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FlashForward - US Speed - 24/7/2009 8:59:31 PM

Captain Black

Posts: 6328
Joined: 30/9/2005

No space between words: their idea, guv!

This is a new American series - an adaptation, a very loose adaptation as I understand it, of the book, Flash Forward (see the difference?) and has a really great hook. It follows an 'event' that causes everyone on Earth to blackout for a short period, experiencing visions of their future. Part of the marketing speak involves discussions about cause and effect and pre-determination, and there's the element that those experiencing the flash forward were doing whatever it was they were doing during their blackout; so they'd lose control of their cars, machinery, etc, and the accompanying consequences.

It's really one of the few 'interesting' (by my reckoning) new network shows, and clearly makers ABC have it in mind as the new Lost. Joseph Fiennes, Jack Davenport, John Cho, and people whose names don't start with J are among the main cast.

In a move that I wouldn't have put good money on, Five has bought the UK rights, a slightly bolder choice from their usual MO of getting procedurals, as reported here. There's also a link to a youtube trailer on that page. And ignore the 13 episode bit: if it's succesful they'll milk this sucker for all it's worth.

< Message edited by Captain Black -- 25/9/2009 9:19:47 PM >

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RE: FlashForward - 24/7/2009 9:44:08 PM

Peppermint

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Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Sussex

See, this may be a worthy replacement for House

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RE: FlashForward - 24/7/2009 9:50:55 PM

Captain Black

Posts: 6328
Joined: 30/9/2005

Well, Five effectively bought The Mentalist as House's direct replacement, but it's been losing viewers fairly steadily they might be really regretting that about now (other behind the scenes stuff I'm not aware of notwisthstanding). This is a fairly early buy I believe, but as there's precious little else of interest from the networks this year, this is probably as safe a programme to get as anything.

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RE: FlashForward - 24/7/2009 10:49:50 PM

richCie

Posts: 4028
Joined: 11/11/2006
From: Wells, England

hang on...didnt i see a trailer for this like 6 months ago (probably an exaggeration)
i cnt remember it looking particularly good but wasnt as bad as that awful day one trailer (and i had such high hopes) so might be worth a look i spose

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RE: FlashForward - 25/7/2009 1:17:17 AM

Dirty Hartigan

Posts: 5890
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Manchester

quote:

ORIGINAL: Captain Black

No space between words: their idea, guv!

This is a new American series - an adaptation, a very loose adaptation as I understand it, of the book, Flash Forward (see the difference?) and has a really great hook. It follows an 'event' (in the book it's triggered the activation of the large hadron collider at CERN) that causes everyone on Earth to blackout for a short period, experiencing visions of their future. Part of the marketing speak involves discussions about cause and effect and pre-determination, and there's the element that those experiencing the flash forward were doing whatever it was they were doing during their blackout; so they'd lose control of their cars, machinery, etc, and the accompanying consequences.

It's really one of the few 'interesting' (by my reckoning) new network shows, and clearly makers ABC have it in mind as the new Lost. Joseph Fiennes, Jack Davenport, John Cho, and people whose names don't start with J are among the main cast.

In a move that I wouldn't have put good money on, Five has bought the UK rights, a slightly bolder choice from their usual MO of getting procedurals, as reported here. There's also a link to a youtube trailer on that page. And ignore the 13 episode bit: if it's succesful they'll milk this sucker for all it's worth.

You lost me here. Shame.

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Post #: 5

RE: FlashForward - 25/7/2009 9:12:50 AM

OddCinema

Posts: 2589
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: 23 Meteor St.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Captain Black

And ignore the 13 episode bit: if it's successful they'll milk this sucker for all it's worth.

Could it be that they're trying to follow HBO's format for The Wire? I'm guessing it's more because they don't want to distract from Lost's final season, but I really enjoy the hour-long episodes, rather than 40 minutes.

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Post #: 6

RE: FlashForward - 25/7/2009 9:24:31 AM

Captain Black

Posts: 6328
Joined: 30/9/2005

Almost everything gets a 13 episode pick up to start with once it goes from pilot stage and into production, which then gets extended (the 'back-end') if and when the programme in question becomes succesful. The only network shows with 13 episode seasons are those slated as mid-season replacements that get renewed, which in most cases (unless they're cancelled the subsequent year) will have a 22+ episode season the next year. And Lost, which they've still bumped up to 18 episodes (well, 16 two of which are doubles).

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Post #: 7

RE: FlashForward - 25/9/2009 8:31:57 PM

Captain Black

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Joined: 30/9/2005

Pretty damn good. Not perfect - there's bit of dodgy dialogue, in particular it's up to Fiennes to deliver the exposition as he's the main character, and it's really heavy-handed, but the opening stuff is spectacular and it sets everything up really well. I won't go into greater detail until more people have seen it, but yeah: it matched my expectations.

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Post #: 8

RE: FlashForward - 25/9/2009 11:56:29 PM

Chief Wiggum

Posts: 1921
Joined: 30/9/2005

I have to agree that it was pretty good, It held my interest for the most part, although there were parts where the dialogue was a little off, notably the FBI meeting after the event. However the end scene means that I will be watching next week despite my suspension of disbelief was shattered a number of times during it.

