Because of them, I found out about ABC’s special deal where the first 50,000 visitors to a specified site were able to watch the pilot of the new superhero themed show, “No Ordinary Family,” starring Michael Chiklis (last seen playing a not-dissimilar role as a big strong guy in “The Fantastic Four
The premise is simple to anyone who’s familiar with either the FF or for that matter, “The Incredibles.” A dysfunctional family goes on a trip that ends badly with a plane crash into a particularly unusual section of the Amazon (the river, not the book dealer) and as a result acquire superpowers that Just So Happen to be tailored to their respective personalities.
It would be rude to dwell on spoilers for a show that won’t air for over a month, so just speaking in broad strokes, it’s a fun, well-acted, family-friendly show that doesn’t take itself too seriously and gives hints of a broader universe within that I would think will be followed up in subsequent episodes. We’ll definitely be watching.
PAD
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I saw it as well along with my wife who generally has no interest in these types of shows. Suffice it to say, she liked it enough to want to see more.
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As for me, I kept chuckling over some of the “easter eggs” in the show (i.e. “The Simonson building”). Most of the show played well, even though the kids were a tad annoying in some spots. Loved how the relationship with the parents was handled from beginning to end. And the special effects were definitely cool.
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Overall, a very good beginning with a few minot glitches. This has the earmarks of a hit if they keep things somewhat light-hearted and not get daek. I definitely cannot wait to see the second episode.
I’ve heard of this one, and your review sounds encouraging, but i plan on waiting a bit and possibly watching the show over the summer after ive heard of what people thought of the season.
I’m not giving my heart to another superhero show after Heroes took mine and ripped it to shreds with its aweful drek.
Here’s the problem with that logic: Quality shows disappear all the time. So your plan could lead to a bunch of people saying wistfully, “What a great show that was; too bad they killed it after four episodes.” And sure, it sucks to become invested in a show that’s good and then gets yanked, but at least you saw it.
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It’s not like you’re being asked to spend money on it.
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PAD
Peter, the network scheduling game is an awful gamble, always has been. By placing this show against NCIS, ABC is gambling that enough people are bored with Gibbs & Co. that they’ll tune in to something new, and they’ll get a decent market share in that time slot. If NOF makes it in that slot, it might stay there for years, until somebody new decides that it’ll do better on another night in this slot instead; BBT has done well on Mondays regardless of time slot, but CBS is moving it to Thursdays this season to make room for the 5-0 reboot. It could work, it could fail; the gamble is that BBT, an established show, will take its audience with it and those people will watch whatever else is on Thursdays. In short, it’s a crapshoot. Considering some of what’s on the tube these days, that’s a pretty apt description.
No, they arent asking me to spend money on it, but they ARE asking me to spend something even MORE valuable.
My time.
I don’t disagree that my viewing style is not helping the shows i enjoy, ratings-wise. However, I just cant really be that invested in these shows for that to be a realistic concern.
Besides, if i enjoy a show, i talk it up to others, buy the dvd box sets, or purchase episodes on Itunes. Believe me, the movie/tv industry has done pretty well by me 🙂
I watched this last night, and was generally happy with it. Mike Chiklis always gives a solid performance, and the rest of the cast delivers as well. The biggest worry is the time slot; they’re going against the great ape of Tuesday nights, NCIS, which is gonna make this a hard row to hoe. Especially for me, since I gotta get my weekly dose of Abby, unless it’s a third-time rerun. We’ll see how this goes.
Time-shifting. DVRs, On Demand, network websites – there are so very many ways to watch TV on your own schedule these days, and the networks are, I understand, even beginning to take this into account in calculating ratings.
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I usually watch NCIS using Comcast’s On Demand service anyway, so I can pause when the kids need my attention, and I don’t have to sit through most of the commercials (there are a few included, of course, but mostly for other CBS shows).
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(Yes, I watch NCIS. Yes, I know it’s not “cool”. Don’t judge me!)
Then we’re brothers in uncool, Other Jon. I love NCIS, partly for the fabulous Abby and partly for Ducky. Right now they’ve got one of the best casts on television, stories are pretty uniformly good, and the character interplay is fun. Plus, Gibbs drives a vintage Challenger way too fast. Can’t go wrong with that.
Cool. I need to check this show out.
Schedule should not be a problems for me, since I seem to be the only person in the world who gets bored to tears by NCIS. (It’s like watchng football for me, guaranteed sleep time)
Peter David: A dysfunctional family goes on a trip that ends badly with a plane crash into a particularly unusual section of the Amazon (the river, not the book dealer)…
Luigi Novi: I dunno, I think that latter premise would be a good idea. It’d explain why some of my books and things end up arriving so much later than expected….
Could this herald the return of Cowboy Pete?
J.
We live to serve, sir.
