ABC commit to 'Charlie's Angels' & 'Pan Am'; 'No Ordinary Family' definitely dead; NBC nix 'The 17th Precinct' & 'Wonder Woman' pilots

ABC have decided to give their TV remake of '70s hit Charlie's Angels a whirl, with Minka Kelly, Annie Ilonzeh and Rachael Taylor in the leading roles. They've also opted to take '60s jet set drama pilot Pan Am to series, which stars Christina Ricci and is viewed as a network reaction to AMC's award-winning Mad Men. But isn't anything set in the '60s perceived as being inspired by Mad Men?

ABC also confirmed the demise of likable superhero drama No Ordinary Family, after just one season, as everyone with half a brain expected them to. It was a fun show, in a throwaway kind of way, but the ratings just weren't there.

There's also bad news for anyone looking forward to Ronald D. Moore's The 17th Precinct, which reunited some of Battlestar Galactica's actors for a series about a world where magic's real. NBC weren't confident enough in the pilot to commit to a series, so it's dead in the water. Likewise, David E. Kelley's Wonder Woman hasn't been picked up, perhaps not helped by the negative buzz online regarding reviews of Kelley's dumb script and the central character's stupid costume. Both pilots will hopefully leak online and become curios. I'm particularly disappointed 17th Precinct didn't make the cut, because the premise and talent assembled had me believing it was certain to air.

What do you make of these pickups and cancellations?

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.20 - "No Ordinary Beginning"

The chances of No Ordinary Family getting a second season are the same as Michael Chiklis waking up with a full head of hair. "No Ordinary Beginning" was a curiously flat finale in some ways, even inept at times, despite doing many of the things we've wanted to see from the start (the Powells working together as a super-team, Dr King's defeat.) My general disappointment came from the lack of surprises to the storyline, some awkward staging of scenes (was this episode rushed?), and some developments that just didn't sit right.

The story was very basic: JJ (Jimmy Bennett) was kidnapped by Mrs X/Helen Burton (Lucy Lawless) and taken to a secret GlobalTech "super-prison", where he's pressured to use his ability to solve the issue of trilsettum permanence, so Burton can bestow super-powers without the need to keep subjects dosed with further injections. So it was down to Jim (Chiklis), Stephanie (Julie Benz) and Daphne (Kay Panabaker) to rescue JJ, having learned what's going on from Dr King (Stephen Collins), whom it's revealed is dying of cancer now his remedial trilsettum jabs are wearing off. Elsewhere, Katie (Autumn Reeser) was overjoyed to see Joshua (Josh Stewart) return, revealing he's going to be a father, before George (Romany Malco) discovered "Joshua" is really shapeshifter Victoria (Rebecca Mader.)

There just wasn't much to the story that grabbed me, beyond the occasional moment, like Dr King shooting a de-powered Jim dead and blaming it on the guards. But even that genuine shock was undone with a feeble excuse, when Jim returned and claimed he survived because his powers had actually returned. If that's true, why was there blood? If there was blood, he was definitely shot. Does he regenerate from life-threatening injuries now, too? Even the basic thrill of seeing the Powells joining forces was fairly subdued, perhaps because the budget wouldn't stretch to them doing much together, and the impregnable super-prison proved to be a joke. What exactly were the defenses to keep supers under control in there? Men with guns and locked doors, like any normal prison? I was expecting a penitentiary full of super-guards, at the very least.

Just in general terms, I began questioning details of the show. Why does Helen want to give people permanent powers? It makes sense that Dr King needs that breakthrough, for his own health reasons, but why is Helen risking giving Death Row inmates permanent powers? Surely it makes more sense to ensure their obedience with the current process of top-up injections?

