Another new show made it onto my radar recently, but I was hesitant to watch it based purely on its concept. No Ordinary Family was marketed as being a fun, lighter Heroes-esque show. I loved Heroes for the first 2 seasons before its started to go down hill (and of course I adored the gorgeous Zachary Quinto). The combined disappointment I felt after Heroes‘ abrupt ending combined with the awful Lost ending had me incredibly skeptical about pretty much all of the new sci-fi/comics dramas for the fall. This included the new ABC show No Ordinary Family and the NBC show The Event. The latter got off to a very rough start, so I actually chose to not tune into the premiere of No Ordinary Family. After hearing and reading a number of positive reviews, especially from people I wouldn’t have expected, I tracked the pilot down on Hulu and gave it a watch.
After watching two episodes the show already feels stale to me. I really want to like it because Julie Benz is just great and I had hoped she’d find something good after her tragic departure from Dexter. The show’s concept is not a bad one. It’s fun, a bit campy, but doesn’t take it’s self seriously. I actually enjoyed the pilot. I felt like the show had a lot of potential to really redefine the “superhero” niche after Heroes crashed and burned. Unfortunately episode two didn’t really see much change. The characters seem sort of one-note, and the plots are already very predictable. I felt like I’d seen all this before. I didn’t want to compare the show to Heroes so much, but it did it for me. The dad trying to test out the boundaries of his abilities mirrors Claires various attempts to injure herself, while the recently introduced villain has telekinesis abilities that he uses in a similar fashion to Sylar. On top of that, Julie Benz’s character is trying to analyze their powers and find a cure through chemical study, the way numerous people did on Heroes.
The show needs to find it’s own voice. It’s taking too many already over-done ideas. I realize that the superhero genre has been done and re-done ad nauseum, but I still feel like the show isn’t trying hard enough to make itself unique. It’s falling back on cliches right off the bat when it easily could have changed the rules as needed. Maybe I wasn’t able to separate my lingering anger over the demise of Heroes and didn’t give the show the chance it deserved, but at the same time, if there were that many simlarities between the shows in just two episodes, I can’t be the only one to see how ridiculous it is. So I wish No Ordinary Family luck on riding out the rest of the season (if it lasts a full season), but I will have to take a pass. I’ll stick to more fresh-faced, innovative shows.