If the 1960s was a decade of birth for Filmation, the 1970s was a time where it skipped childhood and moved straight into the role of responsible adult. With somewhere in the area of 30 programs airing during that decade, the team of Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland and Norm Prescott became big players on Saturday mornings. Not only that, but the trio helped usher in a number of genres that would become staples for both their own productions and those of the other studios as well.

If that weren't enough, the 1970s saw Filmation dabble into something that had come and gone on the Saturday morning schedule since the 1960s: live-action series. Combining comedy, drama and special effects, the studio produced an number of shows that provided a lot less cheese than the live-action series of, say, Sid & Marty Kroftt.

• At 7, ESPN has the Navy/Rutgers football game.
• At 8, PBS has a new NOW, then new episodes of Washington Week, Bill Moyers Journal, and Expose: America.
• The CW has a new Friday Night Smackdown! at 8.
• Noggin has a new South of Nowhere at 8.
• At 8:30, Animal Planet has a new Meerkat Manor.
• At 9, ABC has the special Fashion Rocks.
• USA has new episodes of Monk and Psych starting at 9.
• Discovery has a new Survivorman at 9.
• There's a new Paula's Party at 9 on Food Network.
• Also at 9: Sci-Fi has a new Flash Gordon, followed by a new Painkiller Jane.
• At 10, ABC's 20/20 investigates Dateline's "To Catch A Predator" series.
• TV Land is showing Twilight Zone: The Movie at 10.
• At 11, HBO has a new Real Time with Bill Maher, with guests Ralph Nader, Cornell West, Mos Def, and Rep. Rahm Emanuel

Check your local TV listings for more.

• At 7:30, ESPN2 has coverage of the Rogers Cup tennis tournament.
• At 8, CBS has the Bills vs. the Saints preseason football game.
• ABC has a new Set For Life at 8 (Boston area viewers will see a preseason game between the Patriots and Bucs).
• The CW has a Smackdown! at 8.
• PBS has a new NOW at 8, followed by new episodes of Washington Week and Bill Moyers Journal.
• Sci-Fi has a new Doctor Who at 8, then the series premiere of Flash Gordon.
• At 8, ESPN has coverage of the Little League World Series.
• At 8:30, Animal Planet has a new Meerkat Manor.
• At 9, Discovery has a new Survivorman.
• There's a new Monk on USA at 9, then a new Psych.
• At 10, E! has a new episode of The Soup.

Check your local TV listings for more.

I went into this updated version of Flash Gordon with basically zero knowledge of the character and its many previous incarnations. I know Flash has appeared in a comic strip, comic books, movie serials and on television, but all of those popped up before my time. Since this is clearly SciFi's attempt to bring the character back and make him appealing to a new audience, I figure my ignorance is beneficial.

So anyway, is the new Flash any good?

Yes, probably.

Gina Holden, last seen on the TV series Blood Ties, has joined the cast of SCI FI's upcoming adaptation of Flash Gordon as Dale Arden, the love interest of Flash Gordon (played by Eric Johnson). Holden also appeared in Fantastic Four and will also appear in the upcoming sequel to Alien Vs. Predator.

The series also recently cast actor Jody Racicot as Dr. Hans Zarkov, and John Ralston as the evil Ming. The series has already cast Giles Panton as Joe, Karen Cliché as Baylin, Panou as Nick, Jill Teed as Norah, Jonathan Walker as Rankol, Carmen Moore as Jolie and Anna van Hoft as Aura.

Flash Gordon began as a comic strip in the 1930s and eventually spawned a number of adaptations, including movie serials, TV shows and radio programs. The new Flash Gordon series kicks off sometime this August.

According to Geek Monthly, SciFi is developing a new "Flash Gordon" series as part of a plan to develop new "lighter" shows after network brass blamed the decline in ratings of Battlestar Galactica on its dark tone. However, the article states that the series will not be as campy as the 1980 Flash Gordon film.

Flash Gordon has been developed already in several mediums. It began as a comic strip in the '30s and eventually expanded into comic books, theatrical serials, a live-action television program, an animated series, and the aforementioned movie.

SciFi has not committed to the series yet, but if it does, don't expect to see it until sometime early next year.

I'll admit I rolled my eyes when I first heard this news, but I think SciFi has proved itself over the years as adept at developing old ideas into something fresh and exciting (Battlestar Galactica). What do you guys think? Should SciFi develop Flash Gordon into a new series, or has that idea been beaten to death enough already?

[via TV Filter]

Well, I suppose that heading could have been a little more specific, since our ol' pal Flash has been seen in several live-action and animated incarnations since he first debuted on the comic pages in the 1930s. In this case, I'm talking about the animated series from Filmation that aired from 1979 to 1981, which IMDb has listed as The New Animated Adventures of Flash Gordon. I was quite young, so I don't remember this particular cartoon, but apparently it ran for a total of twenty-four episodes, all of which will be included on Flash Gordon - The Complete Series. You know, cause otherwise it would be called Flash Gordon - The Incomplete Series, and nobody would want to buy that. Tom Ruegger, a writer for the series, would later go on to write and produce for Steven Spielberg's Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, and Freakazoid. The DVD set will include a documentary and some audio commentaries. It comes out July 18.