The national recession and the rise of reality shows must really have taken their toll on working stiffs in Hollywood. Apparently there are no non-multi-millionaire character actors left to take roles as “F.B.I. Agent No. 2” in new network dramas.

Do not fret, however. The producers of “FlashForward,” the forthcoming ABC serial in which everyone in the world gets a two-minute glimpse of their futures, were able to make do, instead casting Seth MacFarlane, the creator of “Family Guy,” in one such role.

Fan sites for the new series, which is based on a 1999 science-fiction novel of the same name by Robert J. Sawyer, started to buzz recently after one clip included a brief shot of Mr. MacFarlane in a scene. The sighting was confirmed this week when ABC screened an early cut of the pilot episode for television journalists.

Mr. MacFarlane, whose previous on-camera roles included parts in a couple of episodes of both “Gilmore Girls” and “Star Trek: Enterprise,” obviously has plenty of time on his hands. When he is not acting, he serves as executive producer of three-quarters of Fox’s Sunday night “Animation Domination” lineup, which includes “Family Guy,’ “American Dad” and the upcoming series, “The Cleveland Show.” He also provides the voice for characters on each of those shows, including, most famously, the acerbic toddler Stewie Griffin on “Family Guy.”

According to Joy Fehily, a publicist who represents Mr. MacFarlane, the “FlashForward” gig struck out of the blue. “Seth was asked to be a part of the show,” Ms. Fehily said in an e-mail message that was a response to a request to interview Mr. MacFarlane, who last year signed a production deal with Fox worth an estimated $100 million and whose animation empire, according to “Fast Company” magazine, has generated revenues from television syndication, DVD sales and licensing of more than $2 billion.

Ms. Fehily added that Mr. MacFarlane’s contribution was “a cameo that could potentially become a recurring role.”

That differs somewhat from the account given by David Goyer, an executive producer and creator of “FlashForward.”

“Seth called me up” after reading the script, Mr. Goyer said, and asked for a role in the pilot episode. The role, he added, “will be recurring.”

SOURCE: The New York Times

It’s been a tough season for prime time sci-fi as NBC’s My Own Worst Enemy, Fox’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and ABC’s Life on Mars all got whacked. Still, judging from its new time-warp drama FlashForward, ABC remains bullish on series packed with head-spinning mythology.

The show, created by The Dark Knight co-writer David S. Goyer, explores the aftermath of a two-minute, 17-second, blackout experienced by the whole of humanity.

At a Wednesday screening on ABC’s lot, the 44-minute pilot episode of FlashForward, set to premiere in September, unspooled as a fast-paced, well-shot and adequately acted drama anchored by Joseph Fiennes, pictured above, who plays personally flawed FBI agent Mark Benford. (Wired.com will have a full review of FlashForward closer to the show’s air date.)

Besides the car wrecks, botched surgeries and bruised bodies resulting from 6.8 billion earthlings losing motor function simultaneously, Episode 1 (which includes a cameo from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane) sets up two overarching questions: a) What the hell happened? And b) During the global blackout, each human experienced a “memory” of events that happen six months in the future. Can they, or should they, try to change destiny?

Addressing reporters after the screening, Goyer acknowledged some rudimentary similarities to ABCs other time-bending series, Lost, but insisted his show will be “a totally different animal.”

“The comparisons to Lost are accurate in that we have a very large cast and a big, ambitious story,” he said, “but that’s where the comparisons end.”

Joined onstage by show-runner Marc Guggenheim (Eli Stone), Goyer said he made a number of changes while adapting the series’ source material, Robert J. Sawyer’s 1999 novel Flashforward.

“The book was set 20 years in the future,” Goyer said. “For dramatic purposes, we made the future more immediate. It’s one thing to know you’re maybe going to die 20 years from now. It’s another to say it’ll happen six months from now. That was a big change.”

Goyer and company also devised a different set of characters — 10 everyday Los Angeles citizens — and changed the underlying explanation for FastForward’s time-jumping phenomenon.

“Sawyer’s book centers around a group of quantum physicists,” Goyer said. “We came up with a different kind of explanation ultimately. It would be pretty stupid to build a hit TV series that has a mystery you could solve by going to a bookstore.”

Goyer said he needs at least three seasons to tell the full FlashForward story and promised there would be no “vamping” around mysteries that any reasonably alert fan might have questions about.

