[Cancelled] FlashForward - Season 1

[Rappy Veteran]

ABC has officially picked up drama "Flash Forward."

The show, which already is being promoted on the network, received a 13-episode order Friday night.

Based on Robert J. Sawyer's novel, the Joseph Fiennes-starring series chronicles the aftermath of a global event in which everyone in the world blacks out for 2 minutes, 17 seconds and has mysterious visions of six months into the future.

David Goyer and Brannon Braga co-wrote the pilot for "Flash," which Goyer directed.

Both will exec produce the series, but because of his commitment to Fox's "24," where he is an exec producer, Braga won't be involved full time on "Flash."

"Eli Stone" co-creator/exec producer Marc Guggenheim has come on board as exec producer and will run the series with Goyer.

Also exec producing are Jessika Goyer, Vince Gerardis and Ralph Vicinanza.

ABC has been the most aggressive among the broadcast networks, handing out early series pickups to its strongest pilots.

The pickup for "Flash" came hours after the network brass screened it to a strong reception. It follows ABC's Thursday order of new comedy "Modern Family."

In addition to Fiennes, the cast of "Flash" includes Sonya Walger, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Brian O'Byrne, Courtney B. Vance, Christine Woods, Zachary Knighton and Peyton List.

With ABC's pilot screenings slated to wrap Monday, other hot prospects at the network include mystery drama "Happy Town" and Jerry Bruckheimer's "The Unknown," both enjoying rave reviews. Also going strong are the Courteney Cox-starring comedy "Cougar Town" as well as the contemporary witch take "Eastwick."

Another remake, "V," is heading into its Monday screening with a strong buzz, with dramas "Empire State" and "Limelight" also in contention.

On the comedy side, the Patricia Heaton starrer "The Middle," which was filmed months ago, is picking up heat after a solid screening.

Three pilots also have something going for them -- the strong presence of stars Alyssa Milano ("Romantically Challenged"), Kelsey Grammer ("untitled Kelsey Grammer project") and Cedric The Entertainer ("The Law").

Source

[84Mark]

Sounds interesting

[SuperJediMedia]

It's this show with "What did you see" viral videos, right?

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=766204

[Rappy Veteran]

It's this show with "What did you see" viral videos, right?

https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=766204

Yeah I think it is

[Si Veteran]

I just read about this on Lostpedia. Sounds cool!

[DrunkenBeard]

^ When I read "ABC" + "Flash Forward", I immediatly thought "Lost !". So, does it have anything to do with Lost ?

[Si Veteran]

Nope, what I understand is that it is about a machine similar to the LHC being activated which causes everyone (who is awake) on earth to get a 2 minute glimpse of their future. Obviously they are not paying attention to the present while seeing this so all sorts of chaos happens.

[Rappy Veteran]

Nope, what I understand is that it is about a machine similar to the LHC being activated which causes everyone (who is awake) on earth to get a 2 minute glimpse of their future. Obviously they are not paying attention to the present while seeing this so all sorts of chaos happens.

Yeah it sounds really good!

[Rappy Veteran]

[Rappy Veteran]

New Still

[Rappy Veteran]

FLASH FORWARD - When a mysterious event causes the entire world to black out, humanity is given a glimpse into its near future, and every man, woman, and child is forced to come to grips with whether their destinies can be avoided or fulfilled. Adapting award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer's revolutionary novel, executive producers David S. Goyer (visionary co-writer of "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight") and Brannon Braga ("24," "Star Trek: Enterprise") invite you to embark on a journey to answer the question, "if you knew what your future held, what would you do?" "Flash Forward" stars Joseph Fiennes as Mark Benford, John Cho as Demetri Noh, Jack Davenport as Lloyd Simcoe, Sonya Walger as Olivia Benford, Courtney B. Vance as Stan Wedeck, Brian O'Byrne as Aaron Stark, Christine Woods as Janis Hawk, Zachary Knighton as Bryce Varley, and Peyton List as Nicole. The series is from ABC Studios. David S. Goyer is executive producer/writer/director. Brannon Braga is executive producer and co-wrote the pilot. Other executive producers are Marc Guggenheim, Jessika Goyer, Vince Gerardis and Ralph Vicinanza. Guggenheim will be showrunner, along with Goyer. (ABC/RON TOM) JOSEPH FIENNES

[Rappy Veteran]

HQ Promos

Cast Promos

Pilot Stills

[Rappy Veteran]

Flash Forward Logo

Major Casting!

