DJariya

Synopsis:

THE TOMORROW PEOPLE

"Pilot" - (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET) (Content Rating TBD) (HDTV)

THE UNKNOWN - When Stephen Jameson (Robbie Amell) begins hearing voices and waking up in strange places, he starts to question his sanity. In desperation, Stephen decides to listen to one of the voices in his head, and it leads him to his first encounter with the Tomorrow People - John (Luke Mitchell), Cara (Peyton List) and Russell (Aaron Yoo) - a genetically advanced race with the abilities of telekinesis, teleportation and telepathic communication. The Tomorrow People inform him that they are being hunted down by a paramilitary group of scientists known as Ultra, led by Dr. Jedikiah Price (Mark Pellegrino). Meanwhile, Stephen gets another surprise that leads him down his own path, which he hopes will help him uncover the truth about his father's (guest star Jeffrey Pierce, "Alcatraz") mysterious disappearance. Madeleine Mantock also stars. Danny Cannon directed the episode with story by Greg Berlanti, Julie Plec and Phil Klemmer and teleplay by Phil Klemmer (#101).


In case you've never heard of this show, it's from Greg Berlanti, the creator of Arrow and Julie Plec, the co-creator of The Vampire Diaries.

And to top it off, Robbie Amell, the lead actor, is Stephen Amell's cousin.

Trailer:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/3wi0PnEIdjc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

rfduncan

I'm in.

TGM

Set to record, although I have very low expectations.

MrSmearkase

I'll give it a shot. I don't think I have ever followed 2 shows on the CW (the other is currently Arrow).

wishbone

I remember watching it on Nickelodeon.

Eric F

It's Amell Wednesday. OMG!!!

OldBoy

27% @ RT

Geofferson

I do like Peyton List (Mad Men), but the reviews don't sound too promising. I'm still on the fence.

DJariya

Just like The Blacklist?


I've watched and seen pretty much everything that Peyton List has starred, guest starred in for movies and TV. I love her. Tall, gorgeous and a decent actress.

This should get some eyes on it after Arrow.

Geofferson

Fair enough. What I'll likely end up doing is recording it and if after a few weeks the feedback is positive, I'll check it out.

I'm getting more particular in what network shows I invest my time in up front.

DJariya

dex14

Hey now.

PhantomStranger

The CW ripped off the X-Men/New Mutants/Generation X for this series. It's a blatant riff on Marvel's mutants without a Professor X. I actually thought the selection of powers was pretty cool, though they crammed way too many plot developments inside one episode.

The hip, urban casting fell flat for me. Aside from Mark Pellegrino as the "villain," the cast seems very generic.

mrhan

Don't forget Alphas. The X-Men rip off on SyFy and they had a "Professor X" in the cast. I actually liked it but I read it was cancelled. Wasn't there also a "Tomorrow People" storyline in the X-Men comic? I know it has nothing to do with it except the similar titles.

riley_dude

This was a Britush show back in the 70's.

OldBoy

anyone watch this? thoughts?

Ropes Pierre

i was not as impressed as i was hoping. let's see what happens by third episode before i start officially bitching.

Ranger

It was a bit better than I thought it'd be. I'll keep watching for now.

MikahC

I enjoyed this way more than Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Arrow got me over my aversion to All Things CW so I was open to this one. I really enjoyed it. Not "best show ever" enjoyment, but it delivered and didn't annoy me. It was a slight turnoff that the lead is in high school (shades of Smallville) rather than a bit more mature, but so far that isn't too much of an issue. If it becomes a lot of high school drama, I'll be out. We'll see.

I was a casual watcher of Alphas and I didn't get the ripoff feel. It didn't feel like X-Men to me either except in the most lose of terms. For one thing, those shows (and most superhero shows) center around a variety of powers. These people all have the same 3 T's (I'm not going to explain that for people who haven't seen the show).

I also had no problem with the actors and I enjoyed seeing Jacob from "Lost".

I read some of the negative reviews @ Rotten Tomatoes thinking maybe I'm overlooking something, but not really. Sometimes you have to remember not everyone likes a particular genre, but it doesn't mean they can't give an opinion on it. I'd take more seriously people who liked Arrow but don't like this, but I don't think there will be a lot of people who fall into that category. I'd say it does what it set out to do. If you tend to like that, you might like this. If you tend not to, this isn't going to change your mind.

mrhan

Which was a rip off of the X-Men. Same premise. Found this doing a search on Tomorrow People -----"Born to human parents, an apparently-normal child might at some point between childhood and late adolescence experience a process called "breaking out", when they develop their special abilities. " Sounds like X-Men to me.

Lastdaysofrain

I'm thinking it's a coincidence. The X-Men were not very popular in the mid 70s pre- Giant Sized X-Men #1 and the UK very rarely got US comics at the time as I understand it. It's not like it's a completely innovative idea.

benedict

I believe that the original Tomorrow People were pretty much pacifists requiring regular people to do anything in the way of serious fighting. They all wore similar muted outfits as compared, say, to the garish ensembles sported by Xavier's brood.

The show also referenced some kind of extra-terrestrial/galactic federation, displaying a space-y/sci-fi vibe to a greater extent than with Marvel's mutant team which, IIRC, was more fantastical.

I really don't think that the show's orginators were aware of Stan Lee and/or Marvel's mutants.

mrhan

Marvel reprints were readily available in the 60's through Odhams Press and in 1972 Marvel UK (Magazine Management London) took over the reprints. It was run by Marvel writer/editor Tony Isabella.

DJariya

Finally got to see this tonight and agree with you on some points. For an action superhero show, I did think this first episode was a lot stronger than Agents of Shield and not as goofy.

It was actually a pretty good Pilot to get the series going, but I was also somewhat annoyed they made Amell's character a high school student. I mean I think making Stephen a young adult or college student would make more sense. John and Cara are obviously in their 20's so it seems a little odd to make the lead so young.

It did remind me a little of Alphas. It definitely had a bigger budget than Alphas. Some of the special effects were pretty cool.

Amell looks almost like a younger clone of Colin Egglesfield.

I liked seeing Mark Pellegrino as the "villain". I saw this actually did pretty well with Arrow as the lead in. Guess my Wednesdays will be filled with the Amell's.

benedict

Although of course I'm aware that Marvel reprints were available in the UK around that time, there are several reasons that leave me unreceptive to your theory that The Tomorrow People tv show was a rip-off of the X-Men comicbook.

I accept that British tv folk may have had access to Marvel comics, either in their original or reprinted form, although I note that X-Men wasn't reprinted in the UK until a few years after TTP began - in The Superheroes &/or The Titans. FWIW I don't think that had been much tv interest in superheroes outside of Superman and Batman at that time but YMMV.

I have read a little regarding how the concept for TTP was developed, including the writer Roger Price having discussed the idea of "Homo Superior" with David Bowie who inserted the phrase into one of his songs before the show aired. The show employed a scientific consultant which indicates a desire for verisimilitude.

The most convincing part of the puzzle is that, having watched more than half of these shows, I can tell you that the look and feel is entirely at odds with what you see in comicbook superhero groups generally and in the X-Men in particular.

If TTP reminds me of anything, it would be of the countless science fiction stories written before and after the X-Men regarding the development of "psionic" powers in humanity. In particular, I would look to Alan Nourse's 1967 "Psi Hi & Others" collection of stories which I read when young and greatly enjoyed at the time. (Funnily enough, I've just read that he sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Dr X).

In view of all this, it seems sensible that we just agree to differ.