Loading ...New Flash Gordon de-Americanized for global audience
Long-time purists of the Flash Gordon mythos may be shocked to notice a few not-so-subtle changes to the upcoming 2007 series currently in production.
Apparently, it is an effort by the Sci Fi Channel and RHI Entertainment to market the show beyond U.S. shores.
Although the new flash Gordon premieres in the U.S. on the Sci Fi Channel August 10, in the UK it will be aired in 2008. Both companies are trying to sell it to other markets as well.
A major stumbling block is that the original Flash as written by Alex Raymond in 1934, is a a football star - that's U.S. football with touchdowns and 5-yard lines, not the kind of football that other counties know (and Americans call soccer).Â
This and a few other characteristics of Flash and his companions are considered a little "too American" for a global audience.
So, one of the changes: Flash is no longer a football star. Instead, producers opted to turn him into a track and field star.
Called "athletics" on the other side of the Atlantic, that sport is much more popular in Europe and considered to be a better draw to an international audience.
The new internationalized Flash Gordon first sprints onto U.S. TVs Friday, August 10 at 9 p.m. ET.
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