One of ABC's new tv shows this fall is called No Ordinary Family. I watched the pilot episode and found it to be an entertaining yet flawed viewing experience. I was attracted to the show because I've always been a big fan of superhero stories. I especially enjoy seeing how everyday human beings cope with their super powers. In comic books, Marvel Comics pioneered the concept with Spiderman, a superhero with real human problems. The Spiderman movies were also great human character stories wrapped around thrilling action packed adventures. Heroes is a favorite tv show of mine, and The Incredibles is one of my favorite movies of all time.
No Ordinary Family borrows a little bit from each of the tiltles mentioned above. This show is about a family of four, who go through an experience together that gives each of them a unique super power. In the pilot, they all discover and then try to come to grips with their power. I enjoyed most of the super power stuff. The effects used in each instance were impressive. There's just something inherrently fun about seeing a human being become super. I don't think I'm alone in this either. Maybe it's because we all wish we could be super in some way shape or form.
On the down side, this show tries a little too hard to keep the story light hearted. I wouldn't call it a comedy by any means, but there are plenty of scenes and lines that are intended to make us smile and even chuckle along the way. I must confess, many of those moments were turn offs for me. Especially scenes surrounding the Dad's new super strength. His abilities are truly incredible but most of his scenes are played out humorously, ruining any chance of suspense when he's using his powers.
The best thing about this show is the family element that ties the whole show together. They're an imperfect family with strained relationships all around, but, they're all struggling to reconnect with each other. Their new found powers only magnify their need for each other.
For sheer entertainment value, I'll give it a 149 stars. It was kind of goofy in this opening episode, but I see great potential.
On the Christian Family scale I give it 180 stars. I like the emphasis on family, but I didn't like the bad attitudes of the teenagers, even a few minor cuss words. All teenagers aren't that bad.
So, my Watcher500 total score is 329 stars. The pilot show alone actually deserves lower, but my rating takes into account some great potential I see in this show.
Has anyone noticed that the actor who played the dad in this show also played Ben Grimm in the Fantastic Four movies? That's interesting because Ben Grimm and this Dad character have almost the exact same powers. The only thing missing is the rock skin. When you think about that similarity and the four characters with different powers, this could almost be called a spinnof series from the Fantastic Four movies. A better title would have been the Fantastic Family.
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