Flash Forward (US) [** SPOILERS **]

DingDong

This looks like it could be an excellent show airs 24/9 in the US

When the world’s population is given a glimpse of their future due to a mysterious global event, it forces everyone to come to grips with whether their destinies can be fulfilled or avoided.

Basq

Yep, this could be great alright.

Has a superb cast it has to be said: Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Dominic Monaghan and Sonya Walger.

Dman001

Really looking forward to this and V. I believe RTE got the rights to Flash Forward.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Can't wait for all the new shows to start and the return of others.

T-b0n3

Looks good. Will definitely give it a watch.

Mr.Nice Guy

Yeah been looking forward to this. The concept is ace.

lostexpectation

how far into the future did they see

awful version of that song

J-blk

lostexpectation wrote: »

how far into the future did they see

Only about six months AFAIK - so the episodes where they "catch up" with the future they saw should conveniently air around the May "sweeps" period in the US. I wonder how a second season would work though (if it gets one)?

Still, looking forward to this, it's always nice to see something other than a @%#!*&$ legal/medical drama on US TV...

JP Liz

looks good

jor el

For anyone that has FTA satellite, Five are going to be showing this, starting October I think. Saw the ad at the weekend, and it looks pretty cool.

I'd be a little worried for how they'll continue once they progress past the 6 months in the future that everyone saw. It has the potential to be brilliant, or not. Think, Odessy 5. Really looking forward to it though. It's being haled as the new Lost, though I really hate when a show/film is haled as the new something. Why can't it just be itself? I'd say ABC really need something to fill the gap that Lost will leave when it finishes up. This will be that gap filler.

doh.ie

jor el wrote: »

For anyone that has FTA satellite, Five are going to be showing this, starting October I think. Saw the ad at the weekend, and it looks pretty cool.

I'd be a little worried for how they'll continue once they progress past the 6 months in the future that everyone saw. It has the potential to be brilliant, or not. Think, Odessy 5. Really looking forward to it though. It's being haled as the new Lost, though I really hate when a show/film is haled as the new something. Why can't it just be itself? I'd say ABC really need something to fill the gap that Lost will leave when it finishes up. This will be that gap filler.

Thought the pilot of this was so-so, a fast half followed by a slow discussion part where the mystery unravelled, but not very satisfyingly. They spend 10-15 minutes on the good stuff, but I can see a long Lost-like series of waiting before we ever find out the causes etc. And even then there is nothing as compelling (to me anyway) as in Lost when it comes to the characters' futures or their different versions of the flash. There's not much to distinguish the FBI agents either, and Joseph Fiennes isn't hectic in this either. Think they might have had something stronger with a different lead.

And there's every likelihood

the series will reset and do another flash forward in April 2010 once it catches up to that point in 'real time' so that the second season becomes all about the consequences of the second flash forward etc. If that's the case, I'm not sure there won't be a constant 'Save the world' Heroes-style plot crutch. There's certainly nothing as impressive as Lost's pilot about FlashForward, except maybe the last 20 seconds of the pilot.

AntiRip

From TV Countdown

FlashForward is a science-fiction television series currently in production by ABC Studios for the 2009–2010 television season for ABC. It is based on the 1999 Prix Aurora Award-winning novel Flashforward by Canadian science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer. With the end of Lost in 2010, ABC Studios hopes it will be a companion series to the show during its sixth and final season.
In May 2009, ABC picked up FlashForward for thirteen episodes. In the United States, these episodes will begin airing on Thursdays, starting September 24, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern / 7:00 p.m. Central . The episodes will be simultaneously shown on 'A' (owned by CTV). The show is set to air on RTE Television in the Republic of Ireland as part of its fall/winter season 2009. The show will air on Five in the UK and will begin on Mondays from September 28, 2009, four days behind the US. In Belgium, the show is set to air on BeTV 8 days after the US diffusion.. During June 2009 Australia's Seven Network began running teaser ads referring to the show. In Italy, the show will be aired on Fox on Mondays from October 5 2009. In Portugal, the show will be aired on AXN starting October 7, 2009 according to a currently running teaser.
On ABC, the show inherits the timeslot held by Ugly Betty in the 2006-2009 season.

Richard Dower

I'll give it a go....but my gut tells me both this and V will suck.

MOH

Dman001 wrote: »

Really looking forward to this and V. I believe RTE got the rights to Flash Forward.

Great, I look forward to recording it in 6 months time at 3.40 am

Full_Circle

MOH wrote: »

Great, I look forward to recording it in 6 months time at 3.40 am

Classic

Gingervitis

Pre air is floating around the internet now, kinda crappy quality though.

