No Ordinary Family
No Ordinary Family is an American television series that aired on ABC in the United States and CTV in Canada. The one-hour science fiction comedy-drama was produced by ABC Studios for the 2010–11 television season. The series ran from September 28, 2010, to April 5, 2011, on Tuesdays at 8:00 pm ET/PT. The show centers on the Powells, a typical American family living in fictional Pacific Bay, California, whose members gain special powers after their plane crashes in the Amazon, Brazil. On May 13, 2011, ABC cancelled the series after one season. Development and  casting. On January 25, 2010, ABC green-lit production of the pilot, which was written by Greg Berlanti and Jon Harmon Feldman. David Semel directed the pilot. Berlanti and Feldman are executive producers, along with Morgan Wandell. In early February 2010, Michael Chiklis became the first actor to join the series, playing family patriarch Jim Powell. Autumn Reeser was the next actor cast, to play a colleague of Jim's wife. Romany Malco portrays Jim's best friend and college roommate. March 2010 casting included Julie Benz as Jim's wife and family matriarch Stephanie Powell and Christina Chang as  a police officer who works with Jim. Tate Donovan is the mysterious pilot of the plane that crashes. Rounding out the cast are Kay Panabaker and Jimmy Bennett, who portray the Powell children Daphne and JJ. Shay Carl- security guard On May 12, 2010, "Entertainment Weekly" reported that ABC had picked up the series for the 2010–11 television season. A few days later, "Chuck" writer and executive producer Allison Adler (credited as Ali Adler) announced that she would be joining the show's writing team. At the end of May, "Smallville" writers Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin joined the writing  team. On June 3, 2010, Donovan and Chang left the show due to the completion of their story lines. Producers said there was a potential for Donovan to come back as guest stars at a later date. Stephen Collins, who initially had a small role in the series, was promoted to a series regular in mid-June. "Entertainment Weekly"'s Michael Ausiello reports that Josh Stewart, late of "Criminal Minds", has joined the cast as the Watcher. On October 25, 2010 ABC gave the series a full-season order. This order was cut back to 20 episodes on February 26 , 2011. At the beginning of March 2011, the two lead stars Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz signed for Fall 2011 CBS pilot offers. Also, around the same time, there were reports that Disney was temporarily moving the series' sets from their lot. Reception. Ratings. The premiere was watched by 10.69 million viewers, the second episode dropped to 8.99 million viewers. Critical reception. The series pilot episode received mostly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Metacritic gave the series a score of 65 out of 100, indicating generally favorable reviews based on 28 professional critics. Alessandra Stanley from "The New York  Times" gave an average review, praising the fact that the show offers "calmer, more restrained fantasy about paranormal prowess" by combining shows like "Heroes" and "Lost" with the wholesome fantasy of Pixar's "The Incredibles" and Disney's "The Swiss Family Robinson", but concluded her review by saying that "it's not clear whether this series—a hybrid of family drama and graphic novel—can sustain interest once the premise is fully established". Tim Goodman of the "San Francisco Chronicle" wrote a review saying that "There's lot of promise here, of drama, action, comedy, etc, all wrapped up in  a family-friendly series." The "Miami Herald" Glenn Garvin gave a positive review by saying that the show is "a perceptive and engaging comedy drama about domestic dysfunction", he also praised Benz and Chiklis saying that they are "splendid as a startled couple", with Panabaker "as their sulky, contemptuous daughter". Praise about the main leads also came from "The Boston Globe", with critic Matthew Gilbert saying that it's nice to see Chiklis and Benz in roles different from their previous television roles, and ends his review by saying that "With believable chemistry together, Chiklis and Benz help create a  solid TV couple and, let's hope, no ordinary series". However, Verne Gay from "Newsday" criticized Chiklis' performance saying that it is a "spectacular...case of miscasting". International broadcasts. The series premiered in the U.S. and Canada on September 28, 2010, and in Latin America on October 8, 2010 on SET. The show was one of the first US Fall 2010–2011 new series to premiere in South Africa and aired on M-Net Series from November 2010. It premiered in Italy on October 6, 2010, on Fox Italy, part of the Sky Italy Broadcast Group, and in the United Kingdom  on January 11, 2011, on Watch, part of the UKTV group. In New Zealand the series premiered on February 3, 2011 on TV2. In Greece the series premiered March 3, 2011 on FX (Greece). The series premiered in Hong Kong on March 24, 2011 on TVB Pearl at 10:35 pm every Thursday. In Russia the series premiered Apr 4, 2011 on Fox Life. On May 2, 2011 the series premiered in Australia on the Seven Network at 7:30 pm, and in India on Zee Cafe at 10:00 pm. In Slovakia the series premiered June 27, 2011 at 8:15 pm on  TV JOJ. Home media. The show was released on DVD on September 9, 2011.