I have been into superheroes for as long as I can remember. Movies from the Christopher Reeve Superman movies to the more recent Spiderman and Batman films, Tv Shows from animated shows like Spiderman and Justice League cartoons and comic books from different publishing companies such as Marvel, DC and Image.

So recently I have discovered a new show ‘No Ordinary Family’. The show features Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz as the parents, Chiklis I enjoyed on the Fantastic Four movies and Benz I enjoyed on the tv shows Angel and Buffy. So seeing both of them in the trailers got me interested.

The show is about a semi-dysfunctional family from the point of view that they grew apart and don’t talk or connect as much as they used to. When a plane that they are all in crashes into this what seems like kryptonite infested lake. Jump ahead to the next day, they are back home and they all experience developing powers.
Now I was looking forward to this show. But as I watched the first 3 episodes I realized a flaw in the show. Yeah the show had great references for comic geeks and even good writing and actors. But there was a flaw in it. The superhero cliche’s. This includes aspects such as:

Worrying about loved ones. Every superhero thinks a bad guy will track down their loved ones such as Spiderman worrying the Green Goblin will attack sweet old Aunt May.

Being tested. On the show, Benz’s character is worried about getting a physical test for insurance reasons. Mainly, them studying her blood. I have seen that on Superman and Spiderman before.

The side-kick “gotta get used to that”. On Smallville, Chloe always said “I’ll never get used to that” when Clark whooshes away. On No Ordinary Family, Jim’s(Chiklis) “side-kick” used the line on many occasions.

The last one I want to mention is comparing themselves to well known super heroes. OR saying “this isn’t a comic book, this is real life!” They said it on Kick-ass, they say it on a lot of comic books, usually featuring teenagers, who always seem to realize even though they are in a tv show or comic book, they need to aknowledge the fact that it is real life. The characters on No Ordinary Family did this too.

So I leave you with this: can we have a superhero show or new comic book without the repetition of these comic book “cliches”? And if we have one with the cliches, can it be done right?
** I would like to note that the show was cancelled a few weeks ago in the US and as far as I can tell is still being aired here in Australia. I gotta say as much as I like the concept and the actors, I found myself breathing a sigh of relief when I discovered the show was cancelled. It could have been good and done it right but I feel like the show missed it’s shot. Good luck to future shows like this.