The subplot with Katie was kind of weird, because it wasn't really clear what Victoria's plan was. I assume she was intending to pose as Joshua until Katie gave birth, then steal the baby? It just felt like a way to give Katie and George something to do, really, and the manner in which Katie's waters broke was pretty laughable. If you replay the scene, she just walks straight into a chair. Still, it was surprisingly brave of the show to have Katie give birth prematurely (um, don't call for an ambulance?) and for her baby to die. They even showed a quick glimpse of the stillborn child, which was pretty grisly for a show like this, before lightening the mood when the super-baby miraculously recovered. So, um, the baby's super-power is immortality? And while it was quite sweet to use a powerless Joshua reunited with Katie, it feels like the show's swept most of Joshua's misdemeanors under the carpet. He was a callous assassin when the season began, and a large part of his success with Katie has been down to mind-games.

The only moment that truly worked in this finale, for me, was seeing Stephen Collins tackle the material with scenery-chewing delight -- especially in the scene where he went crazy, gave himself super-powers, and attempted to take on all of the Powells single-handed. Collins really unleashed his inner ham and it was marvelous; particularly when he was turned into a prune-like corpse, after JJ threw an anti-serum needle into his eyeball. That entire scene was so ludicrously OTT that it actually worked, because the intention was clearly to be very silly.

The denouement setup a second season that will never happen, barring a miracle, but I'm not actually very upset about that. Having discovered that the key to permanence is inhaling trilsettum while under incredible stress, Helen loaded a plane full of bad guys and intentionally crashed it. This sets up two ideas Heroes covered in its third season: super-villains unleashed into the world, and a plane crash where "supers" are now going to be hunted by the US government. Indeed, the Powells' secret is apparently known to the NSA, who arrived to request their help in capturing these supers. It sounds like a neat development, until you realize the Powells have been capturing and defeating supers all season, so the only difference is they'll be doing it for Uncle Sam now. Oh, and George was aboard the plane, so undoubtedly has a power of his own, but we'll never know what it is.

Maybe I'm being too harsh on "No Ordinary Beginning." The finale was entertaining, but I just expected something grander and cleverer, given the months of buildup. A few moments were effectively handled, but it was mostly a very safe and predictable climax. It wasn't a horrific mess that made me question by loyalty to a show most viewers had ditched halfway through, but I think fans deserved something more emotionally involving, unexpected, and less frenetic. Although I blame ABC for the pacing issues, having cut the season order down to 20 episodes.

What did you make of this finale and No Ordinary Family as a whole? Do you want to see a second season of the Powells chasing supervillains for the government? Or was this a good place to leave it, because we've seen everything the series is capable of?

Asides

• Joshua was last seen leaving town on a coach, so when did he get captured by Dr King and thrown into jail? And why, considering he has no powers now? I'm guessing this would have been explained better, if ABC hadn't curtailed the season.
• Victoria makes a habit of shape-changing in clear view of people outside, doesn't she!
• So what was all that phosphorescence in the Amazon River, if it wasn't responsible for giving the Powells powers?

written by Zack Estrin & Ali Adler (story by Jon Harmon Feldman) / directed by Paul Edwards / 5 April 2011 / ABC

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.19 – "No Ordinary Future"

Just prior to its first season finale, Heroes did an episode that leaped into the future to show viewers exactly why its characters must stop a city-wide explosion in New York. It was a clever idea, although its existence signaled the characters would triumph in the end, as the writers just wanted an hour to speculate on the road untraveled. No Ordinary Family attempted something similar with "No Ordinary Future", but because its own season arc is small-scale and hazy (a mysterious company are trying to develop super-powers is all we have) it was forced to attach things to a standalone story.

This inability to deliver something ambitious and relevant to Dr King and Mrs X's (Lucy Lawless) roles as villains on the show was, unfortunately, the big failing of an episode that might otherwise have been excellent. Still, this penultimate hour was brisk, entertaining, and comfortably the most appealing hour No Ordinary Family's given us all season. What a pity the show's started to deliver its most enjoyable episodes now it's almost certainly cancelled.

