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MAJOR (but good) changes happening at FlashForward
There's been a change behind the scenes of ABC's sci-fi series FlashForward, which may not mean much to the casual viewer but actually raises our hopes about the show.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, executive producer Marc Guggenheim is leaving the series. He was one of the "show runners," which is TV slang for the guy who's in charge of the day-to-day operations. The other "show runner," of course, was David Goyer, who co-created the show with his partner Brannon Braga (the later Star Trek TV shows) and is best known as the screenwriter of the Batman and Blade films.
Guggenheim was previously one of the guys behind ABC's Eli Stone. Now, no knock on that quirky series—which featured the musical stylings of George Michael, among other things—but we always thought the pairing of Goyer and Guggenheim was a bit odd. Goyer, as we know, favors dark, gnarly storytelling, as evidenced by his and Braga's previous show, CBS' short-lived but well-liked Threshold. Guggenheim seems to favor, well, George Michael.
Now we learn, via the Reporter, that ABC paired Guggenheim with Goyer given Goyer's limited TV show-running experience, even though he's an accomplished filmmaker (he directed the third Blade movie, not to mention the weird horror dramas The Unborn and The Invisible). But we understand the network's anxiety: Goyer was an executive producer on Threshold, but the day-to-day was handled mainly by Braga, a TV veteran.
On FlashForward, though, Braga's not available: He's also an executive producer on Fox's 24, which is a more-than-full-time job.
So Guggenheim was brought in to help Goyer learn the ropes, we suppose. And we guess he did: After working as a co-show runner with Guggenheim for the show's first 13 episodes, Goyer's now stepping up as FlashForward's sole show runner for the final nine of the season.
The reason this seems like good news is that we favor a singular vision for a high-concept series like FlashForward, and we have every confidence in Goyer as a storyteller with a strong point of view. The less that point of view is muddled by others, the better, in our humble opinion.
The proof, of course, will be in the pudding: We'll see how strong those final season-one episodes turn out. Anyone with a "flash forward" idea of what might happen? FlashForward airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
By Supreme Being at 11:04 PM ON 10/21/09
Threshold sucked. Blade: The Series sucked. Blade III sucked. FlashForward sucks. David Goyer sucks. The only great things he's worked on are the Batman movies. If he can't get the brothers Nolan to help him on FlashForward it too will continue to suck.
By divephotog at 11:14 PM ON 10/21/09
Exec production is only apart of the flaws in this series though. One needs a better story line definition episode to episode (give us more than one small detail to think about week to week, as this story seems to be dragged out and could have been done in a miniseries more correctly!) and make the stakes a bit higher, and the actions taken by these characters a bit more definitive.
Honestly... If I knew I was getting shot 3 times in the chest in a few months, I'd be shopping for body armor... If I knew my wife was thinking of being with another man, I'd be giving her no reason to think of it. The story is very unrealistic in this respect... -kh
By InfiniteMonkey at 11:21 PM ON 10/21/09
I don't know what to think. LOL! I don't even know if this comment is going to go through. Syfy needs to fix their comment system. Unlike other sites. LOL!
okay here goes...testing...
By asfm at 11:34 PM ON 10/21/09
I was hoping this article would contain but three simple words:
it's
been
cancelled.
Oh well.
By S.W. at 2:28 AM ON 10/22/09
My God, people. Haven't you ever heard the words "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?" No one is forcing you to watch the show you know. If you don't like it, find something else to occupy your time and stop your childish bitching.
By Pent at 3:19 AM ON 10/22/09
Why bother leaving negative comments about a show in response to an article you shouldnt be reading if you hate it so much?!?
By Izzardfan at 3:23 AM ON 10/22/09
@S.W.: Haven't you ever heard the words "Everyone is entitled to their opinion"? My suggestion is learn to ignore the extremes, and appreciate it when someone posts something worth reading. Also, there are those who post crap like that just to get attention, even if it's negative attention. Another phrase to remind you of: "Don't feed the trolls". :)
By Klijpo at 3:46 AM ON 10/22/09
If that stops the show not just expecting the audience to be dumb, but actually telling you "You are stupid" every 5 minutes then it might become watchable. Doubt it though...