“We absolutely know, down to the final shot, how Season 1 ends,” he said. “We know what Season 2 and Season 3 is about. The story could expand out to six or seven seasons. Since there are 6.8 billion people on the planet, we’ll never run out of stories”

As for the possibility of a premature cancellation that might leave fans in the lurch, Goyer said: “I get that. On an earlier show I did called Threshold, we got fucked. We don’t think that’s going to happen. So far ABC has been beyond enthusiastic about everything we’ve wanted to do.”

SOURCE: Wired.com

“FlashForward,” having been teased during “Lost,” rightfully has its share of mysteries and a unique mythology growing.

And of course, that means spoilers.

Well, the showrunner-approved ones anyway. Journalists were threatened with having their press passes revoked, the silent treatment invoked and other menacing consequences if we were to reveal some of the pilot’s sixth-act surprises during a screening of “FlashForward” Wednesday night in Burbank. So we’re not going to do that.

Luckily, the event also supplied alcohol, which loosened showrunners David S. Goyer and Marc Guggenheim’s lips about other spoilers that we may share with you, the hungry readers.

Before we jump into the fray, a little background: “FlashForward” is based on Robert J. Sawyer’s novel about a mysterious global phenomenon — everyone keels over, blacking out at exactly the same time for about two minutes. During this time, they all have visions of their future. How did this happen? What does this mean? Will the future come true?

“FlashForward” — Yes, all one word (the opposite of a flashback), but with the capital “F” in the middle.

What’s different from the book: 1) The so-called flashforwards are only for six months hence, not 20 years. 2) The main characters are not quantum physicists, so the TV-viewing audience will find them more relatable. 3) The overarching reason behind the flashfowards are different from the novel. As Guggenheim sagely observes, “We’re not schmucks.”

April 29, 2010 - This is the date that everyone flashforwards to. No, this isn’t the season finale. Goyer explains, “I think it’s natural for the audience to assume that we’re just going to vamp until episodes 20 and 21, and then a bunch of s***’s going to happen. We’ve already finished [shooting] the first seven episodes, and it will become crystal clear by the end of those seven episodes that that’s not what we’re doing. We’re never going to lie to the audience. We’re going to play by the rules.”

2 minutes and 17 seconds - This is the amount of time that everyone is “out” and visiting April 29 in their visions. Goyer promises that there will be an answer for why it’s that specific length of time.

An end is in sight - Having begun the development process before the writers’ strike, plenty of work has been done on the story, so a finale, complete with answers to everything, is known. What’s unknown is just how long ABC will want to run this thing.

Goyer: “We did a bible and planned out the whole first season. We know what the second season is about. [We can end it in three seasons]. We can extend it to six to seven seasons. There are potentially 6.8 billion stories to tell.”

How much we’ll actually be told - Goyer: “At the end of the first season … all the glimpses of the future that you’ve seen of our series regulars, that we’ve teased, we will know whether those particular futures have come to pass or not.”

There’s no real “Lost” connection - Other than Sonya Walger (Desmond’s Penny from “Lost”) getting cast, nada. Goyer: “It was written as a spec and originally was even anticipated to be an HBO show. So it wasn’t written at all for ABC or to be a ‘Lost’ replacement. And I think the comparisons are accurate in that we also have a very large cast and are telling a very big, cinematic, ambitious story, but I think once you see the pilot … that’s where the similarities end.”

Dominic Monaghan - Yeah, we couldn’t find out if our favorite castaway/hobbit was involved either, but we tried.

Seth MacFarlane - You’ve already seen the “Family Guy” creator in the first-look video clip. He apparently liked reading the pilot script so much, he called the “FF” team up, asked to be in the pilot and got cast as part of the FBI team investigating The Blackout. It’s likely he’ll be back as a recurring character.

Alex Kingston - The former “E.R.” star pulled a MacFarlane and can be seen in the pilot as well. Judging by what we saw in the pilot, she should be back.

Globetrotting - The Blackout was a worldwide phenomenon, so don’t expect the show to stay put in the U.S. The first 13 episodes will take place in six countries. One of the episodes will take place in Dubai and have the requisite subtitles.

DVD content - The intricate stories of the main 10 characters have been meticulously plotted out, beat by beat, on a mega-bulletin board made of six regular-sized ones — three wide, two high. Guggenheim says they’ve been taking snapshots of the board periodically — not only as insurance in case something happens to the boards and all is lost, but also to place on the DVD a visual summary of the many changes that have taken place while developing the story.

Mosaic website - We already know about The Mosaic Collective website from the 5-second promos of “FlashForward” during “Lost.” This will be a plot device, an actual website in which everyone in the world will be able to input what their flashforward was and cross-reference it to others. It will become the ultimate in social networking and become part of the vocabulary in the show: “I Mosaic-ed you.” As viewers, we’ll also be able to input our own vision, and there will be some mysterious programming in there to give us an actual result.