Continuing from episode 18's cliffhanger, Stephanie (Julie Benz) found herself disintegrating mid-run and appearing a few days into the future, where she witnessed a SWAT team closing on her house. Inside, Jim (Michael Chiklis) was attempting to smuggle JJ (Jimmy Bennett) and Daphne (Kay Panabaker) out of harm's way as the armed men moved in to arrest them, with Stephanie unable to help because she's invisible (conveniently and illogically), before being catapulted back to the present-day after a few minutes. The concept behind the episode was duly established: Stephanie played temporal detective by jumping into the future (at risk to her health) for a few minutes at a time, to deduce why, how, and when her family's secret is exposed to the world.

In the present, Jim was involved with trying to catch dirty cops responsible for gunning down his colleague in cold blood, with the help of George (Romany Malco); Daphne became more uncomfortable over boyfriend Chris's (Luke Kleintank) demands that she use her mind-control for immoral purposes; and Mrs X resurrected shape-shifter Victoria (Rebecca Mader) in order to have her pose as a doctor to get information on Katie's ((Autumn Reeser) super-baby pregnancy.

To be honest, none of the subplots were especially engaging when viewed separately, as the situation with Katie was simply laying groundwork for the finale's events (plus involved the cheat of bringing Victoria back to life), and the situation with Katie's pregnancy has arrived annoyingly late in the year. Elsewhere, Daphne's frustrating situation with Chris has been covered a few times already, so this was just the final go-around before a lasting solution -- which was admittedly rather touching, with Daphne agreeing to erase Chris's memory of her super-power, only to realize she's accidentally expunged their entire relationship. The look on Daphne's face when she saw Chris's affection for her drained from his face, knowing she's sacrificed a relationship and confidant in order to protect her family, was nicely done by Panabaker.

But it's the central time-travel story that demanded the most attention, of course. I really liked how it dovetailed with Jim's investigation into a dirty cop at the precinct, and the way current events merged with Stephanie's glimpsed futures. Sure, it made no sense that Stephanie was invisible whenever she visited the future, and it was awfully convenient that a "Future Stephanie" was always absent (thus avoiding paradoxes – like wouldn't Future Stephanie know about Past Stephanie's existence?), but I don't know anyone who watches No Ordinary Family for water-tight plotting. It's all about the warm family dynamic and playfulness with the superhero genre. So the basic idea of Stephanie trying to solve a mystery backwards did what was intended, and in the process we got to see a special effects highlight of the season: Jim flipping a van into the air, having it somersault a few times, before crashing on the other side of a street. Impressive.

It wasn't the best penultimate episode you could hope for, in terms of how it pushed the pre-existing storylines along, but it managed to deliver a few nuggets of information we'll need for the finale: JJ's duplicitous teacher Mr Litchfield (Jason Antoon) has gone missing from school, and Mrs X has decided to let Victoria steal Katie's unborn super-baby and raise it as her own. I continue to enjoy how the show deals with issues of family (kids, babies, marriage, sibling rivalry) to anchor everything on relatable issues. We all have families, after all.

It's a shame ABC originally gave No Ordinary Family a full season commitment, then trimmed the order down to 20. The show would have been more successful with a 13-episode order, giving the writers a focus, before potentially being given a back-nine. That's how Chuck has often staved off narrative tedium, by essentially have two mini-seasons every year. Instead, No Ordinary Family went down the familiar path of having too much mid-season slack (which didn't help people encouraged to give it a second chance, who tuned in to see filler), thus prompting ABC to reduce their total order. Then, ironically, with less episodes has come tighter focus on a nearer endgame, and a run of great episodes that aren't being seen by many people.