I've just learnt that Dominic Monaghan (Lost) has definitely joined the cast of the new ABC show Flash Forward. He will be playing a character called Theo. Filming begins on Episode 1.02 of Flash Forward shortly.

[Pretend]

Ohhhhhh My God! Not one to usually say that but.. it'll be great to see Dominic Monaghan again :woot:

It makes more sense now why he was in the new show advert ABC had.

[Rappy Veteran]

Ohhhhhh My God! Not one to usually say that but.. it'll be great to see Dominic Monaghan again :woot:

It makes more sense now why he was in the new show advert ABC had.

Yeah pretty much answers that :D

[Rappy Veteran]

[Pretend]

[Pretend]

Dominic Monaghan at flash forward panel !!!!

Domonic Monaghan at Flash Forward Panel Video

The fans love Dominic :)

[Rappy Veteran]

woot!

John Cho as well!

[Pretend]

Dominic Monaghan's character renamed

Dominic Monaghan's character on Flash Forward has been renamed from Theo to Simon.

[Pretend]

Flash Forward Preview Screening Thoughts

FlashForward had a panel at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International, where the pilot episode was screened. Afterwards, the cast and show creators let us know what we can expect from the upcoming season, what the creative path of the show has been, and they even debuted a previously unannounced cast member who had the crowd on their feet and cheering.

AGoyer and Co. are definitely taking a different direction with this show (though Sawyer still acts as a consultant of sorts). One big difference: in Sawyer?s book, the people waking up from ?the black out? event see visions of their future some two decades down the line. For the purposes of Tv drama, Goyer and Co. have scaled the visions back to 6 months in the future, April 29th, when SOMETHING big is supposed to go down. Ironically enough, April 29, 2010 will also be the air date of one of the 1st season?s major episodes.

But before we get into all these fine details - how was the show itself?

We only got to see 2/3 of the pilot episode, but the show is definitely something to be excited about for the fall season. It?s kind of like a Lost/24 mashup - which is not surprising since there of the show?s three creators one is a die hard Lost fan (Goyer) and another is a producer on 24.

The pilot episode (as much as we saw) introduced us to FBI Agent Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes from Shakespeare In Love), a loving father and husband. On the day of ?the black out? Agent Benford and his partner Agent Witten (John Cho) are in hot pursuit of suspected terrorists; when they wake from the black out, Benford?s ?Flash Forward? is of a future where he has been investigating the cause of the worldwide black out, and is seemingly on the verge of a major discovery when he is ambushed by men with big guns. His partner, Witten, on the other hand, sees nothing in his future at all. Yikes.

Most of the pilot we see were epic disaster scenes of the black out event. And for a Tv show, I gotta say, the scale of the destruction and the special f/x involved were all pretty impressive.

As was the cast for the show. You have Fiennes and Cho (both good guys); Courtney B. Vance of Law & Order fame; and Sonya Walger (Penny from Lost) as Benford?s wife, Olivia. Everybody handled their roles well and there was no discnerable slouch in the cast.

Speaking of the cast, I promised you a previously unannounced addition: Lost?s Dominic Monaghan! When ?Charlie? himself was brought out at the very end of the panel the crowd went NUTS. Unfortunately with the time running short, all Monaghan was able to reveal was that his character is named ?Simon? and that he is a ?game-changing character.? Goyer added that Monaghan playing Simon was planned from the beginning.

[Rappy Veteran]

I can't wait for this!