Liars - Some characters on the show will lie about their visions for various reasons — embarrassment, horror, denial, deceit, picking up women or what have you.

Rock star’s vision - In an aspiring musician’s vision, he discovers that he’s made it in six months’ time because he sees himself on stage being cheered by adoring fans. And just as he’s about to play his signature song, the one that makes him famous, the 2:17 expires, leaving him wondering what the song he has yet to write will be. Since everyone else’s visions take place during the same period of time, even the people in the audience can’t say what the song is.

Celebrities unlikely - There probably won’t be a meta element of having real-life celebrities playing themselves on the show and professing to have a vision. Goyer: “We haven’t decided where to break the fourth wall or not. My gut instinct is not to do that.”

Animal antics - An animal is seen in the pilot that Goyer says we’ll see again. Also, we will get the answer about whether or not animals also experienced the flashforward.

“FlashForward” will debut on Thursday, Sept. 24 on ABC.

SOURCE: Zap2It

ABC’s “FlashForward” has the honor of being the third installment of Pilot Light, a preliminary look at the first episodes of the news shows hitting the digital airwaves next season.

Standard disclaimer: These aren’t reviews — in a lot of cases, pilots aren’t completely finished products yet. But we do want to offer our impressions of the new shows, now that we’ve seen more than just a few clips.

So, what’s with this “FlashForward” show?

What it is: Simultaneously, everyone on earth blacks out for two minutes, during which they each have individual visions (flashforwards) of their future. When they come to, FBI agents Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) and Demetri Noh (John Cho) try to discover exactly what happened and whether or not the visions will come to pass.

Who’s making it: “The Dark Knight” co-writer David S. Goyer and “24’s” Brannon Braga are co-creators, along with “The Green Lantern” scribe Marc Guggenheim as executive producer.

What to look for: Your pause button. Everything has been meticulously planned out in advance, so many things — big and small — have meaning and will return. There’s no specific genre, so expect high-speed chases, romance, medical drama, relationship woes, trips to foreign lands, humor and mysterious phrases and strangers. Oh, and the occasional guest star.

What pops: Since every person in the world has had a flashforward, everyone has a potentially intriguing story to tell, which allows for endless possibilities for funny, uplifting or even heart-wrenching stories. We also can’t help wonder what a real flashforward would hold for us.

What doesn’t: It’s tricky to explain such a high-concept phenomenon in a realistic setting, so occasionally the dialog struggles to keep it simple, and certain images or moments used to illustrate can come off as cheesy.

As promised, for a more in-depth look, check out the “FlashForward” showrunner-approved spoilers.

SOURCE: Zap2It

Imagine going about your daily routine. There’s nothing much going on; either you’re taking the kids to school, stuck behind an office desk, or driving back from your lunch break.

Without warning your body buckles down. You’re swimming in darkness until images flood your thoughts in rapid succession, and slices of your life are put into motion.

Just when you think you understand what’s going on, your eyelids snap open, and you awake to a world engulfed in chaos.

Equally as disturbing is the knowledge that within that brief and shattering moment, you just caught a glimpse of your own future.

Would you change or surrender to it? And more importantly, how did this all happen?

The search for answers begins with ABC’s upcoming “Flash Forward;” a suspenseful drama meets (somewhat) science fiction series to air this fall. The show’s premise details the aftermath of an unexplained event where people all over the world lose consciousness simultaneously. Matters complicate themselves further when everyone awakens with visions of the future.

Currently, the credits for the TV series reads like a fanboy or fangirl dream. This includes producers David Goyer (co-writer of “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”), Brannon Braga (”24,” “Threshold”) and Marc Guggenheim (”Brothers & Sisters,” “Eli Stone”).

Equally as impressive is the ensemble of talent such as Joseph Fiennes, Sonya Walger, Peyton List and John Cho, to name a few.

Recently Blast was invited to a press screening of the pilot in Los Angeles; an assignment which left this reporter curious and excited as all I had to go on were a couple of promos before seeing the pilot episode.

Let me also preface that I am sworn to secrecy about the details concerning the pilot. Although I know it’s going to be a long summer until it airs, it is certainly worth remaining spoiler-free. And speaking from experience, less is definitely more going into watching this show.

This of course helps when the actors are simply stellar. I have to give kudos to those in charge of casting this show. The sheer mix of actors whose range of talent varies from film to screen and theater just play to one another’s strengths. I’m more than certain viewers will be in store for a pleasant surprise.

