TBG TV: FlashForward

When/Where: ABC – Thursdays at 8:00 PM

10-Word Premise: "Dude, I had the craziest dream last night!" x 6,000,000,000.

Starring: Joseph Fiennes as not Dr. Jack Shepard; Sonya Walger as not Kate Austen; Jack Davenport as not Sawyer; John Cho as not Walt; Dominic Monaghan as not Charlie and Courtney B. Vance as the Black guy in charge who ALWAYS ends up being part of the conspiracy.

The Best Thang: Theoretically, everyone on earth is facing the same predicament – an unexplainable blackout of our entire population followed by visions of a universally specific point in the future. The performances of Cho and Brian F. O'Byrne as an FBI field agent and AA sponsor, respectively, had me hooked right out of the gate. Their characters were given two of the more intriguing visions (or, is it just one?) and both actors struck the right notes of confusion and anxiety.

The Worst Thang: I guess it's unavoidable, but considering the compelling subject matter, I was disappointed to see the writers go all in with so many clichéd prop bets. The love triangle? The recovering alcoholic? The precocious child who may be the key to it all? And, the potential deus ex machina factor concerns me, too. Maybe the writers already have an idea for an eventual endgame, but all these individual peeks behind the future curtain could end up being several seasons of red herrings, before any real answers are revealed.

The Verdict: I liked "FlashForward", but wasn't blown away. The show's writers and producers are saying all the right things on the press junkets, including promises that they'll get us to "April 2010" by the end of the first season. I suppose I'm in for now, but if this show starts showing similarities to the glacial pacing of ABC's "The Nine" or "Invasion", then I'm out.