Flash Gordon (1954 TV series)

Flash Gordon
Title card from episode "Akim the Terrible"
Starring	Steve Holland Irene Champlin Joseph Nash
Country of origin	United States West Germany France
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	39
Production
Running time	0:25
Release
Original network	DuMont Television Network Syndicated
Original release	October 15, 1954 – July 15, 1955

Flash Gordon is a science fiction television series based on the characters of the Alex Raymond-created comic strip of the same name. Diverging from the storyline of the comics, the series set Flash, Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov in the year 3203. As agents of the Galactic Bureau of Investigation, the team travels the galaxy in their ship the Sky Flash, battling cosmic villains under the order of Commander Paul Richards.

The series was filmed in West Berlin and Marseille as a West German, French and American co-production by Intercontinental Television Films and Telediffusion. The series aired in syndication throughout most of the U.S. but also aired on the east coast on the DuMont Television Network.

The series proved popular with American audiences and critical response, though sparse, was positive. Flash Gordon has garnered little modern critical attention. What little there is generally dismisses the series, although there has been some critical thought devoted to its presentation of Cold War and capitalist themes.

Universal Studios had held the production rights to Flash Gordon but allowed them to lapse. Former Universal executives Edward Gruskin and Matty Fox struck a deal with Flash Gordon owners King Features Syndicate to produce the first 26 episodes of the series. The series was produced by Gruskin and Wenzel Lüdecke. Writers for Flash Gordon included Gruskin, Bruce Geller and Earl Markham. Episodes were directed by Wallace Worsley, Jr. and Gunther von Fritsch. Composers Kurt Heuser and Roger Roger provided much of the original music.

Shooting began in May 1953, with an abandoned beer hall in Spandau serving as the principal shooting location. Among the cast and crew, only the lead actors and director Worsley spoke English. Worsley would recall the production difficulties this caused: