TVSquad

Even though the flashes forward in the series only takes us as far as April 29, 2010, the creators of ABC's FlashForward say there is a plan beyond that. They hoofed it to San Diego to get the buzz train rolling, and brought along "secret" cast addition Dominic Monaghan (Lost) to up the excitement.

At first glance, I can't help but be reminded of Prison Break on FOX. It started off great, with a great serialized premise. The first season as we ratcheted toward that break out was intense and pretty good stuff. But then they were out and FOX renewed the show. Now what? What came next was hit-or-miss television for three more seasons.

Hopefully, producers David Goyer and Marc Guggenheim have thoroughly thought this through. They indicated that the final episode of the first season would be April 30, 2010; the "aftermath." I'm guessing that will tie in to whatever caused the flashes in the first place. Maybe, like Lost, it will organically reinvent itself each year.

Of course, it could just as easily spend the entire run of the series in early 2010. If everyone on the planet had a vision, there's 6.8 billion stories to tell. At one episode apiece, how many seasons would that run? More than House of Payne will get?

I'm willing to put my faith in their hands that they've though this through. If nothing else, they told us ABC was pretty insistent that there be a clear plan beyond the first year. They were watching Prison Break. Still, it will be a finite series, like Lost, though the length has yet to be determined; they say they need a minimum of three years to tell the story properly.

Does that mean they'll get two? Heavily serialized dramas like Lost have really struggled on television the past several years, with most of the new entries fizzling and getting canceled. Heroes avoided cancellation, but it still fizzled out pretty bad; I think it was lucky to be on a fourth place network as it got some of those renewals.

But this could be a pretty solid plan. With Lost going out this year, those fans could be looking for something as complex and intriguing for the next several years. And it's a pretty clever move to bring in a familiar face to that fan-base in Monaghan. Maybe these boys do know what they're doing.