What can be discussed is the overall feel of the show. It’s very clear there is a conscious effort from the producers to afford audiences more than the benefit of the doubt. As someone who loves a good story on TV sans the reality train wreck, I am relieved by that fact.

This brings me to a point where I feel the need to tackle general concerns about the use of time as a plot device. Whenever time is manipulated in any way, there develops issues about continuity. It’s a precarious rope to walk as far as storytelling because it requires not only accuracy but clear explanations that work within the rules of its plot. Failure in even a small way can distract the audience, generate major plot holes and ruin the dynamic of the show. Fans tend to either suspend their disbelief or outright hate it.

Luckily for us, Guggenheim and Goyer are aware of this challenge. In the post screening Q&A both producers spoke candidly about their enthusiasm for the show’s premise. They were also none too shy in expressing their grievances when good shows don’t allow their characters to ask the more obvious questions during a crisis.

Fortunately, viewers can rest assured when it comes to “Flash Forward.” The series in itself is unique despite its ominous tone; a noticeable factor in its promos causing online fans to draw comparisons to ABC’s own “Lost” and NBC’s “Heroes.” However, based on the released material on hand and what I’ve seen of it, there are valid arguments for why “Flash Forward” on premise alone will garner as insatiable a fandom as its contemporaries.

Whereas “Lost” and “Heroes” work within the challenging constructs of the island and super-genetics, “Flash Forward” presents itself more of the philosophical question: Is there a certain fate outside our inevitable death? Or is free will an illusion?

They’re some pretty heavy questions, but they are the kind of questions which appear to work more in favor towards this premise because it’s more of a global effect rather than a limited central group of people.

While “Lost” still remains beloved amongst fans, as well as intriguing and riveting, there have been lags in the past too obvious to ignore for long-time viewers. And while “Heroes” deals with the same “global” themes of “ordinary people with extraordinary abilities,” the series unfortunately struggles balancing the intrinsic conflicts between the core characters and the science of the show. In effect, most “Heroes” fans were left with convoluted time warps and doomsday plots. While those ideas keep you at the edge of your seat, the consistency of characters audiences grew to love during its pilot season seemed lost.

“Flash Forward” has the advantage of working with not only innovative writers and producers, but the cast itself, once again, set the series off to a great start. Sometimes, the success of a show relies on the group dynamic. The direction of this pilot definitely allows each actor to play upon their strengths in an effortless way.

I know I have pretty much given my approval, but I do so with several things in mind. The concept of time warps and butterfly effects are nothing new; if anything, it raises the standard for any series attempting this angle. And yes, the leading characters are not uncommon as far as archetypes. And there were some more predictable moments, but which is natural if you watch enough television. There will be some scenarios where, if someone missed an episode, they could get lost, yet with the availability of watching episodes on the network sites it shouldn’t be too big of a hassle if you’re interested enough in it. So, essentially, for some viewers it may appear generic because of its familiar outline.

But here’s my stance. I learned long ago there is no such thing as an original idea. What matters most is how you choose to tell a story, and finding ways to make its premise relevant to an audience. What will make “Flash Forward” hit a chord with viewers are the same reasons which incidentally made “Heroes” and “Lost” a success in their pilot season: the characters.

So for those who want to set a date for the show, remember to tune in on ABC Thursday at 8/7c September 24th when the series makes it debut.

SOURCE: Blast

During a visit to Disney to watch the pilot to their new series Flash Forward this morning (look for Matt Fowler’s write up on that soon), Mr. Fowler and myself also got some information about when ABC will be doing a panel for that series at Comic-Con, plus the info on what is always the most popular TV-oriented panel at the convention - Lost.

The Lost panel will be held Saturday, July 25th at 11:00am in Hall H. Hall H is the largest venue at Comic-Con and holds 6500 people and no TV-specific panels had been held there until last year, when a packed room was in attendance for back-to-back panels for Heroes andLost. While Heroes, coming off a poorly received season, is not doing an official Comic-Con panel this year, the hot as ever Lost will once again no doubt have thousands of fans eager to get any info they can on the upcoming final season. 

While details are not available yet as to who will be on the panel, we expect it will once again be Executive Producers/Showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. The last two years, Lindelof and Cuse have been joined by surprise guests - Harold Perrineau (”Michael”) in 2007 and Matthew Fox (”Jack”) in 2008. 

A day earlier, on Friday, July 24th, a panel will be held for Flash Forward at 11:45am in Room 6A. Flash Forward is the new series created by David Goyer and Brannon Braga, about a worldwide event where everyone blacks out for two minutes and seventeen seconds – and awakens with visions of their own future.

