No Ordinary Family

I might as well as just get this out in the open right now: "No Ordinary Family" is one of the best shows I've seen on TV in recent years. No, I'm not being hyperbolic. I mean, it really is that good. It was a show that kept me thoroughly entertained, and on the edge of my seat constantly waiting for the next big surprise (and episode).

And therein lies the problem: "No Ordinary Family" is not an Ordinary TV Show and therefore, it was just too unique to last beyond one single season with an open-ended cliffhanger climax before it was unceremoniously canceled by NBC, presumably for reasons related to poor ratings.

Due to my work schedule, I was unable to meet the demands of staying up late at night to watch "No Ordinary Family" while it was still airing regularly on TV; I'm actually quite unable to do this with many TV shows I want to see because of my schedule. Hence my review here is based on the season-one DVD, which I've spent the last three days getting caught up on (TV-on-DVD is a real life-saver).

It angers me that genuinely unique (if not totally original) TV shows are a rarity these days, especially in 2012. It happened when my favorite TV show within the last several years "Heroes" was unceremoniously canceled two years ago (and I was a huge, loyal fan of that show, by the way), and it happened when "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" was canceled the year before. I think that when it comes to this sort of television - and I'm sure I'm not alone on this - Americans just have too short attention spans to even be able to handle "No Ordinary Family," which while not too intelligent or sophisticated, is at least entertaining, gripping, and watchable.

In speaking of the show's merits, it has many. Essentially, "No Ordinary Family" is a play on modern-day comic book superhero mythology. It borrows trace elements from the aforementioned "Heroes," as well as the animated Pixar hit "The Incredibles" (2004), and adds in a lot of humorous comic book references and family dramedy dynamics to make it stand alone on its own two feet. It's all done in light, fun, good humor and it's not pickled in angst or nostalgia (imagine if Christopher Nolan was behind this series - personally, I'm glad he wasn't because his so-self-serious intensity would have killed any and all fun to be had here). And it also boasts some impressive, movie-quality special effects on-hand here, as well.

As a superhero fan and comic book reader, just being a superhero fan and comic book reader are just two of the reasons why my curiosity caused me to wander around to "No Ordinary Family"; it's a delight to watch the show and its self-knowing characters work with and around contemporary and traditional comic book lore to make every episode count in some way toward the bigger picture.

This series had me hooked from the word "go". It gets off to a bit of a slow start, but quickly finds its proper footing halfway through the first season.

Things begin with a plane crash in the Brazilian jungle. The four bickering members of the Powell family, on a family trip, miraculously survived, but are forever transformed by the event. Of course, the experience has caused them to bond closer to each other than they were before, but they've also unexpectedly gained superpowers. So the once-normal, boring, and "Ordinary" Powells are thus turned into an "Extraordinary" family of super-powered super-folks:

• Family patriarch Jim Powell (Michael Chiklis), a police sketch artist, gains superhuman strength and durability, like Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible from "The Incredibles" and Ben Grimm/The Thing from the Fantastic Four (in a strange little irony, Chiklis portrayed the latter in the two live-action "Fantastic Four" movies), and uses these abilities to battle crime on a daily basis

• Mother Stephanie Powell (Julie Benz, of "Dexter"), a noted research scientist and driven careerist - the rest of the family was accompanying her on a scientific expedition when their plane crashed in Brazil - acquires superhuman speed and a rapidly increased metabolism (which allows her to heal almost instantaneously from any injury)

• Teenage daughter Daphne Powell (Kay Panabaker) develops telepathy, meaning she can read minds, which later evolves into "pushing," being able to "push" thoughts into people's heads; both abilities allow her to increase her social standing/status a little bit at high school

• And teenage son JJ Powell (Jimmy Bennett) acquires higher cognitive functioning, which basically makes him a super-genius able to instantly understand and comprehend post-graduate-level mathematics, learn new languages almost immediately, and understand & comprehend complex machines and structures; I really wish I had this ability for my high school math classes.

So obviously, they need to keep their powers a secret but as the series progresses, they try to learn the source of their powers while also battling all sorts of crime high and low. Eventually, powerful forces will cause this family to use their special abilities and bond together as one to face an even more dangerous threat to humanity. Also along to help them are Stephanie's perky comic book fan-girl lab assistant Katie Andrews (Autumn Reeser) and George St. Cloud (Romany Malco), Jim's twice-divorced best friend who is also an assistant district attorney and also establishes their base of operations in his garage.

As I stated earlier, this is a great, fun, funny, action-packed superhero TV series that doesn't take itself too seriously; it's all good fun. But also to reiterate my points from before, people seem to have increasingly diminishing attention spans, which more than likely led to this show's premature demise after only one season. This last part made me especially angry upon learning the truth about its fate.