By Obi Window Washer at 6:30 AM ON 10/22/09
I for one can't wait to figure out what happens on April 29th 2010. Will Demetri survive, Will Mark start drinking again, will Olivia leave him and will Aaron find his supposedly dead daughter Tracy?
And to all the trolls here....
SUCK MY KNOB THIS SHOW ROCKS!
By DebbyS at 9:48 AM ON 10/22/09
I haven't been watching FF because I expect I will like it -- and ABC will kill it (I really liked Eli Stone, for example). I also read the book. I'll rent the DVDs. In the meantime, I'm recording Supernatural and Fringe, both also quite good shows with strong network backing.
By islesfan at 9:55 AM ON 10/22/09
They took a B novel and turned it into an A series. What more do you want? Maybe Flash Forward could resurrect Terminator and cancel Dollhouse and that would make the trolls happy too?
By pimenta at 10:25 AM ON 10/22/09
Maybe someone saw on their flash forward that the show had been canceled.
By daget at 11:46 AM ON 10/22/09
Flash Forward is decent, not as good as i hoped so far really, but i will stick with it for a couple more episodes at least.
By Daniel at 12:10 PM ON 10/22/09
It just irks me when people write "I don't like the show, so it should be canceled." For those who don't like the show, please don't watch it, and move on...
By Cassiach at 1:00 PM ON 10/22/09
Really people..... If you don't like the show then why would you bother reading an article about it???? It always amazes me how many people go to these comment sections just to get a rise out of the people who have a REAL opinion!
By Miraxian at 2:20 PM ON 10/22/09
By S.W. at 2:28 AM ON 10/22/09
My God, people. Haven't you ever heard the words "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?" No one is forcing you to watch the show you know. If you don't like it, find something else to occupy your time and stop your childish bitching.
By Pent at 3:19 AM ON 10/22/09
Why bother leaving negative comments about a show in response to an article you shouldnt be reading if you hate it so much?!?
Welcome to the interwebs.
By scifi-ED at 2:21 PM ON 10/22/09
@Cassiach.
I don't watch this show. I tried and got bored, so I stopped. However, when I come across an article for a show that I don't watch, like Doll House, Heoros, or FF, I like to read the comments, hoping someone mentions something that sparks my interest, so I can watch the show.
Now I don't leave negative comments about a show I don't watch, and I will never wish for a scifi show to be cancelled, even if I don't watch it, but this is a reason why some people read the article, even if they don't watch the show.
I want to watch all scifi shows, but some don't keep my interest. I read the articles, for news about the show, to see if it has gotten interesting yet, so I can tune in.
By sunnyca at 1:07 AM ON 10/23/09
I just discovered this show. Wow, what powerful acting talent on it. Neat premise for the plot. I will watch.
By Andy67 at 4:04 PM ON 10/23/09
I'm digging this show. Best of the season. I can't believe it's on primetime. Really dig Dimitri, Janis, and Charlie.
By D9worked at 8:57 PM ON 10/24/09
Loved the season opener, liked most of the episodes so far. I'm hoping Goyer will pump it up a notch.
Threshold was excellent and I was pizzed off when it was cancelled just when it was reaching the most exciting point!
By D9worked at 8:59 PM ON 10/24/09
What is wrong with this site that you have to post 3 or 4 times before it works!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By mycorner at 2:15 AM ON 12/02/09
Flash forward, in-spite of having a huge potential, is being handled by a bunch of amateurs. The writing sucks. The character responses to the whole premise, and the way they have been dealing with are very unrealistic.
Unfortunately Josh, the lead actor, still looks like the guy in 'Darwin Awards'. :)
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