FlashForward
A global blackout reveals visions of the future.
FlashForward is an American television series that aired on ABC for one season from September 2009 to May 2010. Adapted by Brannon Braga and David S. Goyer from Robert J. Sawyer's 1999 novel, the show centers on a global event in which nearly everyone loses consciousness for two minutes and seventeen seconds, experiencing visions of their lives six months in the future. The series was cancelled after its first season, though the season finale depicted another flashforward more than twenty years ahead.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Drama; Science fiction
- Creator
- Brannon Braga; David S. Goyer
- Based on
- Flashforward; by Robert J. Sawyer
- Composer
- Ramin Djawadi
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Seasons
- 1
- Episodes
- 22
Facts from the source article.
Cast and characters
Joseph Fiennes portrays FBI Special Agent Mark Benford, whose flashforward guides the investigation of the October 6 event. He is a recovering alcoholic married to Olivia Benford, with whom he has a daughter named Charlie. John Cho plays FBI Special Agent Demetri Noh, Mark's partner, who had no flashforward and fears he will die; he survives the date on which he was told he would be murdered thanks to Mark's help. Courtney B. Vance appears as FBI Assistant Director Stanford Wedeck, who oversees the investigation and whose flashforward shows him on a toilet reading a newspaper. Sonya Walger plays Dr. Olivia Benford, a surgeon who in her flashforward is romantically involved with Dr. Lloyd Simcoe, a man she meets after he brings his autistic son Dylan to her hospital. Christine Woods portrays FBI Special Agent Janis Hawk, who sees herself pregnant in her vision despite being a single lesbian; she is later revealed to be a mole reporting to those responsible for the blackout, and subsequently a double agent for the FBI and CIA. Jack Davenport plays Dr. Lloyd Simcoe, a Stanford academic whose estranged wife died during the blackout and whose research partner Simon Campos may have amplified the event, causing it to affect the entire world.
Production
The pilot was written and directed by David S. Goyer, with Brannon Braga, from Robert J. Sawyer's novel; Goyer and Braga executive produced alongside Jessika Borsiczky Goyer, Vince Gerardis, and Ralph Vicinanza. FlashForward was originally developed at HBO, which sold its option, and ABC picked it up for thirteen episodes in May 2009, later ordering a full season of 24 episodes. Executive producer Marc Guggenheim left in October 2009, and Goyer replaced him as showrunner; Goyer stepped down in February 2010 to focus on feature films, with his wife Jessika Goyer, Lisa Zwerling, and Timothy J. Lea taking over. The show was cancelled on May 13, 2010, two weeks before the season finale, due to declining viewership. Each episode's title sequence includes a hidden image within the FlashForward logo that hints at the episode's content. In 2015, Robert J. Sawyer publicly shared his memo from February 2010 outlining suggestions for a second season.
Release
FlashForward aired on ABC from September 24, 2009, through May 27, 2010. The series was sold in over 100 territories, with overseas air-dates typically close to the U.S. broadcasts to limit piracy. It aired on AXN in multiple countries including Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Japan; on the Seven Network in Australia; on ORF1 in Austria; on /A\ in Canada; on Fox Life in Estonia; on FX in Greece; on TVB Pearl in Hong Kong; on TV2 in New Zealand; on Channel One in Russia; on MediaCorp Channel 5 and Starhub Fox Channel in Singapore; on TV JOJ in Slovakia; on TV3 Slovenia in Slovenia; on M-Net in South Africa; on Public Television Service in Taiwan; on Dizimax and ATV in Turkey; and on various channels in Western Europe including Kanal 5 in Denmark, Nelonen in Finland, Canal + and TF1 in France, ProSieben in Germany, RTÉ Two in Ireland, TV 2 in Norway, Cuatro in Spain, TV4 in Sweden, TSR1, La 2 & SF zwei in Switzerland, Five in the United Kingdom, Fox in Italy, Veronica in the Netherlands, BeTV in Belgium, and SIC in Portugal. It also aired on Studio 23 in the Philippines, on yes stars Action and HOT3 in Israel, and on RCTI in Indonesia. Season 1, Part 1 was released on DVD on February 23, 2010, and the full series on DVD on August 31, 2010; a Blu-ray release was cancelled. The series is available for digital purchase on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, and Vudu, and was added to Disney+ in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada on February 23, 2021.
Reception
FlashForward premiered to 12.47 million US viewers but quickly lost about two-thirds of that audience. Some blamed an unexpected long break in the schedule for the drop. In the UK, the show aired in prime time on Channel Five, a network with generally low viewership, and ratings there also fell. Overall, each episode averaged 8.5 million viewers, making it the 44th most-watched show of its season. Critics were mostly positive: it scored 71 out of 100 on Metacritic from 26 reviews, and 80% approval on Rotten Tomatoes from 35 reviews, with the consensus calling it "robustly entertaining" with an "addictive concept" and "exciting apocalyptic setting." Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "enormously entertaining," and Ginia Bellafante of The New York Times said its pilot hooked her with "bracing suspense." Variety's Brian Lowry found it an "intriguing, mind-bending concept" but held back full praise until seeing more. Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker gave it a B+, applauding its mix of "sci-fi-ish conspiracy suspense" and "excellent prime-time-soap drama," though he noted the show looked "drab" and sometimes told rather than dramatized its philosophical themes.
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