In short, it was too fun, and too "Extraordinary," to last.

8/10

I love this show. It is easily in my top 5 shows currently airing at the moment (along with Chuck, Lie to Me, Sons of Anarchy and Previously Dark Blue before it was cancelled).

The show is very light hearted and manages to mix comedy with action and drama extremely well. The family are quite cliché and the powers aren't exactly 'original' but they make it work.

The cast do a great job portraying their characters, the only one I'm not a huge fan of is the antagonist Josh Stewart (but he's slowly starting to grow on me now). The rest, however, are awesome. Michael Chiklis (Star of The Shield and Fantastic Four) does a brilliant job as the father while Julie Benz (formerly Rita Morgan in Dexter) puts on a strong performance as the mother of the family. You also have Kay Panabaker and Jimmy Bennett as the kids.

The character development in this series is great and although the story is predictable (for the most part), it is still highly entertaining. The characters relationships are believable and very engrossing. I think the pairing of Jim Powell (Michael Chiklis) and George St. Cloud (Romany Malco) is one of my favourite bromance relationships right now on TV. Romany Malco is AWESOME in this series. I've never really seen him act before so I'm not sure if it's the script, his acting or a mix of both. But he is extremely funny in this show, he is constantly shooting out one liners which make me literally laugh out loud, although it has to be said I feel his acting in the more serious scenes is lacking at times. The second prize for most hilarious character in this show has to go to Stephanie Powells best friend and work colleague Katie Andrews (Played by Autumn Reeser), she is incredibly geeky and so socially awkward, hilarious to watch.

I'd say this show could pull in a pretty wide audience (I can just as easily imagine a 14 year old watching this as I can a 50 year old). It's light hearted, fun and easy to watch. Yes it has the sci-fi/fantasy element to it which is akin to shows like Chuck, Heroes, Supernatural, Buffy, Smallville etc. But it also has a more family oriented feel to it at times and what this show does brilliantly is applying super powers to every day events.

I'm struggling to describe the feel of this show. I'd suggest everyone checks out the pilot to get an idea for what it's like themselves rather than relying on the reviews posted here.

A lot of people have been comparing it heroes but I find it far to light hearted to be compared to heroes. It's nowhere near as dark and serious and has far more comedy integrated throughout. I'd say it's more like Chuck than Heroes.

I've only seen the first 8 episodes (it's still on it's first season) but so far I'd give this show a 9/10. Yes it has it's clichés (the family couldn't be any more of a stereotype) and it has it's flaws, plus the special effects aren't the best (but are still impressive for a TV show). But overall this show is funny, charming, easy to watch and above all entertaining.

Wow! There's just so many positives to this show. The cast is perfect for the roles they've been given, the villains are intriguing, and the special effects are a hell of a lot better than most of the cheap-ass special effects that I've seen on other TV shows (including a lot of the shows that are on SyFy.) However, what's best about this show is the sarcasm from the sidekicks, as well as the son and the daughter on the show. Most of the humor for the mom and dad comes off as corny, but the humor from the others is both fresh and biting. My fiancé and I have both been watching the show since the beginning. The more we watch the show, the more that we get drawn in by the series. I can't believe it's getting canceled.

this is everything a show needs ...great actors...darkness (batman) comedy (Reaper) WHY would you cancel it for BIGGEST LOSER Does that tell you anything about our society?

Im 62 and in a large spending class,so I wonder if the braintrust marketers will figure that out......

Please show us your intelligence if u have any..

this show is a perfect blend of all that we want on TV...

I will never understand why these good shows are trashed for crap like biggest loser. Are we such a society that we can only boost our self esteem on others TV FALSE misfortunes?

How pathetic are we?

Please get your life back and watch this great show,,,,

Being a fan of superheroes and shows/movies based on them, I decided to give "No Ordinary Family" a chance and needless to say I was entertained. The show is lighthearted but there are some dark moments in it that really made it intense and kept my attention until the last few minutes of running time. The acting was for the most part above average, but it's the sense of intrigue that really makes the show; showing a family in crisis that are struggling to find common ground and I think that's one of the main themes in the show that makes it work. Heroes did this to a considerable degree but failed miserably in it's later seasons and I hope the show doesn't suffer that fate. The special effects were remarkable, thankfully not too much as to be a wannabe X-Men as I believe that less is more. But the highlights was the fight between Michael Chiklis's character and the guy who can disappear and faze through solid material. I'm just dying to see the next episode and the wild ride in the world of this (Ex)troardinary family.