Interview With No Ordinary Family’s Jon Feldman, Zack Estrin, & Ali Adler

For those of you who may have missed our earlier coverage, No Ordinary Family is an upcoming drama from ABC that stars Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz and features a family that gains extraordinary abilities.

The pilot was screened at the Comic-Con International in San Diego and following that screening, the producers and the two lead actors took the time to participate in roundtable interviews with several media outlets including KSiteTV. The following is our interview with three of the show’s producers – show co-creator Jon Feldman (Dirty Sexy Money), Zack Estrin (Prison Break), and Ali Adler of Chuck fame.

Please do not duplicate this interview onto other websites. Instead, just link to KSiteTV! Thanks! Questions are in bold; answers are not. You can read more No Ordinary Family interviews here on KSiteTV.

What can you tell us about the show?

JON FELDMAN: I think we’re trying to do a hybrid of a family show with a superhero show. I think we’re striving to make it as funny and real and emotional as possible, but also filled with this big action element and great superhero element as well.

ZACK ESTRIN: A little something for everybody.

ALI ADLER: What I love about the show, and I’m a fan myself, is that it’s what you would do if you got super powers. This is how you would handle these problems, and it’s the same kind of emotional roller coaster that you’d have.

ESTRIN: There are regular problems to deal with as well as super-problems to deal with, and sometimes those meet each other as well.

FELDMAN: There’s a real wish-fulfillment element to it. Like Ali said, if we had super-powers, how would it affect not only the big things in our lives, but the small things. And that’s what the show explores – the juxposition between this big concept, but applied in small, hopefully relatable way.

ADLER: Plus bad-ass stunts and special effects.

There are no costumes in the pilot. Is that something that could change?

ADLER: Hopefully never.

FELDMAN: No costumes.

ADLER: In the world of Metropolis, if you see a guy in a red and blue thing, you go “Oh my God! There’s a weirdo in a red and blue thing!” And in this one, it’s the real world, and so you don’t want to be taken out by a costume.

ESTRIN: I think the family, too, is trying to maintain their own secret identities, and it seems like the sure way to attract attention is to put a crazy-ass suit on and run around, so I think we’re going to be a bit more on the down low.

Do the individual members of the family get their powers based on something they might be lacking within themselves?

FELDMAN: That’s something that we don’t say explicitly in the pilot, but it’s the idea that the powers are to some degree an inverse to the deficiencies that they feel as people. Jim feels like he has no power in his own life, develops this super strength power. Stephanie feels like she can’t be there at work and there for her kids, and then can’t be in the right place at the right time, develops the speed to be everywhere. JJ, who seemingly has a learning disability, develops this super-intellect. And Daphne, who’s got this teen self-involvement, gets the inverse to that, which is suddenly being burdened by everyone’s thoughts.

Will there be a recurring threat to the family as the series progresses?

FELDMAN: Yes. Without giving too much away, I’ll simply say yes. There will be. That’s part of the fun of the show, that there will be an adversary in their midst that they don’t even know of at first. But as [the show] goes on, they’ll start to put the pieces together and realize that perhaps they’re in more jeopardy than they thought.

ADLER: I think the adage holds true here. With great power comes great other schmucks with powers.

Are you expecting comparisons with The Incredibles?

FELDMAN: Look, The Incredibles is a brilliant film, so even being mentioned in the same breath as The Incredibles I feel honored by. But I think they do things that we just couldn’t possibly do, and so I think we’re trying to focus as much as possible on keeping it grounded and small and real in addition to sort of the big stuff.

ADLER: They also are born super-heroes, and these super-heroes are “first day on the job super-heroes.”

ESTRIN: I think what Jon and Greg [Berlanti] have always been saying is that the first season should feel like the first act of a super-hero movie. The discovery of what it means, and how it affecets your real life. Yes, I can run fast; but I can also make breakfast fast! The fun stuff in conjunction with the danger.

No Ordinary Family premieres Tuesday, September 28 on ABC. You can read more information about the show here on KSiteTV! Thanks to the show’s producers for taking the time to participate in this roundtable discussion, and be sure to check out the show when it hits the air!