It strikes me as quite a good premise, as we've been given a sneak peak of a number of end points for the series end, I just wonder how they could carry it on for a number of seasons with the same premise, unless they show another aspect of the aftermath. FlashForward UK anyone?

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Post #: 9

RE: FlashForward - 26/9/2009 12:10:13 AM

igotnewlegs

Posts: 5063
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From: The big blue velour marble

Not overly impressed. A good start but crammed a bit too much in. Dialogue on the whole was good apart from when they felt the need to explain to the viewer what was going on. Its not gripped me in the same way as other programs but I'll give it a few more episodes because the premise is interesting.

Anyone else spot family guy in the FBI?

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Post #: 10

RE: FlashForward - 26/9/2009 12:13:21 AM

Chief Wiggum

Posts: 1921
Joined: 30/9/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: igotnewlegs

Not overly impressed. A good start but crammed a bit too much in. Dialogue on the whole was good apart from when they felt the need to explain to the viewer what was going on. Its not gripped me in the same way as other programs but I'll give it a few more episodes because the premise is interesting.

Anyone else spot family guy in the FBI?

No but I did spot a very blatant Oceanic Airlines billboard in the background, which I kind of liked. Let's face it it's not going to be high drama, but it could well be a nicely diverting bit of schlock for the end of the week (or Saturday morning hangovers)

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Post #: 11

RE: FlashForward - 26/9/2009 12:49:14 AM

The Mighty

Posts: 1743
Joined: 30/9/2005

As I wrote in the UK thread, I though the pilot was silly, but ultimately entertaining stuff. The acting and writing weren't the best, but it moved fairly quickly, with an ending intriguing enough to make me want to watch next week, which is all you can really ask for in a pilot. Although I agree that a two hour premier would have made the events unfold a little smoother, I'm actually glad they crammed so much into the first episode. The episode wasn't the most elegant, but its fast paced may help assure audiences that they won't have to wait years for answers, which is a problem I think a lot of the other serialized drama looking to replace Lost have suffered from. Surface, Invasion, Jericho and The Nine all crashed and burned pretty quickly.

As for the question of how long they can run with this premise, I hope they have a solid plan for what occurs when they finally reach the date of their flash forward, and if not, I hope they do as much as they can with the premise before having to stretch it out over a number of years.

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Post #: 12

RE: FlashForward - 26/9/2009 12:50:35 AM

Reidy

Posts: 826
Joined: 30/9/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: igotnewlegs

Not overly impressed. A good start but crammed a bit too much in. Dialogue on the whole was good apart from when they felt the need to explain to the viewer what was going on. Its not gripped me in the same way as other programs but I'll give it a few more episodes because the premise is interesting.

Anyone else spot family guy in the FBI?

I did indeed. Was struck with 'where do I know his face from?' until he spoke and it clicked.

Overall I enjoyed it. The opening was excellent, and a fine set up for the rest of the series. Flagged a bit after that, but the final scene sets up the next couple nicely.

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Post #: 13

RE: FlashForward - 26/9/2009 3:10:05 PM

Jeffrey

Posts: 788
Joined: 4/10/2005
From: Newport, South Wales

Submit your own flash forward experiences here:
http://www.jointhemosaic.com/site/index.html#/MAP

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Post #: 14

RE: FlashForward - 26/9/2009 5:18:51 PM

Monkeyshaver

Posts: 4734
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: La Planete Des Singe

quote:

ORIGINAL: The Mighty

As I wrote in the UK thread, I though the pilot was silly, but ultimately entertaining stuff. The acting and writing weren't the best, but it moved fairly quickly, with an ending intriguing enough to make me want to watch next week, which is all you can really ask for in a pilot. Although I agree that a two hour premier would have made the events unfold a little smoother,�I'm actually glad they crammed so much into the first episode.�The episode wasn't the most elegant, but its fast�paced may help assure audiences that they won't have to wait years for�answers, which�is a problem I think a lot of the other serialized drama looking to replace�Lost have suffered from.�Surface, Invasion, Jericho and The�Nine all crashed and burned pretty quickly.

As for�the question of how long they can run with this premise, I�hope they have a solid�plan for what occurs when they finally reach the date of their flash forward, and if not, I hope they do as much as they can with the premise before having to stretch it out over a number of years. ��

Well, its based on novel so I'm guessing they know where they're going unlike the make-it-up-as-you-go-along Lost.
Anyway, the first episode was OK, but the characters aren't that interesting which could be problematic.

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Post #: 15

RE: FlashForward - 26/9/2009 8:30:31 PM

ChickMagnet

Posts: 1648
Joined: 19/5/2008
From: The Wrong Side of the Tracks

I really enjoyed it, however even ten years later I can't see John Cho and not instantly think of American Pie.

Plus as other people have said - the ending makes you interested for more. One big problem I had with Lost was that I always read the spoilers for Lost before I'd seen the episode, if this show takes off it may be hard for me to resist making the same mistake.

