'No Ordinary Family,' Review

I had my hopes set to reasonably high for this show. I have a lot of time for Julie Benz, she did an excellent job on Dexter, in Angel and Buffy and even in Desperate Housewives she brought her characters to life in a way that many of the female supporting actors don't. So when she left dexter I kept my eyes open for her next project - 'No Ordinary Family.'

Lets look at the other characters, Michael Chiklis. I have never seen 'The Shield,' but from what I have read about it, the character he plays in NOF is drastically different from that of Vic Mackley, which is usually the sign of a quality actor. Kay Panabaker, Disney Kid! Disney does a number of things right, fostering good child actors is not one of them. Every disney kid I have ever seen annoys me and Miss Panabaker is no exception.Jimmy Bennett is unoffensive but in the pilot episode plays a background role.(Spoiler, I love the fact that his super power is not being retarded anymore, magic!!)

My initial impression of this show was something between the first season of 'Heros,' and family values elements of 'The Incredibles.' This premise is not altogether unappealing to me. Unfortunately the pilot of No Ordinary Family disappoints.

The story telling style is interesting but completely inappropriate for this particular show. This is a spoiler but the narrative is generated from the stories that the couple are telling their therapist. Having worked with many therapists in the past I know for a fact that if someone came to you with a story of super powers obtained after a near fatal accident, it would be your duty to report this to the authorities or at the very least another medical professional. For the sake of those connected with this situation as well as their health. Maybe that is something they will explore in further episodes, maybe not but it seems like a stupid idea on the part of the main characters.
The thing that disappointed me the most here was the dialogue. I feel for the underpaid and unappreciated writers of Hollywood but the talented writers on this show need to take another look at the script before they send it to producers. There are a number of good actors on this show and yet they are crippled by this terrible script. I watched the final scenes of the show in disgust as the main characters exchanged cliche platitudes of love. I imagine that they felt as stupid as they looked saying these lines.
So will I watch this show again? Well I believe in second chances but I'll probably record it and watch it when there is literally nothing else on.