No Ordinary Family is just that

With the avalanche of new shows this season, a few of them already cancelled and many others likely to be cancelled sometime soon, there has been a lot of fuss about some of them. And one of the shows that took some hits was ABC's No Ordinary Family.

I've been reading different opinions and reviews about this show; many of them just said it looked too rushed out the door, and some others said it lacks something, and even more.

Last week (more precisely on Tuesday, October 12, 2010) the show got a little more than 7.7 million viewers for its 3rd episode (damn, I just realised it's being broadcasted in my region just one week after its original air date in the U.S.) and for ABC, that's good. At least for a show like this one with no big expectations.
Octobre 26 update: No Ordinary Family just got a full season order, according to an official ABC press release.


Well...
No Ordinary Family is just that. A No Ordinary Family.

This show is nothing more than a light comedy/drama for families, it's just that, no more, and no less than that. Critics seem to be missing the whole point of it; and by "critics" I mean not only the guys who usually write about this stuff for a living, but also anyone else.

And "the whole point" is: as I said, it's just a light comedy/drama for families. Of course, best part of the show are the main stars, Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz; but the writers and showrunners are clearly targeting at younger viewers with the couple's son and daughter (Kay Panabaker and Jimmy Bennett).

Chiklis and Benz are doing a great job as Jim and Stephanie Powell, and they're the main interest of the show. They are, not their powers. But we cannot leave their kids aside. Panabaker (Daphne) and Bennett (JJ) do their stuff just right for what they're supposed to be doing there: to make up the "family" part of the show's name, and as I said, to grab the attention of younger viewers. Older viewers and reviewers seem to be missing this point.

So, what's all the fuss about this show? Why is everyone expecting that every new show has to be the new big thing?

Yeah, No Ordinary Family is no big deal, but it's an hour of clean entertainment. Most other new shows failed miserably at it.

Quality doesn't mean more quality

Some north-american network under the name AMC has been getting a lot of praise lately. Not a suprise, as they gave birth to Breaking Bad and Mad Men, two of the most acclaimed shows these days.

But a few weeks ago, I found myself reading this article at tv.com and noticed that people seem to think that everything that comes from AMC has to be quality television, just because they're the guys behind those two quality shows.

Well, no.

Besides the fact that any show could be the new big thing or the biggest crap ever despite who's behind it, one quality show (or two, or three) doesn't mean more quality shows. One quality network doesn't mean quality shows. And that article shows how wrong it is to go after a name; right when the author says, "Would I bother if it were on a network other than AMC?".

Well, you should bother (big time) if you watched a show just because it came from a certain network.
The networks are entities that bring us, the viewers, their content. And the shows are their content. And shows can be great, good, average, or just plain crap whether they're on CBS or they're on Starz, so to speak.

Never follow the herd.