I haven’t seen the preview, but I have seen promos. I have wanted to see it since I saw Chiklis was in it. I recently saw a promo that had a Kitty Pryde action figure in it. **Glee!** So of course I am going to watch/record the first couple of episodes to give it a chance. Of course it has to be on Thursday nights which happens to be my game night. 😛
I saw the preview also and while Chiklas was very good as he always is, I thought Dexter’s wife was kind of weak. I also thought that the two of them not mentioning to the other what was happening to them was a bit to cute and unrealistic. I guess it was supposed to emphasize their lack of communication, but still this was something pretty amazing to keep to themselves.
Heh….I was baffled for a moment by the “Dexter’s wife” comment, until I realized you were talking about Angel’s evil ex-girlfriend.
Enjoyed the pilot for the most part, even though I’ve seen superhuman origin stories presented so many times at this point that it all comes off as a bit cliche….but I’m not going to count my being somewhat jaded about the genre against a newcomer.
thanks also to Comicmix for the trailer for Walking Dead, now that was good.
Thanks Comicmix! I got to see the pilot of No Ordinary Family last night too. I thought it was really good. I especially liked Chiklas. I thought his wife was good too. Their girl was also good, imo, but not sure about the boy yet. Don’t really get his power yet either. lol. Though, it was a fun episode and I can’t wait to see more. I like Peter said, its best to tune in right away if your interested in it! So many shows anymore last about three or four episodes and then disappear or they get shifted to Saturdays (like Persons Unknown. sigh).
Anyway, I think its going to be a good show!
Re: Walking Dead. I’ve seen the trailer a few times now. I’m not a major zombie fan (I do like Resident Evil & 28 Days Later though), but that said, this series looks really cool. I’m looking forward to seeing it on Oct. 31st.
DF
“…not sure about the boy yet. Don’t really get his power yet either.”
The boy didn’t believe that he had any powers because he didn’t have a chance to “test” them, like the rest of the family did, until he took his math exam. He has a brain like a computer that can perform calculations in microseconds!
Thanks for pointing out the link. The wife and I watched it, and enjoyed it.
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Of course, there was the usual firearms idiocy that bugs me, notably the thugs choice of a Desert Eagle. I also think the show felt hurried. It needed about another hour for exposition. It didn’t have the time to exploit unanswered questions for the sake of making the show compelling. It was enjoyable, but I’m not sure it was good enough to forgo NCIS. I’ll probably keep up with the show by watching it on the ABC website.
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I’d give the show 3 of 5 stars, but it gets a solid five for potential.
Finally saw it myself. I’ve been a fan of Chiklis since his days as The Commish, and he’s a great actor. Tony Scali, Ben Grimm, Vic Mackey, Curly Fine, and now Jim Powell — the guy’s range is remarkable.
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Then again, two cops, one superhero, and now a police artist/superhero… and when you think about it, Curly was almost superhuman in his own way, and there were the Three Robotic Stooges…
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J.
Will Cowboy Pete be giving us his opinion on the new Doctor Who season, which went virtually unremarked?
Kathleen remarked. Did a great job avoiding spoilers. I was the Evil Twin that time, couldn’t keep my mouth shut about what was coming up… I’ve got no word on what Moffat & Co. have in mind for next season, but this past raised the bar. And the new game comes out for download tomorrow. Wanna play it!
I don’t live in America, so I can’t support the show right away, but I wish it luck.
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Yes, HEROES left a bitter taste in my mouth. I still can’t believe how it went from my favorite show ever in the first season to a painful experience in the second.
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But it’s nonsense to say superhero shows shouldn’t be made because of HEROES. The world needs any show that isn’t yet another investigation/cop show.
And ‘reality’ shows. We could do with a few less of those, too.
Definitely!
Well cop shops > reality shows…
Maybe.
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But then again anything > reality shows.
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In any case, I don’t really like procedurals. I am sure I am being unfair to the few procedural shows that are really good, but I’m a little willing to watch something that has been done 756,898 times before.
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PUSHING DAISIES counts as a procedural? I liked that one.
I could live another ten thousand years without seeing another reality show. Big Brother, Survivor, Amazing Race, Wife Swap, and all this other “reality” crapola could vanish tomorrow and I’d never notice. All the amateur hour garbage like American Idol, same thing, although I’d like to see one season where the judges are all musicians who know what they’re talking about; nothing against Randy, but let’s have Nick Lowe, Pat Benatar, Jane Wiedlin, and Fee Waybill for judges, and see how many no-talent morons get contracts then!
I really liked it! I had to stop and pause it when they made the reference to a certain female X-men character to tell everyone. 🙂
Julie was wonderful, she has the prettiest smile of resignation. I noticed in the take where she is getting on the plane that she seems to be enjoying herself, despite the tone of the conversation. And when she first used her super speed, she went from heels to sneakers. 😛
Loved that there was a villain! And a fight with him! That’s so simple, why couldn’t Heroes figure that one out!
…also, I almost did a spit take when Julie reacted to her something her daughter said 38 minutes in.
I’ve just watched it and I’m impressed! While “Heroes” will be the obvious comparison show and “Fantastic Four” the obvious comparison film (Chilkis is in both) to this, it escaped the formula by making the characters real and creating an interesting “villain” for the family to deal with. I’ll definitely “stay tuned” for this new series!