I wouldn't call my hopes particularly high for this show, but ever since Heroes' descent into dreck started with their first-season finale, there's been a window for some good TV superheroes.
These are not them.
No Ordinary Family is ill-conceived and poorly executed. The characters are limp rehashes of heroes done better in The Incredibles and Fantastic Four without capturing the charm of either. Much has been made of Michael Chiklis' casting being a knowing wink to his playing The Thing in the FF movies, but to me it's just lazy, as here he plays generally the same guy without the suit of orange rocks.
Even less inspired is the family's journey to become "not ordinary." In a frenzied attempt to re-connect with his family, Dad turns Mom's research trip into a family vacation... where they cram into a small plane during a storm and crash into the Amazon. Apparently the largest river in the world is chock full of magic green wonderfulness that grants people the exact power that would complement their problems. I get that it's not easy to come up with unique powers, but that doesn't give the showrunners an excuse to make them so pat and unoriginal. Chiklis' character is ineffectual at home and work, so he becomes incredibly strong. Mom is always on the run juggling so many job and other responsibilities that naturally she turns into a speedster. The daughter character is concerned with what others think of her and – blammo – she can read minds. The son with a learning disability becomes a genius. Ugh.
During their transformations, these paper-thin characters barely blink. Dad immediately begins fighting crime, Mom breaks a cardinal rule and immediately confides in a friend, Sis whines about how she wishes she was back to boring, etc. It's clear that the creators aren't striving for a Dark Knight/Watchmen tone here, but wouldn't you think that learning you can run 800 mules an hour or survive getting shot in the next would elicit some sort of reaction past "huh, look at that?" Heroes initally sprang from a similar sense of naivete, but where that show started off charming, this one's just stupid.
What's even more surprising is that creator Greg Berlanti fumbles the family dynamics as well, given his history with Brothers & Sisters. Previous genre shows like Lois & Clark have downplayed the superhero aspects in favor of snappy interplay, but in addition to the flat writing, the performances here are terrible. Julie Benz, much better in Buffy/Angel and Dexter, resorts to a stereotyped absent mom/businesswoman, primarily displayed by the fact that she wears a bluetooth earpiece. And Chiklis, full of fidgety gestures and hammy reactions, acts like a rabid cue ball.
A quick scan of upcoming episodes looks like they're going to run the title gimmick into the ground as well (ep 2: "No Ordinary Marriage," ep 3: "No Ordinary Ring," etc.) Here's hoping that "No Ordinary Cancellation" comes quickly. Please disperse – nothing to see here.
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