Is FLASHFORWARD Worth Saving?
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Mar 12 2010, 8:03 AM
*Sigh* ABC's FLASHFORWARD had such a promising start last fall. According to the Nielsen's, its debut was the biggest drama premiere on any network in the 8 o’clock hour since January 2008.
And what's not to love?
The series was adapted from Robert J. Sawyer's much respected sci-fi novel of the same name by sci-fi media mavens David S. Goyer (THE DARK KNIGHT) and Brannon Braga (STAR TREK). It stars Joseph Fiennes in his first television series and the large ensemble is packed with excellent genre stars from Dominic Monaghan to John Cho. And it boasted the kind of enigmatic mysteries that spellbind Losties week after week, yet with more answers.
So why by December, when the show went on winter break, had it gone from 12 million viewers down to 7 million?
Having just re-watched the first ten episodes on the new FLASHFORWARD DVD set that's available in stores and on Amazon now, some problems do stand out.
One, Joseph does possess that self-torturing grimace down pat a la Matt Fox of LOST, but he's not as interesting to watch surprisingly. Sure, he's got those relatable human vices of former alcoholism and jealousy about an affair his wife could have, but he still remains distant and that's not good for the anchor of your show.
Two, there is a lot of cast and I'm not sure you need them all. Jumping between storyline should give an episode movement and urgency, yet there are some stories that make me want to take a bathroom break every time they take center stage.
Three, the most interesting stuff, like the potential second blackout and the mystery involving those that remained awake during the mass global blackout were too slow to roll out and only started hopping once many viewers jumped ship.
The show returns to finish the season on ABC this Thursday night, March 18 at 8pm.
The DVD features a nice teaser trailer for what's coming up, and we have two clips featuring DVD bonus features:
However the question remains, will audiences care?
Will they come back to see what happens on the big April 29th reveal when the world catches up to the visions they see?
What do you think? How would you fix FLASHFORWARD and make it the show that was supposed to be the heir to LOST?
*Sigh* ABC's FLASHFORWARD had such a promising start last fall. According to the Nielsen's, its debut was the biggest drama premiere on any network in the 8 o’clock hour since January 2008.
And what's not to love?
The series was adapted from Robert J. Sawyer's much respected sci-fi novel of the same name by sci-fi media mavens David S. Goyer (THE DARK KNIGHT) and Brannon Braga (STAR TREK). It stars Joseph Fiennes in his first television series and the large ensemble is packed with excellent genre stars from Dominic Monaghan to John Cho. And it boasted the kind of enigmatic mysteries that spellbind Losties week after week, yet with more answers.
So why by December, when the show went on winter break, had it gone from 12 million viewers down to 7 million?
Having just re-watched the first ten episodes on the new FLASHFORWARD DVD set that's available in stores and on Amazon now, some problems do stand out.
One, Joseph does possess that self-torturing grimace down pat a la Matt Fox of LOST, but he's not as interesting to watch surprisingly. Sure, he's got those relatable human vices of former alcoholism and jealousy about an affair his wife could have, but he still remains distant and that's not good for the anchor of your show.
Two, there is a lot of cast and I'm not sure you need them all. Jumping between storyline should give an episode movement and urgency, yet there are some stories that make me want to take a bathroom break every time they take center stage.
Three, the most interesting stuff, like the potential second blackout and the mystery involving those that remained awake during the mass global blackout were too slow to roll out and only started hopping once many viewers jumped ship.
The show returns to finish the season on ABC this Thursday night, March 18 at 8pm.
The DVD features a nice teaser trailer for what's coming up, and we have two clips featuring DVD bonus features:
However the question remains, will audiences care?
Will they come back to see what happens on the big April 29th reveal when the world catches up to the visions they see?
What do you think? How would you fix FLASHFORWARD and make it the show that was supposed to be the heir to LOST?
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