A show that a lot (or maybe not a lot) of the 1980s or 1990s children will remember is Defenders of the Earth. The show itself features events that seem to coincide with the Flash Gordon movie (1980 version) to which it was hinted that Ming the Merciless (acted by Max Von Syndow) had managed to survive after all. However, some events suggest otherwise that it's very much its own continuity. Dale Arden has been married to Flash Gordon and they have a child named Rick Gordon. It seems that the plot tends to follow up after the movie with Ming the Merciless probably still obsessed with Dale (and he's OLD ENOUGH to be her father). Ming the Merciless has practically exhausted Mongo of its resources (which might be a reference as to why the Mongols kept trying to invade China) and he's aiming for Earth. Such is the case of supervillain stupidity which leads to Ming the Merciless' desire for Earth. But like President Skroob from Space Balls - Ming the Merciless may not even be able to manage sources that well!
In this case, Flash must now combine forces with other King Feature Syndicate heroes such as Mandrake the Magician (and his assistant Lothar), and the Phantom. Children of the other heroes such as LJ (son of Lothar), Jedda (daughter of the Phantom), Kshin is an adoptive child of Mandrake, and Dale Arden (who died rather than submit to Ming) has her legacy live on in Dyna-X. Their mission goes against Ming the Merciless as well as other villains that also threaten the Earth.
Each episode for me was an action-packed one. I would remember how I spent summer vacations watching this show because I couldn't watch it during the school days. I had an obsession with this show like it was with Conan the Adventurer during the 1990s. Like most TV-Y7-FV shows - the violence is sanitized. Merciless Ming has some Ice Bots instead of the troops he had from the movie. Merciless Ming. I guess the use of robots was a very common thing in the American cartoons to reduce the violence. Just think of how Lion Voltron replaced the organic Galra soldiers with ROBOTS. For me, I just watched it on GMA-7 in the afternoons during the mid-1990s. It was something I wish was shown during the weekends instead!
Each episode for me was an action-packed one. I would remember how I spent summer vacations watching this show because I couldn't watch it during the school days. I had an obsession with this show like it was with Conan the Adventurer during the 1990s. Like most TV-Y7-FV shows - the violence is sanitized. Merciless Ming has some Ice Bots instead of the troops he had from the movie. Merciless Ming. I guess the use of robots was a very common thing in the American cartoons to reduce the violence. Just think of how Lion Voltron replaced the organic Galra soldiers with ROBOTS. For me, I just watched it on GMA-7 in the afternoons during the mid-1990s. It was something I wish was shown during the weekends instead!
It would be important to notice that the Ming the Merciless of this show was a censored version. He was instead made a non-human, green-skinned looking dictator presumably to avoid racism. I think the original Flash Gordon film had that accusation of being "racist". However, Princess Aura was a breaker of that stereotype and that Mongo is simply a civilization enslaved by the tyrant. In this version, Ming the Merciless has several children by an unknown woman - children that didn't exist in the Flash Gordon film. There's Prince Kro-Tan his son and his daughter Prince Castra who later became an ally - similar to Princess Aura who later marries Barin - the true heir of Mongo. I think the toning down was just necessary to prevent any real controversy. A lot of villains were intentionally made stupid but dangerous to make them more child-friendly. The same treatment was given to the Mandarin in the Marvel Action Hour to avoid racial stereotyping.
So far, I always wondered how it ended. It had a total of 65 episodes. However, unlike Conan the Adventurer, it just didn't have a definite finale. The final episode was just your typical scene where the cartoon villain runs off. It was canceled after 65 episodes. Why a finale was never written is something. I guess it's because American shows love to overextend a show until a show finally runs out of popularity. Some never came to a conclusion either like Galtar and the Golden Lance never had Galtar engage Tormac in a final battle.
It's a disappointment really that the show never had a final battle with Ming the Merciless! Right now, I can't decide which is more disappointing between not having a sequel for the Flash Gordon movie or not having a final battle against Ming. For me, it's the latter. I felt Ming should've had been defeated in one way or another and not just run away to fight another day in the final episode.
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