The Flash (2014 TV Series)
From Iwe
| The Flash | ||
| Season one title card | ||
| Genre | Superhero fiction Drama Action | |
| Based on | Characters published by DC Comics | |
| Developed by | Greg Berlanti Andrew Kreisberg Geoff Johns | |
| Starring | Grant Gustin Candice Patton Danielle Panabaker Rick Cosnett Carlos Valdes Tom Cavanagh Jesse L. Martin Keiynan Lonsdale | |
| Composer(s) | Blake Neely | |
| Country of origin | United States | |
| Original language(s) | English | |
| No. of seasons | 3 | |
| No. of episodes | 64 (list of episodes) | |
| Production | ||
| Executive producer(s) | David Nutter Gabrielle Stanton Sarah Schechter Aaron Helbing Todd Helbing Andrew Kreisberg Greg Berlanti | |
| Producer(s) | J.P. Finn Emily Silver Brooke Roberts Dermott Downs Glen Winter | |
| Location | Vancouver, British Columbia | |
| Cinematography | Glen Winter (Pilot) C. Kim Miles Jeffrey C. Mygatt Stewart Whelan | |
| Editor(s) | Paul Karasik Harry Jierjian Nathan Draper Chris Conlee Dan Wilken Felicia Livingston | |
| Camera setup | Single-camera | |
| Running time | 42–45 minutes | |
| Production company(s) | Bonanza Productions Berlanti Productions DC Entertainment Warner Bros. Television | |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution | |
| Release | ||
| Original network | The CW | |
| Picture format | HDTV 1080i | |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital 5.1 | |
| Original release | October 7, 2014 – present | |
| Chronology | ||
| Related shows | Arrowverse | |
| External links | ||
The Flash is an American television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and Geoff Johns, airing on The CW. It is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, a costumed superhero crime-fighter with the power to move at superhuman speeds. It is a spin-off from Arrow, existing in the same fictional universe. The series follows Allen, portrayed by Grant Gustin, a crime scene investigator who gains super-human speed, which he uses to fight criminals, including others who have also gained superhuman abilities.
Initially envisioned as a backdoor pilot, the positive reception Gustin received during two appearances as Barry on Arrow led to executives choosing to develop a full pilot to make use of a larger budget and help flesh out Barry's world in more detail. Colleen Atwood, costume designer for Arrow, was brought in to design the Flash's suit. The creative team wanted to make sure that the Flash would resemble his comic book counterpart, and not simply be a poor imitation. The series is primarily filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The Flash premiered in North America on October 7, 2014, where the pilot became the second-most watched premiere in the history of The CW, after The Vampire Diaries in 2009. It has been well received by critics and audiences, and won the People's Choice Award for "Favorite New TV Drama" in 2014. The series was renewed for a third season in March 2016, which premiered on October 4, 2016. The series, together with Arrow, has spun characters out to their own show, Legends of Tomorrow, which premiered on January 21, 2016. On January 8, 2017, The CW renewed the show for a fourth season.
Contents |
[edit] Series overview
- Main article: List of The Flash episodes
[edit] Cast and characters
- Main article: List of The Flash characters and List of Arrowverse actors
- Grant Gustin as Barry Allen / Flash: A Central City assistant police forensic investigator. Moments after an explosion at the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator, Barry is struck by lightning in his laboratory and doused by chemicals affected by the accident. When he awakens from a nine-month coma, he has superhuman speed. In September 2013, Grant Gustin was cast in the titular role. Andy Mientus, who would eventually be cast as Hartley Rathaway, also auditioned for the role. Gustin began researching the character during the audition process, and reading as many comics as possible. Gustin primarily focused on The New 52 series of comics, because he knew it would be difficult to read everything and he felt the New 52 was the closest to the show's "look and feel". Gustin also portrays the Earth-2 version of the character, Barry Allen, who is not the Flash on this Earth.
- Candice Patton as Iris West: The daughter of Detective West and Barry Allen's fiancée. She works at Central City Picture News as a journalist. Patton also portrays the Earth-2 version of the character, Iris West-Allen, who is a detective at the Central City Police Department.
- Danielle Panabaker as Dr. Caitlin Snow / Killer Frost: A highly intelligent bioengineering expert, Caitlin believed her fiancé, Ronnie Raymond, was killed during the particle accelerator explosion at S.T.A.R. Labs, until he returned part way through first season. Ronnie and Caitlin get married in the first season finale, "Fast Enough". Panabaker also portrays the Earth-2 version of the character, Caitlin Snow / Killer Frost. In season 3 after the Flashpoint timeline Caitlin is now a metahuman with the same powers as Killer Frost. Her emotions are heightened especially her anger when she is in her Killer Frost personality.
- Rick Cosnett as Eddie Thawne: A recent transfer to the Central City Police Department, Eddie's past is a mystery and he harbored a dark secret. He was partner to Detective Joe West and Iris West's love interest. Cosnett left the series after the first season, following his character's sacrifice to wipe Eobard Thawne, his distant descendant, from history.
