Flashing Backwards

The Flashforward finale seems like forever ago, but I just had to put something up about it. For a show that had been pretty lukewarm all season, the finale actually got me excited about the next season.... oh wait, there is no next season.

That's it. It's over.

How did it end?

• Janice drops off Simon and Dimitri and heads to the hospital, where she discovers that her baby is 'just fine'. But guess what? It's a boy (not a girl as her flashforward had showed her). 
• Simon and Dimitri head in to some factory place to save the day and basically witness the next blackout happening inside the reactor. (This whole story line had me kind of bored. These are two of my favorites on the show, but since neither of them had a flashforward, I wasn't waiting for anything to happen with them, ya know?)
• Olivia tries to avoid Lloyd, but he tracks her down. Convinced that they need to get all the ducks in line for him to be able to solve the equation... They end up kissing in her bedroom (FYI this Lloyd/Olivia romance is my least favorite part of the show... it was poorly developed, came out of nowhere...). At the time of their flashforwards, Lloyd's son comes in and writes the equation on the mirror. It was him who wrote it that whole time, not Lloyd. Sooo they kissed for nothing?
• Mark discovered that the next blackout was going to happen in just a few minutes, and he tells his FBI boss/buddy to alert the White House... all before jumping out of the building. Towards a helicopter. Just as the building is about to explode. And WHAM. Blackout. 
• And then, the big finish. We see flashes of people's flashforwards (similar to what we saw in the first episode). No doubt that all of these flashes would have been important in season 2. 
• The most important flashforward (part 2)? A blonde girl, a teenager/young adult, standing at a window, when someone says to her, "Charley..." (gasp!). She turns around and says, "They found him." Is that our Charley?! It has to be! Who did they find? Mark? Argghhhh. 

With a finale like that though, they should at least consider a made for TV movie or miniseries or something!

My gripe? The whole season revolved around preventing another blackout. I get that there is no way they could ahve stopped this one in time. But now Lloyd knows the equation to stop it and it doesn't matter. A gazillion more people just died. AND by the time their flashes catch up to them years from now, some people might not even remember. Fail.

Flashforward is failing

FlashForward dipped below five million viewers for the first time last night, making the odds for this drama's renewal lower than Congress' approval rating...


From TV Fanatic


Ok, I will admit. I do really like the show FlashForward. The whole concept has intrigued me from the beginning, even if it hasn't been executed very well (the show has been criticized for moving too slow, lacking intriguing characters, bad acting, etc). It might not be the next LOST, as it was hyped to be, but I still find it to be a pretty solid, entertaining show that keeps me on my toes every week. 


Some plot lines I'm loving right now...

• The idea that Olivia and Lloyd were always meant to be together. It's like, no matter what you choose, certain things are supposed to happen. Now, then, later, it doesn't matter. 
• The constant fear of Demitri dying. If the statement above is true... he's going to die no matter what (then again, aren't we all?). 
• Janice is the mole? WTF. Not cool Janice. 
• Janice is pregnant with Demitri's child? WTF x 2. Gabrielle Union is not going to like that one bit. 
• Anything and everything Olivia and that teddy bear agent are discovering about the experiements before the black out (why she is included in theis FBI investigation is really lost on me though...)
• I want more of that mobster group behind that black out that is obviously manipulating Janice, Charlie aka Simon, and apparently a lady at a pet shop

So the show is probably getting cancelled. But I'm not that sad. And I'm not going to fight for it to stay alive. 


You know why?


Because I want more than answers, I want resolution. I want to know what caused the black out, who caused the black out, and I want them caught and punished. I want something to happen to either prove that our destinies are not planned out ahead of us, but tha we do have control over our future; or something to prove the opposite. 


And I know that the series ending will allow them to do that. 

Flashforward.

A long time ago, I praised the new show Flashforward.
And then, I fell off the wagon.
 And then when Al committed suicide- proving the future could be changed, I jumped back on.
And then they went on hiatus and I fell off again. When I went to watch Thursday's two-hour re-premiere, I fell asleep three times and had to rewind it. I was worried this time, I would have to give up on the 'Lost replacement' for good. (note: I do not consider Flashforward a Lost replacement. Not yet, at least.)

But then I got to the end of the episode... And to the Charlie backstory. (another note: I know his name isn't Charlie, but that is what I'm calling him. Do not be confused with Charley Benford, the little girl.) Now, I'll say, Flashforward is really picking up.

• Olivia isn't just cheating on her husband, he knows it. He speaks to Lloyd in his flash forward. He rescues him from his kidnappers. 
• The doctor who was supposed to fall in love with the Chinese girl is really falling in love with the girl from the hospital/Benford's babysitter (more notes: Sorry I don't know their names. Also, how does she have time to volunteer at a hospital, babysit Charley, take care of her crazy mother, and go to listen to religious preachers and meet them for coffee. Does she have a real job or go to school or something?)
• Charlie has been involved in this blackout business since he was a kid. His 'uncle' pushed him through school; killed his Dad to create an alibi for where he was during the blackout, when he is really suspect zero (!); and now, kidnapped his sister to get him to keep cooperating. Too bad Charlie killed the guy. We got all that info in the last half hour. Juicy. 

I'm happy to say, I'm not giving up on this show. Again. Yet. 

Want the good news or the bad news?

Good news first.
TV Guide reports that the following favorites of mine will get a full season:
Community
FlashForward
One Tree Hill
Glee

Rejoice!

And now, the bad news.
TV Guide also predicts that Fringe, one of my absolute, favorite shows, is in danger. Here is my plea to Fox-

PLEASE move Walter and Peter and Olivia and Broyles and that freaky bald dude back to Tuesdays where they belong. Fringe is such a brilliant show, but it can't compete with the Thursday night lineup of Grey's, The Office/30 Rock, CSI, and Supernatural. I know your Thursday night ratings are up, but the shows audience is declining. Have you forgotten that last year, when the show was on Tuesdays, you scored the highest ratings for the 18-49 year old demo of any new show on television?

MOVE. IT. BACK.

what did you see?

Maybe that was the question everyone was asking last night, but this morning, the big question is, "Did Flashforward live up to the hype? Will you watch it again?"

Yes. And yes.

In true Lost fashion, Flashforward opens with our male lead, Mark Benford (Fiennes), coming too, after the blackout. He gets out of a smashed car, surrounded by broken glass (and oranges..?), to reveal the chaos around him. People running around, screaming, confused; one guy is even on fire.
The whole scene was very reminiscent of Lost's opening scene (Jack waking up in the jungle and walking out to the beach to see the devastation of the plane crash), and, trust me, the similarities don't stop there. You may have gotten a glimpse of the Oceanic billboard (if not, see photo evidence), or maybe noticed that Flashforward stars three former Losties- Sonya Walger (aka Penny/Olivia), Dominic Monaghan (aka Charlie/Simon), and Kim Dickens (aka Sawyer's baby momma). And what about Sonya's love for the name Charlie? Penny and Desmond's son on Lost carried the moniker, and on Flashforward, Olivia and Mark's daughter's name is Charley.

Get ready. Like Lost, this show is going to make you think. And not like, 'who dunnit' thinking. I'm talking about BIG things. What would you do if you saw a glimpse into your future? How would you act differently? What if you saw something you didn't like? Would you try to change it? Could you? Are we all just victims of fate? Even if you can change it, how is changing your future affecting others'? Ahhhhh.

But I digress.

Flashforward is no Lost... yet. But it definitely has a ton of potential. Honestly, there were moments that truly took my breath away. Mark standing on top of that car, revealing the scope of the devastation; Bryce coming to and seeing the bodies of surfers floating in the water; the FBI trying to wrap their minds around the death toll; the helicopter falling from the side if the building (very 9/11).

And it ended with the creepiest moment of them all- seeing the footage of the man in black walking around the stadium, when everyone else is blacked out. It reminds me of that scene in Signs, when you see the home video of the alien for the first time. I get goosebumps just thinking about it! My money is on the man being Simon.

Bottom line, Flashforward was an insane hour of television, and, I think, it will only get better... in the future.

Sorry, had to do it.

Ah, my two loves- social media and television

I just finished reading this article from THR about new marketing techniques networks are using to get their shows some publicity. Obviously, word of mouth is huge- the article claims that it is second to on-air promotion when it comes to advertising, but I disagree. Just last night I saw a commercial for The Good Wife with Mr.Big and my Mom asked me what I had heard about it. Despite seeing the commercials, I have heard nothing. Will I watch it? No.

See, word of mouth wins.

Nowadays word of mouth has evolved into word of ‘mouse,’ using sites like Twitter and Facebook to get buzz going for your show. In fact, I just told you last weekend that you could become a fan of Community on Facebook and watch the pilot (which I did last night- hilarious!).

The one thing I don’t really agree with in the article is their assessment of which shows each network is pushing hardest for in their marketing- ABC fof Flashforward? Okay, sure. Fox for Glee? Um, duh. But NBC for Leno? I don’t think so. There has most definitely been a bigger word of mouse push for Community than any other fall show on NBC. I mean, come on, you even mentioned it in your article! I don’t see NBC doing anything new or original to advertise for Leno (beside the usual billboards, press releases, etc).

Anyway, here’s the bottom line. Word of mouse works. Just take a look at what happened to Bruno.

FlashForward to Sept. 24th, please.

Check out E!s article on what to expect from ABC's new show FlashForward.

My favorite thing about the show I haven't even seen yet? All of the comparisns it is getting to Lost!

Big-budget pilot? Check.
Crash int he first episode? Check.
Mapped out series (looking to span 3 seasons)? Check.
Charlie and Penny? Check.

Not to mention John Cho, Seth McFarlane, Joseph Fiennes, and Gabrielle Union.

Fall Schedule!

So all this week I have been adding fall premiere dates to my calendar and it is starting to get overwhelming! These are just the shows I want to watch (I guess my HIMYM love will have to be pushed off for hiatus’. I just don’t have time!)

Sunday, 8/9
ABDC, MTV 8pm

Sunday, 8/16
Mad Men, AMC 9pm

Monday, 8/31
Greek, ABC Family 8pm

Wednesday, 9/9
Glee, Fox 8pm

Monday, 9/14
OTH, CW 7pm

Thursday, 9/17
Community, NBC 8:30pm
Fringe, Fox 8pm

Monday, 9/21
DWTS, ABC 7pm

Thursday, 9/24
Flashforward, ABC 7pm
Grey’s, ABC 8pm

Sunday, 9/27
Brothers and Sisters, ABC 9pm
Desperate Housewives, ABC 8pm
Dexter, Showtime 8pm


So you might be thinking, “Geez, Danielle. How in the world am I going to make this work?” Well, I will tell you. This is what I suggest.

Mondays
Watch OTH at 7, followed by Greek at 8pm. DVR or catch DWTS online in time for the results shows on Tuesdays. CW and ABC Family both have sucky video players and it is hard to find episodes online.

Tuesdays
DWTS day. I never cared much about the results show, but you can watch the show from the night before on DVR or online before you find out who gets kicked off!

Wednesdays
Have a nice peaceful evening with Glee at 8pm. Oh, and catch up from some of that leftover Sunday television!

Thursdays
I’ll give first preference to the new shows- Flashforward at 7pm and Community at 8:30pm because they will need the ratings to survive. Although, that does give you an awkward half hour break… sheesh. If you have to watch one thing that night pick Grey’s at 8pm because it is by far the most popular and what people will be talking about. DVR Fringe or watch it online. It has too much suspense for commercials anyway!

Sundays
Personally, I am watching ABDC at 8pm, followed by Brothers and Sisters at 9pm. I love Desperate but MTV’s video player is so slow. I can easily find Desperate online somewhere. The same goes for cable shows Mad Men and Dexter. Catch them later in the week.

Hope you weren’t planning to have a life this fall!