The Tomorrow People

[Jamison]

The Tomorrow People is an upcoming American science fiction television series created by Phil Klemmer that is expected to air on The CW during the 2013–14 American television season. Based on the original British television series of the same name, the series follows a group of young people who possess powers as the result of human evolution.

It will air on Wednesdays at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central following Arrow beginning in Fall 2013. The Tomorrow People will have its series premiere on October 9, 2013.

[Jamison]

The pilot was good enough for me to want to see more. The annoying thing about The CW is they pretty much reveal everything about a pilot episode in their trailers, so I wasn't surprised by anything. Kinda took away from the experience, but only a little. I did enjoy getting to know the characters a bit more. Still lots of time to flesh them out as the story progresses.

[Brady Brown]

Yeah, I thought it was tons of fun. It had some familiar territory, but nonetheless I enjoyed it. Hoping this can pull in some of good ratings, with the help of Arrow, and stick around for a while.

[Jamison]

Another thing - I didn't mind any of the characters too much in the pilot. Peyton List's "Cara" was probably my favorite. Stephen is likable enough. I've always been a Mark Pellegrino fan, so seeing him in this was awesome. He plays an excellent villain; someone I'll probably grow to love to hate. And then there's John. I don't know what to make of him yet. Right now he's very predictable and a little one-note for me. But like I said before, there's still quite some time to flesh the characters out a little more.

[Brady Brown]

Cara was definitely my favorite from the pilot, too. haha. Stephen was the only other one that really stood out to me, but I'm going to have to give it at least 2 more episodes until I've decided if I like any of them. But it looks like it premiered fairly well for a CW show. Hoping it sticks around!

[Alex Matthews]

Hmm, interesting... My indepth review/analysis follows. SPOILER WARNING

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}I don't know about the rest of you, but I am quite familiar with both the original series and the 1990s reboot they tried, as well as the Big Finish audio play that picked back up and continued the original series and tied it a little back into the reboot. So, I was more then ready to compare them all, but also look out for and appreciate what would make this version unique.

One of the failings of the original and reboot was their inability to separate the need to defend oneself with the ability to kill - the Tomorrow People of those series could barely lift a finger to defend themselves physically, instead having to rely on their powers to escape harm. When John takes on and beats the crap out of the Ultra guards, I was a little surprised, and at first disappointed they'd seemingly removed the 'Prime Barrier', until the scene with Jedikiah and the soon-to-be-dead Ultra operative. I suppose, in today's day and age, a show has to have a little fisticuff action to entice viewers, so that should have been expected. I am glad though, they haven't removed the 'Prime Barrier' completely, as it is an important part of the argument between 'Saps' and 'Home Superior'.

I loved Cara's little cracks about the two names for this new species, since they naturally adopted them from the original ideas, but concede that they do sound a little campy and comic-book style. The inclusion of both the characters of John and Stephen is also a nice touch, as they were the main stand out characters, and the first main focus of the show back in it's heyday. Characters like Cara and Russell are a nice addition, while both the 'homage' characters have been updated, and modernised.

The touch on the impact Stephen's breakout is having on his family is a new idea, the original show was very much focused on the Tomorrow People only. While they did on occasion have non-Tomorrow People involved in storylines as friends, the idea of showing just how detrimental the 'breakout' process is on the other members of the family helps ground this new version more in reality - as much as a show of this genre can. Although she only had brief screen time in the premiere, I assume the character of Astrid will be the counterpoint view - the human voice of reason for Stephen if and when she finally sees the truth, or if they borrow from the reboot series, breaks out herself later on, as maybe the younger brother Luca could very well do. Having Stephen not only share a familial connection with both the good guys and the bad guys is also an interesting, if slightly cliché twist, designed to cause him to be conflicted and cause problems, which it already appears to have done.

While the Tomorrow People did have enemies in the original, humans who were scared of being replaced by what they saw as a weaker species, they were usually only a one-story foe, whereas here, ULTRA looks like it could be around for a while. It reminds me a lot of the Psi Corps from "Babylon 5", recruiting and forcing Tomorrow People to hunt their own, either through brain washing or some kind of conditioning. It will be interesting to see how Stephen will be playing both sounds against each other over time, especially since the 'rebels' are pinning so much hope on his shoulders already.

Naturally, the writers/producers are thinking of their show in very different terms of the original, which shared the story telling style of classic "Doctor Who", which each season comprised of stand alone serials, of several episodes each. American television though, always tends to put an arc into play, something to hook viewers in and see what it will lead to - in this case, the fact that Stephen is a second-generation TP, and the son of one of the original founders of the rebel group, and that Stephen himself is seemingly stronger then the average, not only able to teleport away from the ULTRA facility, but also telekinetically 'freeze' an area around him.

TIPS OF THE HAT: The character of TIM, I was surprised but please they included - in the original, a 'biotronic' sentient computer system constructed by John with thanks to an alien federation of telepaths that helped humanity's next step find it's footing. Here, it's a simple artificial intelligence, presumably constructed by Stephen's father, as I doubt, for now, this new series will introduce aliens intervention, if ever, and voiced by none other then Dan Stevens, formerly of "Downton Abbey" fame! Also, the unusual name for Mark Pellegrino's character comes from the very first enemy that the original TPs went up against - a shape changing android who shared his namesake's desire to wipe out telepath, who popped up once more in the original run and then again in the Big Finish audios. I know they've also landed the original 'John' in at least one episode as a guest actor, so who knows if any more will pop up if the show continues beyond the first season..

To review, they've hit the floor running, jumping straight into a meaty storyline, with little time to catch your breath, but only time will tell if the exceptionally pretty leads will be able to hold their own.

[Alex Matthews]

as promised, if anyone's been reading in the ShoutBox, here are my THREE openings for "The Tomorrow People"

Mark One, Kelly Clarkson's "Gone"


Mark Two, same song, new effects/colourings


Mark Three, same effects, new text colourings, new song, Skilled's "Never Surrender"

[Jamison]

These are awesome! I like the coloring in Mark One, the Effects in Mark Two and the text coloring and song in Mark Three. But if I had to pick my favorite, it would be Mark Two. All of these are really fantastic, though. Nice job!

[Alex Matthews]

thank you!! Yeah, cold/cool colours are my kind of 'go-to' colouring on videos, hence why I then went and tried a few different variations, to try something different.

[Alex Matthews]

okay, now we know the 'truth' about Stephen's mother, does anyone else question the fact that she FORCED her eldest son to take mind-altering, body-altering drugs for what we know now was NO REASON..?!

[Alex Matthews]

so long, Stephen, John, Cara, Russell, Astrid, Jedekiah and all the others... "The Tomorrow People" has officially been cancelled