As I read through the fall previews from various sources I see a lot of them comparing both Flash Forward and V to Lost.
I've seen the pilots for V and Flash Forward and enjoyed both of them very much. I've also seen all five seasons of Lost. The comparisons of this season's new shows to Lost seems off to me though. Especially when I think of things from a ratings perspective.
Whatever else Lost is, especially in the early days, you could describe it succinctly in a way that had the potential for mass appeal: a plane crashes leaving a bunch of beautiful survivors stranded on a beautiful tropical island.
Oh sure, they aren't all beautiful, but even "a bunch of people stranded on a beautiful tropical island" is an easy description. I understand that there's a lot more to Lost than that, but for a lot of people there didn't have to be a lot more to it than that to at least give it a look.
I don't see either Flash Forward or V having that going for them.
I do think Flash Forward will do just fine in the ratings if they are able to make the subsequent episodes as interesting as the pilot. Though the words "post apocalyptic" come out when some describe Flash Forward, it's not really a post apocalyptic show.
The hook for Flash Forward is, "What Would You Do if you were given a glimpse of the future?" That might be interesting enough to rope quite a few in for the pilot. Especially given all the promotion it has behind it. It still doesn't have the same ring as a bunch of beautiful people stranded on a beautiful tropical island, but I like its chances better than V's over the longer term.
V? Aliens from another world pay Earth a visit. "Aliens" also doesn't have the same ring to it as a bunch of beautiful people stranded on a beautiful tropical island. I really enjoyed the pilot of V, especially the first 15 minutes or so (I might have been swayed because the aliens are able to convert their spaceships into very kick ass video displays that would make even Jerry Jones jealous). It will be interesting to see how big a crowd V can draw initially and then how big of a crowd it can keep.
Aliens can be a huge box office draw. But TV?
Either way, I don't buy the Lost comparisons. For now, it looks as if any new big budget broadcast shows with science fiction elements will get compared to Lost. Even if such comparisons don't seem apt.
i’m looking forward to all 3 shows
and i’m still rooting for putting all 3 shows on one night
hey, i’m allowed to dream!
They just like to compare it to Lost because of the potential hook on the mystery of each show. I hope both will be hits as Lost ends next year, I need another show with the same level of intrigue and mystery Lost had
About Flash Forward: “what would you do if you were given a glimpse of the future?”
I don’t think it can be mass-appealing.
It’s the kind of thing that can generate fandom, but I don’t see it having a grip on casual viewers.
For comparison, I can see the mass-appealing factor in shows like House,GA,or CSI.
Of course this doesn’t mean that they are fantastic shows from a quality point of view, but it’s undeniable that they are for the mass.
That’s a shame I think, having to compare every freaking new show to lost or x-files. That’s what happened with fringe at the beginning, the show had potential, was good, or bad, or a x-files rip-off. Until THAT episode. It changed everything and now Fringe is the most awaited sci fi series of the upcoming season. So I’d say, give V and flash forward a chance before you start bashing it because it’s not like lost (or because it does better than Chuck!)
Persons Unknown is the new show most like Lost and looks waaaaaaaaaaaay better than FF & V and will do better in the ratings if it gets real promotion
Samuel: The article is not bashing both shows at all (Robert mentioned he like bthe pilot episodes for both shows) and actually the article shares your view that both shows should not be compared to Lost.
and also V and Flash Forward both have Lost alumni as leads.
Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet Burke) and Sonya Walger (Penny Widmore)
Definitely agree, don’t compare the shows to Lost. Lost started out with a large mass appeal, the people on the island just trying to survive the island and each other. Obviously it developed into much more of a niche show (and I love it!). However, it looks like FlashForward and V are going to be more niche from the get go. Maybe FlashForward will have a little more mass appeal, and this is why I think that this show will last the season and V probably won’t.
I am eagerly anticipating both shows however.
tdot, FlashForward is also getting Dominic Monaghan who was on Lost for 3 seasons.
oh yeah! i miss charlie
I could see the FlashForward Pilot raking in more viewers than recent episodes of Lost, but keeping up those numbers won’t be easy. V, on the other hand, probably won’t do as well as FF, but could have some success due to the weak timeslot. I’d love to see both take off, but I can already see fans of both shows talking about online and DVR viewing when someone pens an article saying genre shows don’t pull in solid ratings.
I love the 2 V miniseries, and I thought of so many ways the story could have been extended. The original series on the other didn’t have the same tone or storytelling and was a mess.
I’m hoping the showrunners can draw out the invasion and have a realistic solution for killing the Vistors (I thought red dust was stupid).
Forg, that’s the point, I agree with the article, I was referring to Fringe debut in some critics, until, something changed. It would be a shame having the same thing happen to FF and V, particularly FF. Since, like he says, I don’t see what Aliens have to do with beautiful people on a beautiful island with beautiful black smoke.
Sorry if I didn’t made myself clear^^
Samuel, oh I see I think I was the one who misinterpreted it, sorry.
But yeah I think it’s somewhat annoying to be compared always with Lost even if the premise of the show is so not like Lost and as if the shows’ only purpose is only to fill in Lost shoes. I really hope both shows would thrive this season
As has been referenced above, I think the comparisons to Lost are made easier because of the presence of Elizabeth Mitchell and Sonya Walger in leading roles on the new shows. The story hook for Flash Forward is definitely more late seasons mystery Lost than it is 1st season stranded on an island Lost. I do think Flash Forward will examine themes like fate v. destiny through knowledge (or supposed knowledge) of what will come through the eyes of a large and semi-diverse cast of characters similar to the way Lost does (especially this past season). At any rate, I’ll be DVRing all three shows this season.
I completely agree with this article. And frankly given the success of Survivor, Lost and the Pirates movies this year I’m kind of amazed that the networks haven’t picked up yet on the popularity of the tropical angle. Not that it guarantees success by any means but it’s obviously a plus when used right.
Lost in its first season was also more of a monster genre than sci fi, which we forget these days. The main concern in the first season was what seemed to the audience to be an unshown t-rex sized monster that came out whenever it rained.
I look forward to sampling V and Flashforward, but I’m definitely not expecting another Lost.
This decade I meant, not this year. I normally don’t do a follow up post to correct a typo but that one was confusing.
For V, I’m pretty sure that the only reason it is being compared to Lost is Elizabeth Mitchell, the show’s star, a Lost regular. She’s a relatively popular character on Lost, and those viewers missing her may tune in to see Mitchell if they sell her enough in the advertisements.
Flash Forward, I think it’s just trying to get across the message of mystery and it’ll keep people going with wild theories. Also, just like V, the link between Flash Forward and Lost also lies in the cast. Sonya Walger is a recurring character on Lost and Dominic Monaghan was a regular for the first 3 seasons.
And I forgot to mention one thing: The Unusuals. They marketed Harold Perrineau during Lost. “Lost star Harold Perrineau” even though the 2 shows have absolutely NOTHING in common with each other besides him.
The title of this post says ‘Flash Foward’, no one mentioned this so i will
Also, while you fix it, the title was officially changed by ABC to ‘FlashForward’ (no space).