Update: This post’s title question has now been answered. Resoundingly. No.
I’ve heard it said that this fall’s forthcoming Flash Forward is Grey’s Anatomy meets Lost. What then of this Sunday’s two hour premiere of Defying Gravity? Grey’s Anatomy meets Lost in Space? More like Grey’s Anatomy meets Lost. In space.
I watched the pilot and the second episode that ABC will air back-to-back Sunday night. That it includes a lengthy six year space mission that does some TV broadcasts from the ship back to earth has some comparing it to the pilot of Virtuality. But other than it involving a long space mission I didn’t find the shows similar at all. My expectations for any scripted dramas a broadcast network would deliberately debut in August were incredibly low, so from that standpoint my expectations were certainly exceeded.
But I’ll leave the reviews to the paid professionals. Here’s what Variety had to say:
Defying Gravity” telegraphs its aspirations in terms of commercial longevity — a six-year (God willing) space mission — but otherwise holds its cards close to its spacesuit. Frequently flashing back to build a soap opera around its sci-fi skeleton, this international co-production proves mildly intriguing and looks reasonably handsome but divulges only vague hints regarding its ultimate destination during the two-hour premiere. As a consequence, the storytelling needs to pick up momentum quickly if the show expects an audience to tag along on its planned journey to Venus and beyond.
I mostly agree with that assessment. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. In the pilot they went with more than one “musical montage”, and that had me thinking, “Oh boy…”, but I was relieved they didn’t persist with it in the second episode. It’s Lost-y in the sense that there are a lot of flashbacks and that there are unrevealed mysteries — though it appears the central mystery of the two hour premiere will not be a mystery for long.
But let’s face it, Internet opinions of the show won’t matter. The ratings will.
We can glean a little bit of understanding about what ABC thinks about it just by realizing ABC is premiering the show in August. August! It’s probably fairly cheap for ABC as its internationally co-produced by Fox Television Studios and companies in association with Canada’s CTV.
If ABC really wanted to make a big splash with Defying Gravity, it seems like ABC would’ve aired the premiere behind the premiere (of what will be an 11 episode run) of the 10th anniversary of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
But ABC didn’t do that and Defying Gravity is premiering a week before Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Millionaire’s premiere on 8/9 will be followed by the summer premiere of Shark Tank and another episode of Defying Gravity. To ABC’s credit, they are programming several summer Sundays with all-new content.
It’s hard to be optimistic for scripted dramas that debut in the summer and it’s hard to imagine ABC has very high expectations.
But perhaps Defying Gravity will defy the odds, and become ABC’s Flashpoint – both in the sense that it’s a Canadian production and that it lives on for more than one season. Or perhaps not. We’ll know more on Monday morning.
Scifi fans seem to be put off by the Grey’s Anatomy part and normal drama fans might be put off by the scifi part. I’ll watch it for the whole space thing, but I don’t think the ratings will be good.
It looks cheesier than Wisconsin from the promos, like Grey’s Anatomy meets Armageddon. Pass!
I think it’ll do decently for a summer show
I think ABC made a huge mistake putting it on Sunday nights.
Look, this show is supposed to be geared for the same demographic that watch Grey’s Anatomy. But the thing is, that demographic will be watching TRUE BLOOD on HBO, if they have cable.
And as mentioned, do Grey’s fans want a sci-fi twist?
I think this show will be doomed.
I don’t think this is going to do well. I’m kind of put off by the whole “from the producers of Grey’s Anatomy” part…and other people I think will be put off by the whole sci fi part. It looks a bit too soap opera-y. Battlestar Galactica had lots of character stories and dramas, but with them advertising Grey’s Anatomy, something tells me we won’t be dealing with the same kind of stories.
I’m gonna believe for the best with this show. I will watch and DVR TrueBlood , Hung and Entourage for later viewing. As far as ratings it should be about 8 mil with a demo of 2.5
I’m one of those wanting to see it, as I’m an astronomy buff, but there’s True Blood in the same timeslot. I’ll DVR DG and watch it later; True Blood is getting too darn good to miss the original airing and the internet discussion afterwards.
This show looks awful.
well, this looks interesting and i think it has potential but i have doubts about the show.
maybe it weill get decent ratings in fall.
(1) another grey’s anatomy copy ?? wtf?? there well be a show about detectives similar to Grey’s Anatomy show and now about the space!? I think ABC has now too much shows alike Grey’s Anatomy.
(2) on Sunday?? omg, i think it is better of ABC air it on Monday, whatever
(3) Sci-Fi Series ?? hmm…unusual for ABC, it surely suits better for Syfy or cable TV
however i will watch it. but the ratings may be poor because it’s summer!!!
Anything being compared to Grey’s is a major put off for me, that show is dreadful. But, that being said, I don’t pay attention to what others say so I’ll be watching it and decide for myself. I think it is a flop before it starts but stranger things have happened…Like Dollhouse getting a 2nd season…
No.
Far be it for me to be critiquing of writing, Robert, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what “though it would not appear the central mystery of the two hour premiere will not remain unrevealed for long.” That may be the only triple negative I’ve ever seen. Are you saying it will be revealed soon or not? :/
there is a force on the ship affecting their mental and physical states
Heres the plot
In the first hour, “Pilot” (9:00-10:00 p.m.), a team of eight astronauts, embarking on a six-year journey to explore Venus and other planets in the solar system, find their lives and destinies intertwined and carefully directed, not only by Mission Control officials on Earth, but also by an unseen force which is much closer and far more powerful.
