It’s not that we weren’t excited about Jesse L. Martin and Tom Cavanagh joining “The Flash.”
And Grant Gustin was good enough in his “Arrow” stint that we’re totally on-board with him as a lead.
But here’s a piece of casting news for The CW’s “The Flash” that has us really geeking out a little.
On Tuesday (February 11), The CW and WBTV confirmed that John Wesley Shipp is going to guest star in the “Flash” pilot.
That’s right, y’all. The Flash is going to be in “The Flash.”
Details on Shipp’s involvement with the new “Flash” pilot are being kept intentionally vague, but he will play a mysterious role in the pilot and would be a recurring guest star should “The Flash” go to series (which we’re all expecting).
As we’ve previously reported, Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and Geoff Johns are writing the “Flash” pilot, which will be directed by David Nutter.
The cast features Gustin as Barry Allen, Candice Patton as Iris West, Rick Cosnett as Detective Eddie Thawne, Danielle Panabaker as Caitlin Snow, Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon, Cavanagh as Harrison Wells and Martin as Detective West.
But let’s get back to John Wesley Shipp.
Shipp played Barry Allen and The Flash in the CBS series which ran for 22 episodes in the 1990-1991 season. No matter what most people thought of the series itself — the special effects were, to put it kindly, just a bit primitive — there was great warmth for its leading man.
Despite that, his Wikipedia page claims Shipp is best known as Dawson Leery’s tragically ice cream-loving dad Mitch on “Dawson’s Creek.” I guess that’s acceptable too.
Most recently seen in a brief arc on “Teen Wolf,” Shipp also won a pair of Daytime Emmys for his work on “As the World Turns.”
The CW and WBTV’s next “Flash”-y task? Find Amanda Pays.
Anyway… WBTV charges $1.99 to watch the “Flash” pilot on YouTube. However, you can watch very sad things happen to Mitch Leery for free: