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script review of pilot for Flash Forward

I don't like the change to how far into the future the flash forward is from the books tbh.
 
I was fully expecting that would change; either by making it the more proximate future (which appears to be the case), or else making the event repeatable in a way that was not possible in the book (which, for all we know, may yet be the case - each season beginning with a new flash forward, for instance). It's the requirement of a novel vs. a television show that might go several years: you need the flash forward to remain vitally relevant across that period of time, so either repeat the experiment or make it possible to catch up to it.

What I'm rather unhappy about is the cast changes; the book focused on the scientists at CERN who inadvertently triggered the event, whereas this seems like a fairly generic lineup of cops and doctors. What, the lawyers were busy? A series like this, of course, wants and indeed needs a larger cast than the book, which pretty much focused on about four people, but I'm bummed none of the scientists are amongst their number.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
 
I was fully expecting that would change; either by making it the more proximate future (which appears to be the case), or else making the event repeatable in a way that was not possible in the book (which, for all we know, may yet be the case - each season beginning with a new flash forward, for instance). It's the requirement of a novel vs. a television show that might go several years: you need the flash forward to remain vitally relevant across that period of time, so either repeat the experiment or make it possible to catch up to it.

What I'm rather unhappy about is the cast changes; the book focused on the scientists at CERN who inadvertently triggered the event, whereas this seems like a fairly generic lineup of cops and doctors. What, the lawyers were busy? A series like this, of course, wants and indeed needs a larger cast than the book, which pretty much focused on about four people, but I'm bummed none of the scientists are amongst their number.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

I think the cast change shows they're going for the Lost type replacement/duplicate in that you have a large cast of people who have no idea WTF is going on.

They'll just have this crazy thing occur and try to pick up their lives and track down what caused and it and everything. Similar to lost having all the survivors of the plane crash be thrown into this situation where nobody had any idea what was going on.
 
No reason for me to read very far into the script review. Obviously, it's a gimmick-based high-concept show. Like Lost, everything will hinge on whether they cast the roles well enough that the characters can keep us engaged while we twiddle our thumbs waiting for the clues to be doled out at a glacial pace.

Joseph Fiennes - He's certainly a good enough actor though I'm not sure about the charisma factor.

John Cho - He's got the geek and stoner market sewed up. A good choice.

Sonya Walger - She does weepy well enough on Lost, but there's something about her I find annoying.

Don't know about the others. Roster looks a bit thin so far in terms of grabbing our attention and making us be patient with the plotline. And there are so damn many charismatic actors who they could be snapping up for this thing.

Connor Trinneer, Jeffrey Combs, Robert Picardo, Joel Gretsch, Ben Browder, just for starters. How about some of the wonderful Pushing Daisies cast? I could see Chi McBride and Swoozy Kurtz in particular fitting in perfectly. And I have a hunch Summer Glau and Brian Austin Green from Terminator and Wentworth Miller, Robert Knepper and Willian Fichtner from Prison Break will be at liberty as well by the end of the year if not sooner.

And going back to Pushing Daisies, I was astounded to discover that the guy who is doing such a terrific job playing Chuck's dad, swathed in makeup and bandages, is Nathan from Lost (Josh Randall). Any actor who can convey such wonderful personality with his face entirely obscured is worth snapping up. More Losties I'd like to see again: Ian Somerhalder and Mila Furlan.

I'd be happy if Braga went back to the Threshold well and got Brent Spiner, Peter Dinklage and Rob Benedict back on board.

Sure, several of those people will be snapped up by other projects, but not all of them. There's no excuse for this show not to have a truly kick-ass cast.
 
Hmm... I love the book, but that script review didn't sell me. We'll see how it looks, I guess.
 
I haven't read the books, so I can't compare the differences between the two. What I've read here has me very interested, but I wonder about a couple of things. First of all, how the series will last beyond the 2010 date everyone experiences in their flashes, and, second of all, how will it survive the chopping block before that?
 
Or set the date far enough forward in the future that a normal run of five or six seasons will cover it.

Or let the story run up to the target date, and then write new material for what happens afterwards. That's probably the best approach. There's a limit to how patient the audience can possibly be.

how will it survive the chopping block before that?

That is the real question, isn't it? But any series has to assume it won't be prematurely cancelled, even if most of them are.
 
They should have kept Invasion.

This part is funny...
Dow Jones highs
I think they will need to fix that.

And I like the idea that the show has to end on a real date. This way when, not if, the series is canceled at least there is a better chance of a mini-series type show and no cliffhangers.
 
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