Michael Chiklis stars in NO ORDINARY FAMILY a new ABC super-show. This fall’s just going to be the season for super-heroes on TV, isn't it? HEROES has been canceled. NBC previewed THE CAPE. And now, EW’s Hollywood Insider reports, ABC’s got their own super-show in the pipeline. And it stars the Thing, no less! Well, Michael Chiklis (a fellow Terrier. Go BU!) Julie Benz of Dexter and Tate Donovan of Damages co-star. There aren’t too many other details about this new prime time drama, aside from it seeming to be about a super-powered family. I’m sure it’ll be riffing on themes similar to those in FANTASTIC FOUR and THE INCREDIBLES.
You know, when I was first writing about the first reports of the CAPE in January, I couldn’t help but notice how shows like this have been joining an expanding pantheon of superheroes created strictly for the screen. Off the top of my head, I can name HANCOCK, M.A.N.T.I.S., THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO, METEOR MAN, BLANK MAN, DEFENDOR and the RETURN OF CAPTAIN INVINCIBLE (and I’d be eager for all you Comic Vine maniacs to name the ones I’ve missed.) I think it’s intriguing to see superheroes interpreted “from the outside looking in”, so to speak. That is, how do creatives outside the fanbase view these archetypes we’re all so familiar with? Me, myself, I’d say THE INCREDIBLES probably pulled this off the best (though BLANK MAN always make me crack up. “That’s not my fingerrrrrr!!!”) That’s the only one to really capture the fun of a “shared universe” filled with an entire pantheon of larger-than-life capes. But I want to know what you in the mainstream-interpreted Comic Vine community think of this specific sub-genre? Which ones make you roll your eyes over the people “just not getting it.” Which ones do you think are actually better than characters from the comics? I want to know!
-- Tom Pinchuk is the writer of UNIMAGINABLE for Arcana Studios and HYBRID BASTARDS! for Archaia. Pre-order the HYBRID BASTARDS! hardcover now on Amazon.com.