Helbing, who had also worked with Cavanagh before on The Flash and recruited him to direct the series’ 100th episode among others, instead suggested he has a role in the finale.

No word yet on what that role might be. As Superman & Lois is at a different spot in the multiverse, it doesn’t necessarily even have to be a version of Harrison Wells or Eobard Thawne. It could serve as a good closer, though, to the Arrowverse in general, as Superman & Lois is the last gasp for that world on The CW. In any event, you can see video of Cavanagh speaking about this (and more) at our Superman & Lois portal, KryptonSite.

The final season of Superman & Lois premieres this Fall on The CW.

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