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High-Tech Flash-Forward

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THE SHOW: “The Flash”(CBS) Thursday 8:30 p.m.

THE SET-UP: Police scientist Barry Allen (John Wesley Shipp, pictured) fights evil in mythical Central City in this stylishly noir series that looks something like “Batman,” the feature film released last year. Amanda Pays plays Tina McGee, our hero’s budding love interest and a pushy research scientist who helps him discover his superhuman power. Pays is on familiar high-tech ground here, having played baby sitter for mutant male Max Headroom.

THE LOOK: The coolest article of clothing in the show is Shipp’s heroic body suit, an eye-catching brick-red number complete with muscle-enhancing black shadows air brushed onto the pecs. There are four Flash suits, custom molded to Shipp’s body at $25,000 apiece. Designer Robert Short, an Oscar-winning special effects/makeup artist, says the latex suits were specially treated to play down their rubber surface so they would look like basic stretch unitards. And, he says, they’re hot inside. Shipp gets around that problem by wearing an undergarment that is water cooled, like one developed for race car drivers. This keeps him from swimming in sweat. Pays may be an aggressive career woman, but she wears decidedly unaggressive clothing, especially retro ‘30s and ‘40s long tapered skirts, pleated slacks and vests. Bob Miller, costumer in charge of the show’s everyday outfits, mixes modern with vintage styles from Warner Bros. wardrobe department.

THE LABELS: A galaxy of designers, from Californian Tina Hagen to Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren are mixed and matched.

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THE STORES: Along with stock from Warner Bros. costume department, and a rental shop, the Costume Rental Collection, available only for the trade, Miller shops the California Mart and finds suits for male characters at Neiman Marcus (the Byblos label) and the Shoe and Clothing Connection in Encino (WilliWear).

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