No Ordinary Family (2010 - 2011): Review By Brian Gallagher

Most ordinary people love them some superheroes. Whether they be in the pages of comic books or on the silver and small screens, people have been constantly fascinated with people who have special abilities for decades. Over the past decade or so, Hollywood has successfully come up with comic book movies that appeal to a mass audience, but TV still hasn't seemed to find a way to make people with super powers work, with long-term success anyway. That trend will hopefully be reversed with the new ABC series No Ordinary Family, which premieres on Tuesday, September 28 at 8 PM ET, and if the fantastic pilot is any indication, this wonderful series will be around for a very long time.

I was fortunate enough to speak with the leads of this superb cast, Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz and co-creator Greg Berlanti at Comic-Con last month (you can watch the video interviews here - http://www.movieweb.com/comic-con/2010/news/sdcc-2010-exclusive-no-ordinary-family-cast-speaks) and Benz told me that she coined a new term for the show - "dramactionomedy" since it does drama, action and comedy all very well - and I didn't know until I watched the pilot today how accurate that term really is. Actually, you could even add to that and make it "famdramactionomedy" because the family element of the show works so well while bringing back the superhero element that was briefly missing from TV after the cancellation of the NBC series Heroes. After initially loving and eventually being disappointed by Heroes, No Ordinary Family certainly does have some big shoes to fill, but I think it's safe to say that the way this show is set up is a formula for long-term success.

Instead of focusing on seemingly countless characters with abilities and their quest for whatever, No Ordinary Family focuses on one family, who - after a plane crash the could've been/should've been tragic - are blessed with some amazing gifts. Jim Powell (Michael Chiklis) is in a bit of a rut. He's a failed artist who parlayed those skills into becoming a police sketch artist and finds himself unable to connect with his highly-successful wife, Stephanie (the always-gorgeous Julie Benz) and kids, Daphne and J.J. (Kay Panabaker and Jimmy Bennett). Stephanie is constantly busy with her job as a research scientist while Daphne's life revolves around texting and keeping her boyfriend, Lucas, although she's worried he'll leave because she won't sleep with him yet, and J.J. is struggling at school with a learning disability. Jim convinces his family to go with his wife on her research trip to Brazil to make it a family vacation and, when they go up in a rickety plane to take a rainforest tour, the plane crashes in the Amazon and they luckily survive. When they get back, they find themselves falling back into their disconnected routine and they slowly start to discover extraordinary abilities they have. Stephanie, who never can seem to find enough time in the day, discovers she has super speed and Daphne, who is constantly worried about what others think of her, develops telepathy, being able to hear other people's thoughts. Jim, who has always wanted a sense of purpose in his life, develops some Superman-like abilities, but not all of Superman's abilities and J.J. seems to be the odd man out, as he doesn't discover any abilities... until the end of the episode.

Both Jim and Stephanie need someone to confide in with both of their new powers, and Jim turns to his friend George (Romany Malco), a wise-cracking D.A. and Stephanie tells her secret to her lab tech, Katie (Autumn Reeser), both of whom are hilarious in different ways. Jim learns in his excursions with George that he can't fly... but he can jump over a quarter mile. His skin isn't exactly bulletproof, but he can catch bullets and lift over 11,000 pounds. His abilities aren't as defined as the rest of his family and it seems that they'll continue to explore what he can and can't do throughout this first season. Stephanie and Katie go to a horse track where Katie tracks Stephanie's speed with a radar gun, with speeds reaching over 600 miles per hour.

What I really enjoyed about these abilities is that, instead of randomly assigning abilities to people like they did in Heroes, they give everyone what they truly want. Jim wants to do something more with his life, to make a difference, and his abilities lead him to go after a thief who has been hitting several areas in town donning an Obama mask (nice Point Break nod, guys)... who we find out has his own set of abilities as well. There is a simply fantastic scene where Powell fights this robber that showcases the fantastic special effects in the show that are, at the very least, on par with the superb effects in Heroes. Stephanie needs more time in her life and she uses her super-speed to create more time to spend with her family, Daphne can now know exactly how everyone thinks about her and J.J.'s learning disabilities seem to be cured with his ability. Their gifts also seem to bring the family together and I really can't wait to see how they continue to explore the family dynamic and how they continue to deal with their gifts... and if they will meet more people like them as well. They set it up rather wonderfully with the gifted thief and I hope they continue to interact with other "special" people, as long as they keep the focus on the family and don't get as incredibly-muddled as Heroes did.

The cast is just fantastic here. As much as I LOVED The Shield and Michael Chiklis' unforgettable seven-season turn as Vic Mackey, it's great to see him expand his repertoire in this fantastic but very-different show. Chiklis is great as the Powell patriarch, who just wants to connect with his family and my future wife Julie Benz (just kidding... kinda...) delivers in fantastic ways as well. Both Chiklis and Benz are well-known for two longtime and very different roles on edgy cable shows and it's not only great to see them succeed on network TV, but it's great that there's a show that has finally seemed to find a way to make a family show that can be incredibly funny and highly dramatic while also putting some cutting-edge special effects on display as well. This show truly has its cake and eats it too. Rounding out the cast are some wonderful supporting players in the Romany Malco and Julie Benz, both of whom have completely different comedic sensibilities and provide most of the comic relief for the show. What's great is the show manages to find room for both of these different brands of comedy. While Malco's in-your-face comedy is obviously toned down a bit for network TV, they find a way to make it work and Reeser's quirky brand of comedy - which is displayed in fantastic fashion in the criminally-underseen film Palo Alto, CA - is a fantastic contrast to Benz's cool/calm/collected demeanor. Kay Panabaker and Jimmy Bennett both do great jobs as well, although the pilot doesn't focus as much on their abilities, although I'm sure we'll get into their powers more as the season progresses. The kids having these powers while in high school also presents another intriguing dynamic and it will be interesting to see how they adjust to the tumultuous time at high school with these new gifts.

David Semel, who coincidentally directed the pilot episode of Heroes as well, does a remarkable job with the effects and this top-notch cast. He has directed a number of TV pilots but this just may be his best one yet. It's amazing to see a show, in this era of TV where everything is so compartmentalized and specialized, with shows that don't try to do much more outside their own niche, to find a show that literally delivers everything an audience could possibly want - action, comedy, drama and family elements - into one show where all of those elements are done so incredibly well. It really is a "dramactionomedy" (or "famdramactionomedy") and it's so refreshing to see a family show that isn't incredibly corny, a superhero show that doesn't get bogged down in logistics or semantics, a funny comedy and an action-packed drama.... all existing in just one show.

No Ordinary Family is no ordinary show and one of the best pilots I've seen in recent memory! If this show isn't a huge success, I'm going to hurt America!