[Pretend]

Flashforward producers say "Their show isn't the new Lost"

The producers of ABC's 'FlashForward' want to make it clear. "Their show is not the new 'Lost'" + "Nothing is ever going to be the new 'Lost'" executive producer David S. Goyer told the crowd at a Comic-Con panel Friday."

I'd love to agree, but the feeling of the show and Sonya Walger + Dominic Monaghan = New Lost :laugh:

[Rappy Veteran]

haha it soooo is :p

[Pretend]

We saw a time-travelly chunk of new ABC show FlashForward, where worldwide clairvoyance causes a global disaster. And Lost's Dominic Monaghan made a surprise appearance. Spoilers ahead.

During the FlashForward panel, producers David S. Goyer, Marc Guggenheim and Brannon Braga debuted the first 17 minutes of their show.

Opening on a shot of Joseph Fiennes upside-down in a car (next to some oranges), and it appears as though some catastrophic event has occurred in Los Angeles. Mark Benford is just starting to navigate the wreckage of a highway full of cars when the show jumps backward in time ala J.J. Abrams.

From there, the story is jumpy and cuts from one character to another too fast, introducing us to no less than seven potentially important characters in the first 10 minutes.

Penny (Sonya Walger) from Lost returns to ABC to become Olivia, Mark's doting wife. Or least a wife who knows the combination to Mark's safe which is where he stores his gun. As Mark heads downstairs, his daughter (who you just know is going to be pivotal) is watching crazy cartoons at 7 AM on what may or may not be a school day.

Next up in the revolving door of quick character intros is the Benford family's babysitter, Nicole. She enters the house and soon we see her "hanging out" on the couch with her boyfriend. We quickly move on to Bryce, a dysfunctional man on a dock with a death wish.

The show begins to slow slightly when we see John Cho as Mark's (I'm assuming) comic sidekick, though, sadly, we only see some of his sass here. He and Fiennes are buddy-buddy FBI agents tracking down some guys. And a girl. As with all drawn-out television shows intent on keeping you around for the long haul, you don't get many details up front.

There's a flash and we see about 30 seconds of Mark's personal flash into the future. It's grainy and full of easter eggs and totally confusing to the untrained eye. Words jump out at Mark and somewhere in there is a slight homage to Watchmen artist "D. Gibbons."

After the flash, Nicole the delinquent babysitter runs upstairs where the creepy daughter is sitting upright in her bed and she tells her babysitter, "I dreamt there were no more good days." What?! What does this mean?! Which is precisely what the producers are hoping we'll ask.

And now we've caught up to the true beginning of this show. Mark hops around trying to figure out what caused these crashes and runs into an oddly serene looking Cho. The two pair up to fight some crime and end up with more questions than before.

The whole world has been affected by this phenomenon, and it appears the first order of business is deciphering exactly what happen. It's an intriguing idea, and with Goyer on board, we definitely shouldn't take for granted that it will follow the original novel by Robert J. Sawyer.

In fact, Goyer said, they crunched the timeline from a hard-to-film 21-year vision of the future into a six-month one, to help move the plot along. Everyone sees 2 minutes and 17 seconds of their future as it happens on April 29, a date which will sync up nicely with at least part one of the season finale.

Despite the changes, however, Robert J. Sawyer apparently approves. The producers haven't lost any of the death and destruction of Sawyer's original novel, even showcasing the collapse of Los Angeles in the wake of the flash, up close and personal in the first two acts of the pilot. Goyer said Sawyer is the show's "unofficial science advisor" and that he will be writing an episode for the first season.

The show looks decent despite a rough beginning, and it sounds like the writers have an endgame in mind.

And, finally, at the very end of the panel came our glimpse of Dominic Monaghan as a man named Simon.

In the clip, Mark chokes a dashing Lloyd Simcoe (played by Jack Davenport), holding him against the wall and demanding to know who he is and who he works for, dammit. And then Dominic Monaghan appears, looking oh-so-fine in his suit and saying, simply, "I am Simon."