# Flash Gordon 8/24 -- Attack of the Very Slightly Larger than Earth Sized Dragonfly **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2007, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871 "2007-08-25T05:22:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/1 "2007-08-25T05:22:40Z")
There’s just something about this series that just screams, “No budget! We have NO budget!” The thing is, the show has CGI, and special effects and matte paintings and people in strange costumes and everything. I guess this ep looked cheap because so much of it was spent at the wedding of the brother of Flash’s black sidekick, Tonto. Er, Nick. It was like, “Could we bring cameras to your wedding and shoot a few rolls of film? It’d REALLY help with our budget.” And how about those slightly larger than Earth size dragonflies of Mongo with their very slow-acting poison that gave you hours and hours of euphoria before it killed you? Why, if we had dangerous creatures like that on Earth, we’d … milk 'em like they was cows! At least we got to meet a tribe of Amazons on Mongo. Real ball-busting Amazons, too. I was glad to see the writers weren’t above recognizing the series’ cheesy origins and that they were willing to REALLY go with the cliche there. I just think they should have gone with the ORIGINAL cliche about Amazons that was around when the series was invented. You know, “You are a man? Really? Oh, I am sorry, I do not believe this. There are legends of men among us from the dawn of time, but in the modern era we have come to recognize that no creature could long survive with its dangly bits so exposed. If you are a man, just show us these dangly bits of yours so that we may believe you? What? You cannot? It is wrong? Sure it is. Admit it, you are one of us, and very confused.” So, anyway, this episode, although it didn’t advance the plot much, it did develop Nick’s character a lot, something that, while not desperately needed, did keep expenses down. And isn’t that what it’s all about after all? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/2 "2007-08-25T05:37:12Z")
Damn. I clicked this expecting dragonflies _not_ slightly larger than Earth _dragonflies_, but slightly larger than Earth _itself_. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/3 "2007-08-25T13:04:06Z")
[Q :smack: UOTE=Beware of Doug]Damn. I clicked this expecting dragonflies _not_ slightly larger than Earth _dragonflies_, but slightly larger than Earth _itself_. [/QUOTE] Now THAT would have been imaginative SF! ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/4 "2007-08-25T13:12:30Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] [QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Damn. I clicked this expecting dragonflies _not_ slightly larger than Earth _dragonflies_, but slightly larger than Earth _itself_. [/QUOTE] Now THAT would have been imaginative SF! [/QUOTE] Or at least Lexx. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/5 "2007-08-25T15:54:17Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] At least we got to meet a tribe of Amazons on Mongo. Real ball-busting Amazons, too. [/quote] Not so much ball-_busting_ as ball-_excising_. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/6 "2007-08-25T19:10:11Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Not so much ball-_busting_ as ball-_excising_. [/QUOTE] Yes, they were a very snippy bunch. But it looks like they may be allies of Flash in the future, which IIRC is how it went in the original series: the various tribes and \_\_\_men or \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_men on Mongo were fierce at first, but then when the realized Flash was like, totally against Ming, all was cool. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/7 "2007-08-25T19:12:33Z")
Strange. They are obviously proud of the fact that they have budget allocated for CGI effects, yet they seem strangely reluctant to use them for anything that’s actually relevant to the story. I realize that Sandahl Bergman is not as young as she used to be, but she really should have been playing the amazon queen. Casting her as the subordinate was rude to her, rude to the fans, and just plain **wrong**. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/8 "2007-08-25T19:23:40Z")
[QUOTE=mbh] Strange. They are obviously proud of the fact that they have budget allocated for CGI effects, yet they seem strangely reluctant to use them for anything that’s actually relevant to the story. I realize that Sandahl Bergman is not as young as she used to be, but she really should have been playing the amazon queen. Casting her as the subordinate was rude to her, rude to the fans, and just plain **wrong**. [/QUOTE] Well, she’s not a brunette … ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/9 "2007-08-25T19:42:02Z")
Dang. I used to have a _Playboy_ that had a photo spread from _All That Jazz_, including several photos of Bergman. I can’t remember whether the carpet matched the curtains, or not. This is going to drive me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/10 "2007-08-25T21:39:39Z")
[QUOTE=mbh] I realize that Sandahl Bergman is not as young as she used to be, but she really should have been playing the amazon queen. Casting her as the subordinate was rude to her, rude to the fans, and just plain **wrong**. [/QUOTE] As I didn’t recognize her, I can’t say as I felt at all slighted. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/11 "2007-08-27T00:29:10Z")
I actually thought the writing was a bit better here. “These burlap pants bring an urgency all their own” was pretty funny. I’m also glad they didn’t miss the obvious ways of bringing Nick down at the wedding. Thought for this episode: the chief natural resource of Mongo must be eyeliner, and now even Dale has obtained some. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/12 "2007-08-27T02:53:12Z")
[QUOTE=mbh] Dang. I used to have a _Playboy_ that had a photo spread from _All That Jazz_, including several photos of Bergman. I can’t remember whether the carpet matched the curtains, or not. This is going to drive me nuts. [/QUOTE] I did not mean to imply any carpet/curtain mismatches. I just meant that it appears to really, really be helpful to be a brunette if you’re female and you want to get a good role in this “Flash Gordon.” Sandahl’s TV-showing hair is blonde, therefore she was lucky to get cast at all. Times must be tough, she hadda take a role like that. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/13 "2007-08-27T12:30:37Z")
Say what you want about **Evil Captor** \*, but his Flash Gordon threads are more entertaning than the show itself. One good thing about this show, I was able to get my wife to watch the Movie. The bad news was she didn’t like it. - Actually, don’t. It gets tiresome. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/14 "2007-08-27T13:11:02Z")
[QUOTE=Maus Magill] One good thing about this show, I was able to get my wife to watch the Movie. The bad news was she didn’t like it. [/QUOTE] I’m so sorry to hear of your impending divorce. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flash-gordon-8-24-attack-of-the-very-slightly-larger-than-earth-sized-dragonfly/416871/15 "2007-08-27T13:28:09Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] I’m so sorry to hear of your impending divorce. [/QUOTE] I just did a quick, unscientific survey around the office. All my co-workers were incredulus that _anyone_ wouldn’t like Flash Gordon. But I work with all men. This may be a Y-chromosone thing.\* Further study may be required. - Like the Three Stooges or Football.