Asides

• If you're not already aware, the finale will air on 5 April.
• When did "zooping" become the verb to describe Stephanie's high-speed movement?

written by Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer / directed by Milan Cheylov / 26 March 2011 / ABC

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.18 - "No Ordinary Animal"

Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz are signing onto other pilots, ABC have announced this show's last clutch of episodes are going to bounce around the schedule, so I think it's safe to say No Ordinary Family has its neck on the chopping block. That's a shame, as it's a harmless and likeable superhero show the whole family can sit down to enjoy, which is actually doing very well in the UK (where it's shown on digital channel Watch, and grabbing solid ratings every week.) If only the same were true of its American performance, but clearly its native audience would prefer something edgier that takes risks. I can understand that, as I often wish No Ordinary Family was slightly less cutesy, too, but it's just nowhere near as disappointing as the ratings would have you believe.

"No Ordinary Animal" was another standard episode in terms of storytelling and construction, but it contained a handful of genuinely exciting and, for this series, fairly radical changes. Cumulatively, this was probably the best episode the show's done. Jim (Chiklis) and George (Romany Malco) were trying to catch a killer who appears to be targeting "supers" and has some kind of animal traits himself, as the police are convinced the murders are vicious dog attacks. Turns out Dr King's (Stephen Collins) recently injected Death Row patient Lucas Winnick (Eric Balfour) has joined his boss Mrs X (Lucy Lawless) in a mission to clean up the city of its itinerant supers, and is playing assassin. Matters are complicated when Lucas discovers the Powell family have powers (as they're not on Mrs X's list of supers), meaning Jim and Stephanie (Benz) must protect their kids from harm.

Meanwhile, there were some functional subplots with JJ (Jimmy Bennett) being pressured by his teacher Mr Litchfield (Jason Antoon) to complete difficult equations, unaware Litchfield is being passed this data by Dr King; while Daphne (Kay Panabaker) was encouraged by her boyfriend Chris (Luke Kleintank) to use her mind-control so they can skip school and go see an outdoor concert. Neither were particularly interesting on their own, but both knitted with the more important stories that are being told -- with JJ's equation revealed to be the secret to ensuring super-power permanency, and Daphne's life being put in danger from Lucas. The latter also prompted a series highlight in terms of special effects, with a Jim vs Lucas super-fight that was surprisingly enjoyable and actually better than most fights Heroes ever gave us.

But while this episode wasn't really anything special, it involved a handful of developments that made it standout from the crowd. Katie (Autumn Reeser) suddenly demonstrated telekinesis, coming to the later conclusion that she's inherited some of ex-boyfriend Joshua's powers because she's pregnant (a surprise that, frankly, was so predictably it was irritating they didn't reveal it until the end), and the show actually endangered the Powells in a credible way. In fact, the moment when Lucas managed to punch his claws into Stephanie's stomach and leave her dying on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood made for a a genuinely tense situation. One that enabled Chiklis to shine as his character contemplated losing his wife, and cemented Balfour's villain as someone who's an unmistakable threat instead of a trivial villain-of-the-week.

After receiving some super-serum "miracle cure", Stephanie recovered, but in the final shot it appeared the serum has boosted her ability to an unprecedented level as she literally disintegrated during a late-night run. I assume she's travelled so fast she's jumped forward in time, so hopefully episode 19 will give us an entertaining look at the Powell family's possible future together. Katie as a mother with a super-baby? JJ and Daphne as twentysomethings? There's lots of potential.

Overall, "No Ordinary Animal" was one of the better episodes of this likeable show, if only because it gave the mythology a noticeable shove towards the finish. It's still a very soft show that feels like it should be airing in the afternoons, but it's efficiently done and plays to the strengths of its talented cast. I like this family, I enjoy their mini-adventures, I like how it's refused to become a tangled mess by keeping things fairly grounded. Was a better show possible with this premise and cast? Oh, definitely. But I'm sure a second season would have ironed out some flaws and reassessed a few things.