- Carlos Valdes as Cisco Ramon / Vibe: A mechanical engineering genius, Cisco is the youngest member of the team of scientists at S.T.A.R. Labs and a metahuman. Valdes also portrays the Earth-2 version of the character, Cisco Ramon / Reverb, a metahuman who worked for Hunter Zolomon / Zoom.
- Tom Cavanagh as Harrison Wells: The mind and money behind Central City's S.T.A.R. Labs Particle Accelerator, Wells becomes a pariah after the lab explodes. Mentoring Barry to get faster, he is eventually revealed to be the Reverse-Flash, Eobard Thawne (Matt Letscher), a descendant of Eddie from the future with a grudge against the Flash. Thawne killed the real Wells and stole his identity. In subsequent seasons, Cavanagh portrays various alternate reality doppelgangers of Wells. These include the sarcastic but brilliant "Harry", who along with his daughter Jesse hails from Earth-2, and his Earth-19 counterpart, the sci-fi novelist "H.R.".
- Jesse L. Martin as Joe West: A police detective who acts as a surrogate father to Barry, after his mother's death and father's imprisonment, and who is the father of Iris and Wally. Martin also portrays the Earth-2 version of the character, a singer.
- Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West / Kid Flash: The son of Joe and brother of Iris, born without their knowledge after his mother left Central City. The producers disliked the introduction of relatives of characters that were never previously mentioned, feeling it was "weird", and opted instead to introduce Wally as unknown even to his relatives. They also chose to make him Iris' brother, a departure from the comics where he was her nephew. Speaking on Lonsdale's casting, Kreisberg explained that “Just like when we met Grant [Gustin] for the first time, we instantly knew Keiynan embodied all the heart and courage of a hero." After Flashpoint, Wally eventually gets speed powers from Doctor Alchemy and becomes Kid Flash.
[edit] Production
[edit] Development
[edit] Design
[edit] Filming
[edit] Music
[edit] Sound design
[edit] Broadcast
[edit] Reception
[edit] Critical reception
| Season | Critical response | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | ||
| 1 | 97% (58 reviews) | 73 (27 reviews) | |
[edit] Critics' top ten lists
[edit] Ratings
The first episode of The Flash was watched by 4.8 million viewers and had a 1.9 18–49 demographic rating, making it The CW's most watched and highest rated series premiere since The Vampire Diaries in 2009. It also became The CW's second-most watched series premiere ever, behind 90210, and the third-highest rated in the 18–49 demographic. Factoring Live + 7 day ratings, the pilot was watched by a total of 6.8 million viewers, becoming The CW's most-watched telecast and the highest-rated premiere among men 18–34 (2.5 rating). It broke the previous record for the most-watched telecast held by the cycle 8 finale of America's Next Top Model in 2007 (6.69 million). Additionally, across all platforms, including initiated streams on digital platforms and total unduplicated viewers on-air over two airings the week of October 7, 2014, the premiere was seen more than 13 million times.
The Canadian premiere was watched by 3.11 million viewers, making it the most-watched broadcast that night and the second for that week. In the United Kingdom, the premiere was the fourth highest-rated broadcast of the week and the eleventh of that month, with 1.53 million viewers. The premiere in Australia was the most-watched broadcast on pay television, with 129,000 viewers tuning in.
In 2016, according to an analysis from Parrot Analytics, which used ratings data (where available), peer-to-peer sharing, social media chatter, and other factors to estimate viewer demand for various shows, The Flash was the 5th most popular show in the world with 3.1 million demand expressions per day, behind Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Pretty Little Liars, and Westworld. TorrentFreak also gauged The Flash as the fourth most-torrented television show of 2016.
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | Episode | First aired | Last aired | TV season | Rank | Avg. viewers (millions) | 18–49 rating (average) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Viewers (millions) | Date | Viewers (millions) | |||||||
| 1 | Tuesday 8:00 pm | 23 | October 7, 2014 | 4.83 | May 19, 2015 | 3.87 | 2014–15 | 118 | 4.62 | 1.7 |
[edit] Other media
[edit] Digital comic
[edit] Web series
[edit] Video games
[edit] Books
[edit] Novels
[edit] Behind-the-scenes
On October 21, 2016, "The Art and Making of The Flash" by Abbie Bernstein was released. This is a 160-page behind-the-scenes book with production art and behind-the-scenes photography. The book also includes interviews with the cast and crew from the show.
[edit] Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|
[edit] Home release
| Complete Season | DVD/Blu-ray Release dates | Additional info | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1/A | Region 2/B | Region 4/C | ||
[edit] Arrowverse and the DC multiverse
- Main article: Arrowverse
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Template:Arrowverse Template:The CW Programming Template:Flash Template:DC Comics TV Template:People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama
