FlashForward: The Ironically Unknown Future

FLASHFORWARD aired its second episode last night (October 1st, 2009) on ABC. This new hit television drama stars Joseph Fiennes (recognizable from Oscar winning SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE). It follows Fiennes character as he (and the rest of the world) try to piece together why a massive, worldwide blackout occurred causing everyone to lose consciousness and see their futures.

This plot is very innovative and falls under the unreal tv genre. This genre is for the supernatural aspects of television shows. To be honest, it seems as though ABC is preparing for the end of LOST (their major, and established unreal television show at present, which premieres its final season early 2010). The two shows share similar qualities, beyond the supernatural realm of their narratives. Both shows select a core group of individuals who are "destined" to solve the mystery. In LOST its the Oceanic 6 survivors, and in FLASHFORWARD its the FBI team, particularly the Fiennes character who saw the investigation in his own vision.

Secondly, the two television shows are aimed at the same demographic: the under 35 year-olds. With their sci-fi and conspiracy theory styles, this key audience is satisfied. This is a crucial demographic to win over because they are often the ones who spend more freely. If they spend more freely, the ad execs will raise their prices for ads during the show due to the high demand for this captive audience.

Thirdly, this audience is more likely to investigate alternative ways to access the show's "bible." They will take advantage of conventions, webisodes, fanfiction, message boards, facebook groups, twitter tweets, watching episodes online and the like. These will provide extra information that will give a more in-depth look at the episodes. These alternative ways to surround an audience with the show, which proved very successful for LOST, is just another way to earn more revenue from ad sales and other ancillary products.

And lastly, and most importantly perhaps, just like LOST, FLASHFORWARD has a definite expiration date. ABC chose not to bestow the curse of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND on LOST and have the Oceanic 6 live forever on the island, they knew they need (in order to make the most money through rise of anticipation of the final season) to kill the show at its peak. Similarly, FLASHFORWARD has already proven one major point at which it could be killed: once the mystery is solved, when the characters reach the day they envisioned in the blackout. This is a major concern for the execs up at ABC. Perhaps there will be curve balls to throw this off a bit, but regardless of whether that is in fact the end point or not, there is definitely going to be an endpoint for this new drama.