Asides

• A reminder: in a change to the schedule, the penultimate episode will air on 25 March at 10pm. The finale will actually air on 5 April.
• Unintentional hilarity: check out the crowd watching that outdoors concert, as they each appear to be dancing to a completely different song.
• Katie keeps comparing Joshua to Wolverine, and Lucas is definitely based on Sabretooth. I think the stage is set for those two to fight, don't you think?
• It seems that Chris is becoming a bad influence on Daphne, by encouraging her to abuse her abilities so much. It'll be interesting to see if their relationship fizzles out over this, or if Chris is understandable just excited to have a super-girlfriend.

written by Zack Estrin & Jon Harmon Feldman / directed by Greg Beeman / 22 March 2011 / ABC

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.17 - "No Ordinary Love"

I don't have much to say about No Ordinary Family this week. As a Battlestar Galactica fan it was great to see Tricia Helfer and Lucy Lawless both guest-starring, particularly as the latter is playing Dr King's superior Mrs X. Lawless has proven herself a better actress than I gave her credit for on Spartacus (a show name-checked here), although I'm pretty sure the scripts of No Ordinary Family aren't going to stretch her beyond Xena's level. But we'll see how things progress.

Helfer, predictably, played a super-babe who could seduce men by giving off pheromones, soon enslaving George (Romany Malco) and Jim (Michael Chiklis) with her aroma. A wittier show would have made Helfer's character less of a beauty queen, for added fun and the potential to elicit sympathy about the power's misuse. This isn't that show.

Good to see Daphne (Kay Panabaker) bring her dopey friend Chris (Luke Kleintank) into her confidence about her family's abilities, once she accepted that her ability to "push" his suspicions aside are only a temporary fix. Hopefully this development will last and not get reversed, as it's about time the Powell siblings got confidants to aide storylines at school. It may be a problem that Chris' father is the defeated superhero from last week's episode, though, as that kind of dirties the water.

Dr King also created another supervillain here, with the help of a conflicted Stephanie (whose gift at giving people simple jabs can't be undervalued), but I think we need some clarity about what Dr King's hoping to achieve with all this. His latest subject was a Death Row inmate (24's Eric Balfour), wisely choosing to swap a lethal injection for a super-injection in shades of Terminator Salvation. But why does King want a murderer doing his bidding, with the dull ability to sprout claws from his knuckles? I'm still not sure what King's deal is, creating a stream of super-henchmen, and that's frustrating considering we're nearing the end of this season (and most likely the series).

A very brief review this week, hope you don't mind. It was just a very average episode, buoyed by three familiar guest-stars. Feel free to chip in about anything I missed in the comments below.

written by Kate Barnow & Elisabeth R. Finch / directed by Peter Werner / 1 March 2011 / ABC

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.16 - "No Ordinary Proposal"

The writing's on the wall for ABC's underperforming superhero drama, which means it's a struggle to get enthused about it. As the season finale looms, "No Ordinary Proposal" at least spent time pushing the mytharc along, but the show isn't delivering fireworks from moments I thought would be cataclysmic (like Stephanie discovering Joshua erased her daughter's memory.) I'm therefore losing faith that No Ordinary Family is going to capitalize on the storylines it's juggling.

Joshua (Josh Stewart) proposed to Katie (Autumn Reeser), which inspired an engagement party at the Powell residence, where Daphne's (Kay Panabaker) friend Chris (Luke Kleintank) stole super-serum belonging to Stephanie (Julie Benz) to cure his irascible father Roy's (Anthony Michael Hall) paraplegia. The serum worked, but Roy wasn't content with his restored mobility and, realizing he also has super-strength, decided to rob ATM's across the city -- with his crime spree bringing him to the attention of Jim (Michael Chiklis) and George (Romany Malco). Meanwhile, Stephanie tested her anti-serum on Joshua so he can live a normal life with fiancé Katie; Jim accidentally hospitalized an innocent bystander after deflecting a gunman's bullet; and JJ (Jimmy Bennett) was blackmailed by his teacher Mr Litchfield (Jason Antoon) into joining the school's decathlon team.

I liked the idea of inadvertently creating a supervillain, particularly as Jim had to use his intellect to defeat someone with superior strength to his own. There was also a fun antithetical angle to the warring father's, with Roy being something of an ungrateful bully. The guy threw his own son through a window and didn't even stop to check he was okay, so he can't be expecting Father's Day cards. And having Jim learn boxing moves from George, to avoid Roy's attacks and gradually tire him out to gain the upper-hand, worked really well. It's always appreciated when a superhero has to use special tactics to defeat the week's villain.

Dr King (Stephen Collins) is also becoming good fun as the big bad, now he's forced to take matters into his own hands as there are no henchmen left to do his dirty work, and there was promise in the final scene when it was revealed he paid Mr Litchfield to have JJ solve a special equation. I predict the equation is something that will enable the permanency of Dr King's super-serum, as the show is hopefully edging towards Super-King vs the Powell clan.

Overall, "No Ordinary Proposal" had many flaws but it wasn't too bad. The breakup of Katie and Joshua (after she discovered he erased her memory) was rather muted given how long they've spent setting up this relationship, but that's partly because Stewart's hardly the most emotive of actors. When he smiles you wish he hadn't bothered trying. Still, seeing Joshua leave town on a coach, now without his super-powers because of the anti-serum's delayed reaction, makes me think he'll be back to help his ex-girlfriend when Dr King becomes a real threat.

A briefer review this week, which in itself summarized my feelings. What did you think?

Asides

• I barely recognized Anthony Michael Hall as Roy. When Hall was appearing in TV's The Dead Zone he looked considerably different to his teenage '80s heyday in movies like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Weird Science, but it looks like he changes his appearance every five years!

written by Andrew Major & Emily Silver / directed by Stephen Surjik / 22 February 2011 / ABC

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.15 - "No Ordinary Powell"

Most episodes of No Ordinary Family tend to elicit the same response from me: entertained but craving something more substantial. But I do enjoy watching these likeable actors play superheroes for an hour, with just enough continuing mytharc to keep me on the hook. "No Ordinary Powell" saw Dr King (Stephen Collins) dispatch shape-shifter Victoria (Rebecca Mader) to snoop on the Powell family and kill one of them, resulting in an hour of false identity mischief as Victoria was mistaken for Stephanie (Julie Benz), George (Romany Malco) and Daphne (Kay Panabaker) as she gathered intel on the Powell's powers.

Meanwhile, JJ (Jimmy Bennett) took it upon himself to solve the cold case murder of his ex-girlfriend Natalie's mother, utilizing Daphne's mind-reading and his own ability to become an instant expert in criminal psychology. His sister's newfound knack of planting thoughts in people's minds also came in handy when forcing the truth from the tightlipped, although that evolution of her power has me worried Daphne's becoming too powerful. While the subplots the kids have are often trivial distractions to fill time, this story took a more serious turn once JJ and Daphne got into trouble after finding the killer (the wife of a carpenter, who killed Natalie's mother because she slept with her husband.) It's just a shame I never accepted the idea JJ would want to find whoever killed his ex's mother, and be brave enough to follow through on it.

Frankly, a huge amount of time was dedicated to just watching Victoria sneak around pretending to be members of the Powell family, with the usual rug-pulling tricks we've come to expect from "supers" with this power. The switcheroo's worked in a few instances -- although once it became clear Victoria was involved in this episode, the teaser's flashforward to Stephanie discovering Jim's dead body at home was easily solved, while also spoiling the climactic "Jim vs Jim" fight. (A show like No Ordinary Family will never kill its leading man, let's be honest.)

But I'm glad a few veils have slipped for everyone now. In particular, Stephanie knows Dr King is a dangerous man and, having cleverly posed as a shape-changed Victoria, manipulated him into bringing herself into his confidence. We may therefore start to get answers about King's back-story and motivation for his super-serum, if Stephanie enters his circle of trust. It was also good to see Stephanie and Jim made aware that Joshua has powers, finally -- although they're frustratingly unforthcoming about questioning him about it. Wouldn't you want to know more about why he was given the super-serum, or speculate about the coincidence that someone like Joshua just happened to walk into their friend Katie's (Autumn Reeser) life? A reticence of characters to ask questions on the lips of the audience has become a hallmark of this show.

