More than twenty years before Grant Gustin put on the suit, CBS was inspired by the success of Batman in theaters to turn The Flash into an hourlong drama. Despite its distinct Art Deco art style, talented cast, and surprisingly well-balanced stories mixing the camp some audiences expected with more serious elements, it only lasted a season. But it lives on in the hearts of fans, and next week, the CW is bringing it back for an episode as Barry seeks a Flash from an alternate reality for advice.
This is thanks in part to the CW DC universe loving casting gags. John Wesley Shipp, who played the original Flash, has two jobs on the new series: Barry’s dad, Henry Allen, and Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash who lives in an alternate universe. There are a lot of alternate universes; Supergirl is on Earth-38, one of the show’s regulars is from Earth-19, and last season dealt with the suspiciously Art-Decoish Earth-2. At least some of next week’s episode will deal with Garrick fighting The Trickster, played by Mark Hamill, who played that role both in the 1990 series and the current one.
So in other words, while it’s not completely the 1990 show, it’s as close as they can get without having to talk to a few lawyers. Besides, we should get more opportunities to watch Mark Hamill overact in loud suits.
(via Comic Book)