Ever since the promos for No Ordinary Family started airing, people have compared the series to Heroes and The Incredibles. I’d rather not dwell too much on that here but it must be acknowledged. The Incredibles is an animated Pixar movie that follows a family with super-powers. Heroes was a live-action TV series about regular people who acquire super powers. No Ordinary Family is a live action TV series that follows a family that acquires super powers. In terms of the premise, NoF really does sound like a combination of the Pixar film and the now-cancelled NBC series, so the comparisons really aren’t all that off-base. Having viewed the pilot episode, I’d say that No Ordinary Family could turn out to be as heartwarming as The Incredibles and as intense as Heroes was in its first (best) season. Beyond its potential to be something worth watching, that’s really as far as the comparisons need to go.
No Ordinary Family starts out following the Powells, a fairly ordinary family by “normal” standards. Jim (Michael Chiklis) works as a police sketch artist, while his wife Stephanie (Julie Benz) is on the fast-track at her time-consuming job as a scientist, and their two kids Daphne (Kay Panabaker) and JJ (Jimmy Bennett) are struggling with social and academic issues in school. When we’re introduced to them, it’s clear that there’s a disconnect between this family and each of their own personal issues seem to be preventing them from experiencing the closeness they once had. Jim decides that a good way to get the family back together is for all of them to join Stephanie on a work trip to South America. When their plane crashes into the Amazon, the Powells survive but soon discover that each of them has an extraordinary ability that, whether by coincidence or destiny, seems to improve the very aspect of each of their lives that needs the most help.
The pilot episode doesn’t waste any time introducing us to the characters and sending the Powells into the near-death situation that is the start of everything. The bulk of the premiere, which is occasionally narrated by Jim and Stephanie, is focused on the discovery of their abilities. While Jim shares his secret with his best friend George (Romany Malco), Stephanie confides in her lab tech Katie (Autumn Reeser). Meanwhile, JJ’s powers take a little longer to show up and Daphne’s result in some major drama with her friends.
For a series premiere, No Ordinary Family gets everything right. All of the characters are interesting and ripe to be developed further as the series goes on. Julie Benz and Michael Chiklis have excellent chemistry and both fit comfortably into their roles. I’m also pleased to see Romany Malco in a new series. He provides just the right amount of comic relief in addition to being an outside source of support to Chiklis’ character.
In terms of the story, in addition to the family drama that’s introduced, there’s something else going on involving people with super-powers. Jim quickly and somewhat unknowingly finds himself mixed up in that almost immediately and it seems evident that this will play a part in the bigger story for the series. While it’ll be interesting to see how external conflict factors into the Powell family, I do hope the series doesn’t step too far away from the core characters. Where No Ordinary Family shines is in the dynamic of the family, which starts out distanced but now stands a good chance of coming back together as they begin to understand their new abilities.
I was excited to see what No Ordinary Family was going to look like after viewing the promos and the series premiere did not disappoint. No Ordinary Family is charming, occasionally funny and stands a good chance of being the next must-watch family drama series on TV.
No Ordinary Family premieres on Tuesday, September 28, 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET on ABC.