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Post #: 16

RE: FlashForward - 27/9/2009 3:14:03 PM

themightyhutch

Posts: 3719
Joined: 18/2/2007
From: surrey

I quite enjoyed it. It didn't grab me immediately like Lost did, but it actually did quite well. Some of the effects weren't great, but it was actually quite interesting to watch, and whilst I expected something similar to the ending to happen eventually during the show, I thought it was a really good ending, and I'll definitely be tuning in for more. Serious props for it having Seth MacFarlane which was an interesting turn but it's all good.

Although a really really unsubtle Lost reference in there.

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Post #: 17

RE: FlashForward - 27/9/2009 4:27:18 PM

Timon

Posts: 14543
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Bristol

I really liked it. Fantastic opening, intresting premise and continued the trend of having a Brit lead a US program.

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Post #: 18

RE: FlashForward - US - 27/9/2009 4:57:38 PM

Captain Black

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Most of the main cast's British (or at least born here): Fiennes, Walger and Davenport.

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Post #: 19

RE: FlashForward - US - 28/9/2009 10:37:11 AM

Spartacus

Posts: 1592
Joined: 8/11/2005
From: Middle England

Got to the end of the show and wanted to watch the next episode, so that's a plus point for me. I generally don't get on with pilot episodes as they try and cram as much info in as they can so you are up to speed by episode 2. Was quite shocked with the scene with the helicopter and the office block, at least this is set in LA so not too bad

Overall, I thought it was alright so will stick with it for a while.

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Post #: 20

RE: FlashForward - US - 28/9/2009 3:06:00 PM

Beno

Posts: 8078
Joined: 15/2/2007
From: Sheffield

Why is it on C5 here .... you cant Sky+ on C5s channel's !?!?

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Post #: 21

RE: FlashForward - US - 28/9/2009 10:38:12 PM

squeezyrider

Posts: 197
Joined: 1/5/2006

I don't have any problems with sky+on Channel 5.

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Post #: 22

RE: FlashForward - US - 28/9/2009 10:42:41 PM

elab49

Posts: 51567
Joined: 1/10/2005

Nor do I - you can record from any channel.

Have you tried the manual recording if you're having a problem, Beno, just to see if that works? Although I'd call Sky themselves if I were you.

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Post #: 23

RE: FlashForward - US - 29/9/2009 5:18:00 PM

Jeffrey

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New US poster:

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Post #: 24

RE: FlashForward - US - 29/9/2009 5:47:01 PM

beebs_

Posts: 2794
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Brits! Brits (almost) everywhere!

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Post #: 25

RE: FlashForward - US - 2/10/2009 9:14:29 PM

Captain Black

Posts: 6328
Joined: 30/9/2005

Episode 2 "White To Play".

Solid follow up. Nothing incendiary. Some promising humour on display, particularly from Courtney B. Vance, who's topping the 'best character' power rankings for me. Most of the other characters remain a bit one-note. Jack Davenport really sold his key scene too.

I feel like I should be more affected by the cliffhanger(s) than I was; they were good but didn't have that 'I've got to watch the next episode right now' quality that all of the best cliffhangers do.

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Post #: 26

RE: FlashForward - US - 3/10/2009 12:25:00 AM

beebs_

Posts: 2794
Joined: 30/9/2005

Hmmm. OK....

It was OK. Nothing special. I was sitting there waiting for almost that everything that happened to happen. Nothing surprised me.

My bold crazy statement that you all can laugh at me about later...

That female agent who is pregnant in her flash forward is pregnant with dead Kno's kid! Boooooooooooo!

Random thought... was that guy who set off the explosion the dude in the X Files ep Theef/in the MJ vid You Rock My World.

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Post #: 27

RE: FlashForward - US - 3/10/2009 2:03:01 AM

Monkeyshaver

Posts: 4734
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: La Planete Des Singe

quote:

ORIGINAL: Spartacus
Was quite shocked with the scene with the helicopter and the office block, at least this is set in LA so not too bad�

?

Anyway, episode 2 didn't really grab me, will give it a couple more episodes though.

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Post #: 28

RE: FlashForward - US - 3/10/2009 10:38:03 PM

thaiboy

Posts: 8
Joined: 3/10/2009

having watched the first 2 episodes i'm hooked, i hope they dont drag it on like lost, but if its successful they more than likely will...boooooo

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Post #: 29

RE: FlashForward - US - 4/10/2009 10:44:48 AM

ChickMagnet

Posts: 1648
Joined: 19/5/2008
From: The Wrong Side of the Tracks

quote:

ORIGINAL: Monkeyshaver

quote:

ORIGINAL: Spartacus
Was quite shocked with the scene with the helicopter and the office block, at least this is set in LA so not too bad

?

Anyway, episode 2 didn't really grab me, will give it a couple more episodes though.

I think ol' Spartacus is referring to something flying into the side of a tower, very similar to the way it happened on 9/11.

I enjoyed the 2nd episode, wasn't as action-packed as the first episode but I wouldn't expect that, I mean if they did you'd really have to be suspending disbelief in the story a bit too much.

One theory I've got is that this D Gibbons dude is going to abduct Jack Davenports kid and Penny from Lost's kid and thats why they're in the same building in the flashforward, just being there to comfort each other.

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