Overall, "No Ordinary Powell" was an above-average installment; engaging yet undemanding, with some irritations. There was a lot to enjoy in watching Victoria creep around posing as various people, I liked the allusion from Joshua that Dr King's just a small cog in a larger machine (to be explored in the increasingly unlikely second season?), and the balance of comedy and action was great. I just hope the show will stop pussyfooting around and start building to what I want to see in the finale: the Powell family, united as one, fighting Dr King and some supervillains.

written by Ali Adler & Sonny Postiglione / directed by Terry McDonough / 15 February 2011 / ABC

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.14 - "No Ordinary Double Standard"

The word on the street says No Ordinary Family is doomed because of low ratings for ABC, which is a shame. It's lost half its audience since last September's premiere, with this episode marking a nadir of 5.3m. But while I agree it's hardly a revolutionary or particularly inventive series, I have a consistent amount of carefree fun watching it every week. The awkwardly-titled "No Ordinary Double Standard" was a curious hour, though; the first half was quite flat and throwaway, but the second half introduced unanticipated developments to the mytharc. It was ultimately an episode where important information was imparted amidst a fairly dreary storyline, but it had its moments,.

This week, Stephanie's (Julie Benz) lab friend Nina (Betsy Brandt) was attacked in her home by an unseen assailant and Jim (Michael Chiklis) resolve to find the culprit, initially unaware that his wife's keen to prove that she's just as capable when it comes to bringing criminals to justice using super-powers. The Powell's, each helped by their trusty sidekicks George (Romany Malco) and Katie (Autumn Reeser), essentially found themselves competing to find the perpetrator, Tom Seeley (Ethan Suplee), who it transpired can turn his physical body into mist.

Meanwhile, Daphne (Kay Panabaker) and JJ (Jimmy Bennett) were both asked out on dates by seniors; but while Jim's happy to let JJ go have fun with the older Bailey (Katrina Begin), he was less inclined to let his more vulnerable daughter spend time with a mature teen like Chris (Luke Kleintank). Elsewhere, Katie became aware of her boyfriend Joshua's (Josh Stewart) involvement with Dr Chiles' original research into super-powers and heard Dr King (Stephen Collins) insinuate he's involved in nefarious deeds, only to have her memory erased by Joshua after she confronted him to demand the truth.

There isn't much to say about this episode's storyline, really. There was some lighthearted rivalry between Stephanie and Jim, before they inevitably realized they can achieve more if they combine forces, and the titular "double standards" storyline over how they treated their loved-up kids. It's only really worth mentioning the sudden information-dump of realizing Nina worked in a penitentiary affiliated with Dr King, who has apparently been experimenting on inmates with his super-serum. Many of this year's super-villains are therefore former prisoners, who appear incapable of using their powers against King, which retroactively explains their often angry vibe.

Overall, "No Ordinary Double Standard" benefited from seeing Jim and Stephanie together as a crime-fighting married couple (more, please), the supervillain's power was an effective visual that threw up uncertainties over how he'd be defeated, I appreciated the insight into Dr King's back-story (was he telling the truth about only experimenting on disabled people, like the allegedly paralyzed Tom?), it feels like a notable turning point now Stephanie's aware her boss can't be trusted (and he knows she knows this), and Daphne's storyline presented us with a fun evolution of her mind-reading to encompass mind control.