SOURCE: IGN

Test Pilot is a semiregular feature sharing my first impressions of the pilots for next fall’s shows. These aren’t reviews, since these pilots can be rewritten, recast and retooled before airing, and the shows that eventually get on the air can prove much better or worse. But, premature opinions are why God invented the Internet, so let’s get on with…

The Show: FlashForward, ABC. (Yes, evidently it is spelled one word, no space.) As Fox did with Fringe last summer, ABC sought to get the buzz rolling with a private in-house preview for critics today; a review version will be released closer to the premiere. PR reps, and executive producer Jessika Goyer, laid out a reasonable set of no-spoiler requests, but there was no NDA, so I think I’m free to describe it here. (Note: I’m abiding by their requests, and then some, but if you want to be totally surprised by this pilot, then obviously don’t read this post.)

The Premise: Lost fans have probably already seen the trailer, but to recap: for two minutes, 17 seconds, everyone on Earth blacks out and experiences a vision of the same day and time in the future (April 29, 2010; mark your calendars). Many of the visions are scary, but that’s a problem for later.

First: what happens when everyone in the world conks out for 137 seconds? And many of them are driving, flying airplanes, doing surgery… This is the semi-apocalyptic scenario the FlashForward pilot drops us in, before giving us backstory on the central characters, including a pair of FBI agents, a couple doctors, an electric-line repairman, a little girl and her hot babysitter, etc. Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) soon finds himself heading the FBI investigation into why the incident happened and what the visions mean, while–as an alcoholic–trying to stay off the sauce and take care of his family.

First Impressions: Like many of ABC’s post-Lost attempts at serials, this one has a great premise with tremendous potential, but I wish more attention had been paid to fleshing out the characters and generally bringing a fresher voice to the dialogue. (Someday, I want someone to bring a cool high-concept like this to a producer like Jason Katims, who can play it out realistically through rounded characters, as he did on Roswell.)

The unfolding of the visions is rife with possibility: What do they tell us as more and more people start comparing notes? Can we trust all of the visions? (Already, we see characters lie or withhold them, for reasons that become apparent.) Can the visions be changed, or is the future set in stone? (Yes, I realize a certain other ABC show is already exploring that question. Spoiler alert, no one detonates an H-bomb to change the future in the pilot.) How will the writers complicate the story–as they must, since April 29, 2010, gets them only to the end of the first season, and the producers claim to have a map for the entire series? (Incidentally, though the series is based on a novel, Goyer said it quickly departs from that story, so don’t bother looking to the book to figure out what’s going to happen.)

Visually, the pilot looks great (with the caveats that I watched in Blu-Ray on a movie-theater-sized screen, and presumably the pilot was costlier than later episodes will be), with sweeping visuals of destruction and chaos, as well as the occasional eccentric touch. As Mark walks down a devastated L.A. street, a lone kangaroo hops by, unexplained, an image reminiscent of the polar bear from the pilot of Lost.

As you can guess by now, comparisons to Lost are inevitable, and seemingly welcomed. What I’m missing, which the pilot of Lost gave us, is: a sense of humor, memorable characters, distinct voices and an ear for dialogue. (For instance: Charlie’s “Guys–where are we?” was just the right, chilling note to end the Lost pilot on. FlashForward could use fewer obvious, deflating lines, such as when a crowd watches TV news reports of the incident happening all over the world, and then someone says: “It’s happening all over the world!”) Maybe I’ve just been spoiled by Lost, but I wish that, in addition to the very gripping mystery, I connected to FlashForward’s characters as other than broadly drawn types.

Do I Want to Watch Another Episode? Absolutely. But please work on making these folks as appealing conscious as they are unconscious.

SOURCE: Time: Tuned In

The folks at IGN have shared that the much anticipated FlashForward panel will be held on Friday, July 24th at 11:45AM. This is the new ABC show teased during the Lost finale about a worldwide event where everyone blacks out for two minutes and seventeen seconds – and awakens with visions of their own future.

Also from the IGN insiders, confirmation that the Lost panel is set for Saturday, July 25th at 11:00AM. This year the Lost panel will be in the giant “Hall H”, in anticipation of a large crowd interested in sneaks about the show’s final season.  No word yet on who will represent Lost, updates will be posted as news is available.

OfficialPix has announced a great line up of stars who are confirmed for autograph sessions in their booth this year, including Mark Hamill, Edward James Olmos, Michael Hogan, Zachary Levi and Adam Baldwin.

Breaking Comic-con updates will be added throughout the day, as they are confirmed.

SOURCE: Examiner