In the second hour, “Natural Selection” (10:00-11:00 p.m.), some rocky and intriguing developments confront the crew as they learn to adjust to life on board the Antares, as they find that some past choices, combined with an unknown element in the ship’s mysterious Storage Pod 4, lead to a complex web of dreams, desires and illusions that result in a life-threatening crisis.
“Threshold” The crew is turning up the heat, on ABC’s “Defying Gravity,” SUNDAY, AUGUST 9 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET). Taboos are broken and lines are crossed as personal and professional relationships aboard the Antares and on Earth continue to intensify, while the unseen power behind the mission begins to create both cellular and psychological transformations among the astronauts.
“H2IK” The crew navigates a series of system failures, on ABC’s “Defying Gravity,” SUNDAY, AUGUST 16 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET). The crew of the Antares face their first major crisis when the ship inexplicably begins to shut down all of its operating systems, causing the sudden failure of power, heat and gravity controls and plunging everyone aboard into chaos during the desperate search for a solution.
“Defying Gravity” stars Ron Livingston as Maddux Donner, Laura Harris as Zoe Barnes, Malik Yoba as Ted Shaw, Christina Cox as Jen Crane, Florentine Lahme as Nadia Schilling, Paula Garces as Paula Morales, Eyal Podell as Evram Mintz, Dylan Taylor as Steve Wassenfelder, Andrew Airlie as Mike Goss, Karen LeBlanc as Eve Shaw, Zahf Paroo as Ajay Sharma and Maxim Roy as Claire Dereux.
Not only does this show look awful, but by placing it on Sundays (where ABC **STRUGGLES** to get a 1-1.2 demo during the summer) – it’s clear ABC has very low hopes and expectations for this show.
ill pass…..bad idea ABC your not sci fi……oh im sorry syfy
um theres plenty of sci fi shows on the networks.
I can understand ABC identifying the show with Grey’s and not an SCIFI show, just check the ratings between BSG and Greys. I suspect they expect SCIFI fans will find the show on their own and watch because of the few chances we get to see on a broadcast network an SCIFI show. The program guide just calls it a Drama, no mention of Science Fiction. I search the genre often and seldom find many shows other than on The Cartoons Channel, even Syfy fails to identify several of their shows as SCIFI (example Warehouse 13 or Fringe on Fox).
I will be recording the series and hoping for the best ratings. If the costs are really low maybe, Syfy might have actually been the better fit for the show because three or four million would have been accepted as a big success while these numbers are a loser at ABC.
I hope it’s half as good as Grey’s. Of course I’ll be watching it! How could I not? It’s new programming in summer, and it’s not reality. Seems promising. I don’t even want to speculate about the ratings, though. They could be anything. Though I don’t see Sunday as being a bad night for the show. Desperate Housewives pulls in big audiences on Sundays during the regular season. Why can’t another show possibly do the same in summer?
*even* half as good, that is. If it fails, I hope there’s a reasonably good conclusion in the final episode. Would rather not be left hanging.
My first reaction to reading the second episode synopsis: ST:TNG’s “The Naked Now”…anyone?
It will be a miracle if they’ll pull a high or even a decent ratings anyway. But I’m open to a surprise because seeing those low numbers during the summer season is boring already haha
Re: Lisa. Sundays during the summer are different than regular season Sundays. (Well, there’s football the first few weeks, but that’s likely a different audience than DW.)
Cable shows tend to be bunched on Sundays and Mondays. On Sunday nights, you have L&O:CI, True Blood, Army Wives, In Plain Sight, and others I’m forgetting.
4 million viewers 1.2-0.9 demo!
I say 7 Million
Why the hell are they going to Venus?
Kevin Killion, I have no clue why. Hot enough to melt lead and pressures that shatter glass. Yeah, sounds like a nice vacation.
Just watched the show. Meh. I’ve seen worse. I only really checked it out because I like Ron Livingston. Kinda interesting mythology, but I definitely see why it’s being considered “Grey’s Anatomy in Space.” I doubt the ratings will be very favorable to it. I hadn’t seen anything about this show until reading this article on here, but then I only ever watch Lost on ABC.
just watched the first hour definately not my thing too Lost /Fringe/ battlestar Galactica like for me and i eventually got bored with all those shows
This is a series version of MISSION TO MARS (2000) with a space mission and mysterious alien forces at work mixed with 2001: A Space Odyssey. I kept expecting Ron Livingston to ask the blond if she wants to watch KUNG FU with him. It would have been nice to have the fat dumpy guy be Milton (Stephen Root) wielding his red Swingline stapler. Jennifer Aniston as the blonde would have been better as they could insert a myriad of OFFICE SPACE jokes to lighten things up.
It wasnt bad and could get intesting if they kick up the action a bit. Even so, I doubt this show will have widespread appeal – No lasers, space battles, robots or huge explosions. Seems better suited to USA or anothe cable network.
i liked the show
wondering how it did with the competition and repeats against it
wasnt what i was expecting
It wasn’t bad. I liked it for the most part, though I do see why it’s sort of Grey’s Anatomy in space. Not THAT extreme in the drama department, but it is somewhat similar. I’m interested in the main plot though. And some of the character stories were sort of interesting. I’ll keep tuning in.
i liked it
wasnt what i was expecting with the Greys anatomy thing attched
how did it do?
I liked it! and can’t explain why other than to say that I kept an eye on it Sunday night after the first segment. The production values are great and the storyline involving both male AND female astronauts is intriguing. If ABC can market it properly, it might have legs…
yes, why is it EVERY sci fi show has to have a variation on the theme of “unknown force affecting crew members” theme? And usually on their 2nd episode no less! Star Trek:TNG did it and now so does Defying Gravity. OH well, at least it looks good in HD.