Thought all the new shows had premiered already? A few more trickle in over this second week of the official Fall season, including this out-of-the-ordinary little hour from ABC:
No Ordinary Family (8 p.m., ABC and CTV)Ever take a family vacation and come back feeling super? The Powells did. Dad Jim (Michael Chiklis from The Shield), mom Stephanie (Dexter’s Julie Benz), and kids Daphnie and JJ (Kay Panabaker and Jimmy Bennett) can stop bullets, leap tall buildings and figure out math problems, all from just surviving a crash landing in the jungle.
But can they outrun the lawyers from The Incredibles? No matter. This live action cartoon clone is more fun than Heroes and is super just by being different—no ordinary feat this season.
Lone Star was also different, but may have turned off viewers with an unsympathetic premise (the lead was a con artist and, worse, a two-timing cheat). No Ordinary Family seems like a much more positive show, about a family fighting to stay together. Plus, c’mon, the superhero stuff is cool.
This gang will need their superpowers, though–they go up against red hot Glee (tonight featuring Britney Spears) in the timeslot.
Chiklis, who got all bricked up for a couple of Fantastic Four films, told critics at press tour that he doesn’t really think of this as a sci-fi show. “Yes, there are elements of the superhero thing, but what we’re trying to do is meld different genres together and make a new thing.” He also doesn’t see it as a rip-off of anything else. “This isn’t Heroes, “ he told critics. “It isn’t The Incredibles. This is No Ordinary Family.”
