FlashForward

[Radical Dreamer]

Okay, guys. Lost isn't starting up again until January (I'm incredibly stoked, by the way), but ABC has provided a similarly interesting show to hold down our appetites: FlashForward! Personally, I'm about 80% sure this show is in some way related to Lost--it is, at the very least, in the same universe:



Anyways! For those of you who may be watching the show, what do you think so far? The production and acting isn't quite as good as Lost's, but the concepts and themes are so similar, and very intriguing! Discuss!

[wildpurplechild]

It's pretty good, I started watching it, but then found it conflicts with another show I like, so I'd have to tape, and watch the one i missed last week online. As for the show itself it's very interesting, and the doll factory was really creepy!

[mechana2015]

I need to watch some complete episodes (I've seen parts of several) and I've been told my all the people at work that I talk about LOST with that it's great. My only concern is that their just tapping the LOST buzz and using the shows brands to promote another show and gain watchers, not doing something with the same quality as LOST. I havn't heard that JJ Abrams or any of the other LOST producers are involved in this... does anyone know otherwise?

[wildpurplechild]

Yeah, I don't think it's really conected with lost... I think they just like to throw in fun hidden things like that.

[Roy Mustang]

Not watching it until I finish the novel first.

I havn't heard that JJ Abrams or any of the other LOST producers are involved in this... does anyone know otherwise?

Nope of the Lost producers are involved in this. David S. Goyer (written several screenplays based on numerous comic book series, among them Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Flash) and Brannon Braga (is currently working on the writing crew of 24 for Season 7, with the credit of Executive Producer, but he is mostly known for being co-creator and executive producers of Star Trek: Enterprise.


[font="Arial Narrow"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[mechana2015]

Brannon Braga (is currently working on the writing crew of 24 for Season 7, with the credit of Executive Producer, but he is mostly known for being co-creator and executive producers of Star Trek: Enterprise.


[font="Arial Narrow"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

That's not a good sign in my eyes.

[Cognitive Gear]

That's not a good sign in my eyes.

This. I think that concept is pretty good, but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet. I'll have to see if I can find an online stream so I can catch up.

[Roy Mustang]

That's not a good sign in my eyes.

Its why I'm reading the novel by Robert J. Sawyer. The series is based loosely on the novel, which was written in 1999.

The novel is set in a fictionalized and anticipatorily futuristic year 2009. At CERN, the Large Hadron Collider accelerator is performing a run to search for the Higgs boson. The experiment has a unique side effect: the entire human race loses consciousness for about two minutes. During that time, nearly everyone sees themselves in the future (by about 21 years). Each individual experiences their own future through the senses of their future self. This "flash forward" results in multiple deaths and accidents involving vehicles, aircraft, and any other device needing human control at the time of the experiment.

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[~darkelfgirl~]

I'm watching it. It's pretty interesting. The first episode kind of screamed 'Lost' to me. No digging necessary, you'll immediately see.

But it's interesting. My roommate and I are hooked. You can watch complete eps on ABC.com (we don't have a TV, so we watch it there).

[Roy Mustang]

FlashForward's future is murky: What will save it?

We're trying to look ahead to April 29, 2010—the date ABC's FlashForward ends its first season—but unlike the characters on the high-concept sci-fi series, we're not sure what the future holds.

We dig the show, and it has a fair share of fan sites, not to mention heated debate on ABC's own Web forum. But the show, which debuted to great ratings, has seen its audience continue to drop, and at least some fans seem to be losing patience with the complex show's sometimes meandering storylines.

The series premiere on Sept. 23 had 12.4 million viewers and a 4.0 rating in the prime demographic of adults ages 18-49. Its second week had the standard drop of 0.3, but by the third episode, the rating sank sharply to 3.0, and in subsequent weeks it's rated only 2.7 (9 million viewers) and 2.6.

Some blamed the World Series for low ratings on Oct. 29, but the show still lost viewers last Wednesday, with no baseball competition. TVbythenumbers.com's Bill Gorman says, "If it doesn't recover from the 2.6 rating, its future on next season's schedule is in doubt. And if the ratings go lower than that, it's got no future at all."

It might not be as dire as Gorman suggests. ABC, showing confidence in the series, placed an order for a full season of episodes as of Oct. 12, enough to run through April 29 of next year. But if the first 13 episodes manage to lose more viewers, there's nothing stopping ABC from pulling the plug at any point on the final nine. Still, even at its lowest rating, FlashForward remains the number-two network show in its timeslot.

A complicating factor, of course, is the show's Thursday-night competition: CBS' Survivor dominates at 8 o'clock. Fans always like to think that a new night would give the show the chance to find new viewers, but it's not like people can't watch FlashForward if they really want to, and ABC has done a massive advertising campaign for the show, so it's no secret that it's on.

The good news is that DVR numbers add another 1.9 million viewers to even the lowest-rated episodes, according to Radio Business Report/Television Business Report. During World Series week, FlashForward actually grew its female audience.

It's not a good sign that ABC has been giving up on genre shows lately. The quiet non-renewal of Eastwick didn't seem to break any hearts, but the lackluster summer airing of Defying Gravity didn't seem like a fair test of that show's appeal. The network's latest sci-fi offering, V, meanwhile, started out strong but suffered a sharp drop in its second week. The trend could give them cold feet, especially as ABC loses its genre mainstay, Lost, after its final season in 2010.

Another indicator of trouble is the big change behind the scenes: executive producer Marc Guggenheim left FlashForward last month. Ain't It Cool News speculates that Guggenheim was let go because of network dissatisfaction with his work on the episodes after the premiere.

But we took the news as a good sign: Whatever the reason Guggenheim left, we're confident that the show will thrive under the sole leadership of co-creator David Goyer. And ABC seems to be sticking with the show, at least for now.

Is there something that can be done creatively to keep viewers tuned in?

AOL Television critic Gary Susman has several suggestions for ensuring FlashForward's creative health, including maintaining a sharp focus on character and moving the plot along faster. Susman also calls for a more accurate portrayal of the world's dealing with the massive blackout event and actually investigating the bigger philosophical mythology rather than the nuts and bolts of a one-time conspiracy.

[font="Century Gothic"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[Roy Mustang]

I hate to bring bad news this week.

FlashForward hits a series low and ABC halts production

The ratings for FlashForward fell yet again with last week's episode, down 8 percent to a new low of only 8 million. And today, according to The Hollywood Reporter, ABC has stopped production on the freshman series for this week.

A rep for the network said that the six-day hiatus had always been built into the show's schedule, adding, "They want to maintain the high quality of the show, and this gives the writers the opportunity to do so."

Reason to worry? Perhaps.

But before you start panicking that you'll never learn exactly how we get to the world of April 29, 2010, it's too soon to know whether this will mean good news or bad news for viewers.

Since FlashForward has already been picked up for a full season—and even with its ratings slide still retains a sizeable audience—this creative pause could result in a better, stronger show.

On the other hand, if the viewership continues to drop, and the behind-the-scenes shakeups (David Goyer in as show runner, Marc Guggenheim out) don't result in a creative and ratings turnaround ... well, we don't need to experience a flash-forward ourselves to know what that might mean.

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[Mithrandir]

The networks don't get it. If you keep canceling a show in the middle of a season, NO ONE WILL EVER WATCH ANYTHING EVER AGAIN. We'll just go watching something we like online - at least the Internets love us.