A somewhat brief review this week, owing to real-world pressures -- but what did you think of this fourteenth episode?

written by Sallie Patrick / directed by Paul Edwards / 8 February 2011 / ABC

'NO ORDINARY FAMILY' 1.13 - "No Ordinary Detention"

There was a tweak to the usual format of No Ordinary Family this week, as three separate stories were told that all involved members of the Powell family being detained/trapped in some way. Jim (Michael Chiklis) found himself entangled in a hostage crisis at the police department with George (Romany Malco); Daphne (Kay Panabaker) and JJ (Jimmy Bennett) were held back at school for detention; and Stephanie (Julie Benz) had to deal with an emergency lockdown at the laboratory after Katie (Autumn Reeser) tricked her sick boyfriend Joshua (Josh Stewart) into work for medical treatment.

Coincidentally, "No Ordinary Detention" is the second TV show this month to take inspiration from the movie Die Hard, following a similar storyline to Human Target's "Imbroglio" recently. As I mentioned before, John McTiernan's '80s hit must rank as one of the biggest influences on modern TV screenwriters, who often riff on Die Hard's core premise because it lends itself brilliantly to comparatively micro-budget productions aiming to save cash by only filming on their standing sets. It may be a clichéd setup, but seeing Jim enact John McClane, using his super-powers to immobilize the criminal gang who've escaped from custody, one by one, was an entertaining use of his character. It helped spice things up that Jim had to keep his everyday identity a secret, not just his powers, in order to keep his cover, because Internal Affairs officer Rachel Jacobs (Joanne Kelly) is investigating her theory there's a vigilante cop in the city.

The least involving storyline was foisted onto the Powell teens, with a storyline for Daphne and JJ that evoked The Breakfast Club. Writers Zack Estrin and Leigh Dana Jackson sure did raid their DVD shelf for pop-culture muses this week, huh? The result was a pleasant but forgettable story, where a group of kids (including JJ's curiously distant girlfriend, the boy Daphne knows lied about possessing drugs, and the "mean girl" Daphne beat to the position of student president) came to better understand each other. I appreciated this storyline making the effort to utilize some supporting players, having recently bemoaned how No Ordinary Family doesn't have many throughlines and seems to use and dispose of its guest stars. I hope this continues and the show starts to build a social group for JJ and Daphne that doesn't feel like it gets rebooted every week.

Finally, in terms of the mytharc, Stephanie's storyline offered the biggest thrills for fans. Joshua became a quivering wreck as he went cold turkey from Dr King's super-serum, and after being taken to Katie's workplace under false pretenses, came under attack from shapeshifter Victoria (Rebecca Mader), Dr King's wily new henchman. It wasn't the most plausible of subplots (why did Joshua agree to accompany Katie to work if he's so ill?) and the lockdown was an awkward way to avoid the problem Stephanie's workplace would ordinarily be crawling with scientists the show can't allow to witness super-antics, but otherwise I appreciated the steps forward it ultimately achieved.

Katie now knows that Joshua has super-powers (although she didn't press Joshua for details on how he obtained them?!), and Stephanie knows Victoria is a shapeshifter who may return in a different guise -- but was this reveal done too early, considering Victoria was only introduced last week? I think it would have been nicer to play around with Victoria awhile, and the fact Stephanie appeared to disregard so much of the weirdness was a little annoying. In the denouement, it was played for laughs that every character was reticent about going into the details of their day, but it felt very strange that Stephanie wouldn't be gossiping about a shapeshifter having an unexplained interest in herself and Katie.

Overall, I'm probably too soft on No Ordinary Family, but for what the show's intended to be I think this was a very good episode. Some firm developments told within three entertaining storylines, together with an improved performance from Josh Stewart (who isn't a dynamic actor, but plays victimized well), and an impressive turn from Mader as the boo-hiss villain. I often find myself making a list of nitpicks and issues as I watch No Ordinary Family, but the show's a pleasant viewing experience and the fact it's so unpretentious makes me forgive its holes.

WRITERS: Zack Estrin & Leigh Dana Jackson
DIRECTOR: David Petrarca
TRANSMISSION: 18 January 2011, ABC, 8/7c