Interesting stuff, didn't expect to see

Seth Mcfarlane

in a cameo, hopefully he won't be there too long term (annoying git!)

Guess I knew too much about the pilot before I saw it, the majority of it was just setting up what we already know. There is a bit of a "Heroes" feel to Joseph Fiennes' part, with a dash of "Fringe" thrown in.

Still, worth a shot. I'll reserve judgement 'till the next few episodes. Seems like a slow burner tbh.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Thought it was a bit slow in parts, but love the premise of the show, so think it can get really good. The plot's already moving forward quite swiftly, so really looking forward to see more. Worst thing about pre-air's is the long wait until the next episode.

Deeper Blue

Looks good. I'll keep an eye out for it.

DeWitt

I'll definitely be watching, it looks awesome.

jor el

I'll watch it, but if it's going to be another Lost, with a long meandering story that will take 5 or 6 years to find out what's going on, then I'm not going to continue.

Mr E

jor el wrote: »

I'll watch it, but if it's going to be another Lost, with a long meandering story that will take 5 or 6 years to find out what's going on, then I'm not going to continue.

If it's like Lost, then just skip season 3.

Richard Dower

Gonna avoid the pre-air....quality reasons.

J-blk

Richard Dower wrote: »

Gonna avoid the pre-air....quality reasons.

Me too, we're only a week away from the official airing anyway, so what's the point?

Richard Dower

Yeah, tis best to wait....i haven't read ANYTHING about the show save for the basic gist. Like i said i'm not fully on board with this show but will give it a shot. As above posters say....if it's a Lost type deal tryna drag stuff out over 5 seasons with no answers it'll p*ss me right off!!

I hate shows like that.

Watched it earlier. A fascinating premise, without the whole everyone seeing six months into the future idea. Everyone blacking out at the exact same time. The aftermath when everyone came to at the beginning was pretty well done and excellent. Will be interesting to see how they develop it now.

J-blk

Just watched the pilot and really enjoyed it. Tons of questions there but the whole "six months until they catch up with the future they saw" concept means we probably will get a lot more answers than Lost in this show's first season.

The opening with the aftermath of the blackout was pretty well done and really reminded me of the opening of Lost again, but on a grander scale.

BTW, did anyone notice the billboard for "Oceanic Airlines"?

Good start, looking forward to more - exactly what any decent pilot episode should accomplish. Hopefully it'll find ratings success and not get canceled prematurely.

tvnutz

Thought it was average really,it was only setting the story up though so it could get better as it is an interesting premise. Especially with the CCTV footage at the end. Also the cast are pretty good for the most part so we will see how it develops.

abelard

Thought it was a very good, if not excellent, pilot, and I'll definitely keep watching as it has the potential to be brilliant. The final scene was pretty cool, a great set-up for next week.

I wonder if they'll have to have lots of guest characters for one or two episodes to keep it interesting and keep showing us new parts of the future jigsaw. I was kind of surprised just how many of the main characters flash forwards were revealed (I thought they might pace it slower, a bit like lost, and focus on one or two people's flashes every week). I guess though that people might be keeping secrets about certain things they saw so they'll keep the reveals coming.

Does anyone know if they're planning on more than one season? I'd like to get a sense as to how they're going to pace it all...

Absolutely worth the watch though, looking forward to next week.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

abelard wrote: »

Thought it was a very good, if not excellent, pilot, and I'll definitely keep watching as it has the potential to be brilliant. The final scene was pretty cool, a great set-up for next week.

I wonder if they'll have to have lots of guest characters for one or two episodes to keep it interesting and keep showing us new parts of the future jigsaw. I was kind of surprised just how many of the main characters flash forwards were revealed (I thought they might pace it slower, a bit like lost, and focus on one or two people's flashes every week). I guess though that people might be keeping secrets about certain things they saw so they'll keep the reveals coming.

Does anyone know if they're planning on more than one season? I'd like to get a sense as to how they're going to pace it all...

Absolutely worth the watch though, looking forward to next week.

Whether or not it'll be one season or more is yet to be decided, but the writers have already said that they'll have reached the future to where everyone flashed to by

episode 13

Arathorn

Didn't like it at all, can't see it taking off

Mr E

Loved it. Perfect pilot - left me wanting more. Good figures last night too...

ABC took first place on the opening Thursday of the season in viewers and all key Adults (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54), beating second-place CBS by 1.3 million viewers and by 57% in Adults 18-49. In fact ABC won all 6 half-hours of the evening in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. It was ABC’s 2nd straight year to lead the season-opening Thursday on both Nielsen measures.

