I am – Hercules!!

At Wednesday press screenings of the ABC sci-fi drama pilot “FlashForward” held in Los Angeles and New York, we were warned that the pilot was not the final version and not to be reviewed. But Time TV critic James Poniewozik offered his opinion anyway:

… I wish more attention had been paid to fleshing out the characters and generally bringing a fresher voice to the dialogue. (Someday, I want someone to bring a cool high-concept like this to a producer like Jason Katims, who can play it out realistically through rounded characters, as he did on Roswell.) …

I agree completely on that point, as well as this one:

… Do I Want to Watch Another Episode? Absolutely. But please work on making these folks as appealing conscious as they are unconscious.

You can find all of Time’s “not-review” here. We were also warned not to reveal certain plot points, but AICN spy “Jeremy” already revealed the most important one in his May 9 review (posted 10 days before ABC formally announced “FlashForward” would join its autumn schedule). Gleaned from the subsequent Wednesday Q&A with showrunners David Goyer (“Threshold,” “Blade: Trinity,” “Blade: The Series”) and Marc Guggenheim (“Brothers & Sisters,” “Eli Stone”): * “Threshold” co-creator Brannon Braga, who co-wrote the “FlashForward” pilot with Goyer, will not be working on the “FlashForward” series anytime in the near future; he was unable to free himself of his obligations as writer-producer on Fox’s “24.” * Insufferable “Family Guy” mastermind and Hulu pitchman Seth MacFarlane, who cameos in the pilot as an FBI man, will return in a recurring role. MacFarlane, who seems to use in “FlashForward” the same voice he uses to play the dog in “Family Guy,” lobbied Goyer for a role in the project after he read the script. * “ER” vet Alex Kingston, who plays a Scotland Yard agent in the pilot, will also recur. * Goyer did not deny that “Lost” vet Dominic Monaghan would be joining “FlashForward.” “You know I can’t answer that,” were his words. * Goyer says the series will need at least three seasons to find a satisfying conclusion, but could work for as long as seven seasons. * Goyer says the first season will be divided into "three acts." * The date everyone flashes forward to, April 29, 2010, is a Thursday, and a key new episode of “FlashForward” is currently slated to air on that date. That episode will not be the season finale. * In the flashforward experienced by the Joe Fiennes' FBI character, the Fiennes character is seen investigating the cause of the flashforward. But even though everyone learns the exact future date and time of the two-plus minutes their memories will capture, no one in the flashforwards makes an effort to surround themselves with ballscores and stock market charts. So apparently the flashforward event paradoxically changes the timing of -- or eliminates -- the flashforward. Or something. “FlashForward” replaces “Ugly Betty” on Thursdays at 8 p.m. (opposite “Survivor,” “SNL Thursdays,” “Bones” and “The Vampire Diaries”) starting Sept. 24. Follow Herc on Twitter!

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