ABC’s series debut of FlashForward won the 8 o’clock hour in viewers and young adults, beating out CBS’ time-period veteran Survivor: Samoa by 11% in Adults 18-49. FlashForward gained viewers and young adult audience throughout its telecast.

* Despite its early time period, FlashForward was the #2 TV show of the night in AD18-49, topping both CSI and The Mentalist, and behind only Grey’s Anatomy.

* In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, FlashForward registered as the biggest drama premiere on any network in the 8 o’clock hour since January 2008 – since Fox’s debut of Sarah Conner Chronicles on 1/13/08, which had the enormous advantage of airing after an ultra-high-rated NFL playoff game on that night (Cowboys-NY Giants).

* In viewers and young adults, it was ABC’s best performance in the time period with regular programming in 20 months – since 1/31/08.

titan18

Thought it was very good and will keep watching to see what happens I'd say.If it delivers,it could be one of my favourite shows this year.

gdael

Best first episode of a series ive seen in a long time.
Thought it was very good.

It should be easy to add new characters as they wish too. Each time the investigation leads to someone there will be a new flashforward to figure out.

As long as they dont try to drag it out too much it should be good.

bigslick

Thought the first episode was good, however i felt myself thinking almost straight away that the future that is glimpsed only happens because they glimpse it. Which i felt was very obvious, and yet they still start the Mosasic investigation........

Will watch next week as the ending did get me lol

On a side note Seth MacFarlane YAY!! lol

Richard Dower

My feeling is about the central plot....it'll get a second season, once we reach April 29th at 10pm....they'll all fall unconscious again, see a further six months and those visions of the future will be much more dire. A third sesaon, reapeat.....so eventually it'll reach a point whereby the final "flasforward" toward whenever the final season is involves the end of the world etc.

My opinion, it just seems logical if they get picked up for more seasons they'll flash forward six months each time and each time the future looks worse and worse.

But overall as a show, as a pilot....i thought it was great, interesting and engaging story, does make you want to see more. I just don't want a Lost type scenario, i want the plot moved along each weak and answers given, not endless red herrings.

Excellent start, will watch again.

Richard Dower

The vast majority of the populations flash forwards will have no bearing or relevence to what they need to find out what is going on, so they'll be looking at certain people only.

User45701

ye i thought the pilot was very good myself but i would have liked them to give us a two hour pilot like many other shows did

J-blk

Richard Dower wrote: »

My opinion, it just seems logical if they get picked up for more seasons they'll flash forward six months each time and each time the future looks worse and worse.

I've been wondering about how a second (or more) season would work since I first heard the premise. It seems a new flash forward would be the way to go, but that does seem pretty stupid. I did think the pilot was great and this will make a pretty strong one season show, but if it gets stretched too far, it really will become the next Lost with entire filler seasons...

Richard Dower wrote: »

The vast majority of the populations flash forwards will have no bearing or relevence to what they need to find out what is going on, so they'll be looking at certain people only.

True but even in the pilot we are introduced to flash forwards that have nothing to do with the big picture. The babysitter for example or even Sonya Walger's one (so she'll leave her husband, big woop on the grand scale of things). So my guess is that not all flash forwards shown will be absolutely pivotal to the overall mystery, just maybe smaller scale connections to the story.

Conor108

Thought it was pretty good alright! Final scene was well done

anotherlostie

It didn't really engage me. Maybe a 2hr pilot would have been a good idea to build up more of the story. They like their UK actors in this too.

Conor108

Oh the producers are saying it needs 3 season at least to properly tell the story:) Sure won't we reach the flashForward time by episode 13 of this season?

But they also say that if the show is successful it'll go for 7 SEASONS!:eek::eek: No idea how they can stretch it out until 2016/17

From Digital Spy

The producers of FlashForward have claimed that they already know how the series will end.

Speaking to SFX, David S. Goyer, who has also worked on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, said that he has meticulously planned the end of the show.

"We pitched [ABC] a fairly excessive plan," he said. "I mean, we know exactly the shot that season one ends on! They obviously said this resembles Lost, in that it's a really cool script, but [they asked], 'Do you have any idea where it goes?'

"We said, 'Yeah we know how the whole season ends and how the whole series ends', and they went, 'Holy s**t!'"

Producer Marc Guggenheim added: "We know what the ultimate season is and the penultimate season is. For in between, we know the various seasons but we are treating it like an accordion.

"In success, [the show] can go seven years. In less success, it would need to go three years to work. The end game of the show, to be properly done, really requires two full seasons focusing on the end game."

io9 Article

Basq

Just watched the pilot.

Absolutely superb.. could have watched another 3 hours of it.

Fascinating idea and wonderfully executed. Anxiously awaiting more!

Mr.Nice Guy

I really enjoyed it. Very slick feel to it which you only get from American programmes. I found the characters engaging and liked the ending as well. Very promising stuff.

cena

is this coming on rte 2 soon

Talisman

Watched it last night and thought it was good however until the CCTV reveal in the last few moments I didn't see any reason to come back for more.

The premise of the show is a Paradox. Fienne's character only starts up the Mosaic investigation because he saw it in his vision of the future. His wife shacks up with the father of the boy she saved only because of the vision of the future they shared. If they didn't have they visions then it's highly unlikely that the future of their visions would occur.

Until I saw the CCTV clip I was fully expecting the blackouts to be related to CERN's Large Hadron Collider - remember that? It's repair is supposed to be completed in the next month or so and it should be back in action around the time of the flash forwards.

Mr E

Talisman wrote: »

Until I saw the CCTV clip I was fully expecting the blackouts to be related to CERN's Large Hadron Collider - remember that? It's repair is supposed to be completed in the next month or so and it should be back in action around the time of the flash forwards.

I expect that's still the plan.... The TV show is based on Robert J Sawyer's book. They took some liberties (jumping 6 months instead of 21 years), but the idea is still the same.

Richard Dower

How does CERN relate to things?....no idea about the book. Isin't there fears that device will create a black hole?

Richard Dower

Talisman wrote: »

Watched it last night and thought it was good however until the CCTV reveal in the last few moments I didn't see any reason to come back for more.

The premise of the show is a Paradox. Fienne's character only starts up the Mosaic investigation because he saw it in his vision of the future. His wife shacks up with the father of the boy she saved only because of the vision of the future they shared. If they didn't have they visions then it's highly unlikely that the future of their visions would occur.

Until I saw the CCTV clip I was fully expecting the blackouts to be related to CERN's Large Hadron Collider - remember that? It's repair is supposed to be completed in the next month or so and it should be back in action around the time of the flash forwards.

But is the future set in stone?....as in can you change it?, this notion has been dealt with on other shows such as TNG. As in the future unfolds just the same regardless how how you try to alter it.

You can't really say things wouldn't transpire if they didn't have visions of the future....the fact is they'd have no knowledge if things were different or not. Time paradox by nature wreck your head!

See lots of Star Trek, Cause & Effect, Time's Arrow, Relativity etc.
I'm a fan of paradox stories though.

iguana

J-blk wrote: »

True but even in the pilot we are introduced to flash forwards that have nothing to do with the big picture. The babysitter for example or even Sonya Walger's one (so she'll leave her husband, big woop on the grand scale of things). So my guess is that not all flash forwards shown will be absolutely pivotal to the overall mystery, just maybe smaller scale connections to the story.

Fiennes' boss was on the toilet. Imagine all the people all over the world who were knocking one out, on the toilet, picking their nose, changing a tampon or having a good old scratch in a private place. And everyone they know is curiously asking them what they saw. They'd be so cagey everyone around them would assume they saw something awful.:pac:

J-blk

iguana wrote: »

Fiennes' boss was on the toilet. Imagine all the people all over the world who were knocking one out, on the toilet, picking their nose, changing a tampon or having a good old scratch in a private place. And everyone they know is curiously asking them what they saw. They'd be so cagey everyone around them would assume they saw something awful.:pac:

Oh yeah, that was pretty funny - I can't remember how he covered it up exactly but he went on about reading the paper or something instead, to change the subject .

Talisman

Richard Dower wrote: »

How does CERN relate to things?....no idea about the book. Isin't there fears that device will create a black hole?

The purpose of CERN's Large Hadron Collider is to find out whether or not a particle named "Higgs boson" exists. The Higgs boson is a theorised particle in quantum physics - if it exists then physicists have been on the right track with their unified theory, if it doesn't they go back to the drawing board. Nobody knows what will happen when the LHC is fully operational, the creation of a black hole / big bang is all speculative.

The reason I brought it up is because of the date - late April/early May is when CERN intended to get it going. Physicists have been speculating that the mind and consciousness are linked to quantum physics. There are a few books on the subject e.g. New Physics and the Mind.

Strange Physics of the Mind? - ResearchChannel.org

Description:
Two fundamental theories -- quantum mechanics and relativity -- have changed forever our understanding of reality. Quantum mechanics describes the very small-scale structure of atoms and their components. Relativity describes the very large-scale structure of space and time. Today's panelists discuss why some physicists have suddenly become obsessed with using physics to explain the human mind, consciousness and how we think.

Like I said previously until I saw the CCTV footage reveal at the end I thought it was going to be related to CERN's LHC.