The Powells are a typical California suburban family. James Powell (Michael Chiklis) is a police sketch artist, his wife Stephanie (Julie Benz) is a scientist, and their two children Daphne (Kay Panabaker) and J.J. (Jim Bennett) are in high school. In an effort to help solve their family troubles they embark on a vacation to Brazil, but their plane crashes en route. Miraculously they all survive the crash, and shortly thereafter they all discover that they have developed superpowers.
James gains super strength and near invulnerability. Stephanie becomes a speedster. Daphne develops telepathy, causing her much distress since she has difficulty controlling it at first. J.J. was thought to be unaffected but it turns out that his brain has been supercharged, enabling him to speed read and comprehend large amounts of information. As the family becomes more familiar with their powers, they find out that others also have superhuman abilities and they wonder if being heroes is the right thing for them to do.
Throughout the series the spotlight is shone on each member of the Powell family and the people they interact with, showing their motivations and difficulties regarding the appearance of super-powered people in the community. Eventually, Stephanie Powell's boss Dr. Dayton King (Stephen Collins) becomes aware of the family's powers, and it's revealed that his company's CEO Helen Burton (Lucy Lawless) is intent on finding the source of the super abilities and using it for nefarious purposes.
With a star-studded cast and a premise that appealed to fans of the superhero genre, the series was thought to have enormous potential and received favourable reviews. It was nominated for Favorite New TV Drama in the 2010 People's Choice Awards as well as for other awards for Outstanding Visual Effects and Compositing. However warning signs started in February 2011 when ABC network cut back their series order from a full season to 20 episodes. Then in May it was announced by ABC that the show was cancelled due to low ratings.
As with many such shows its reception was much better outside the U.S., airing in Latin America, several European countries, Australia, and New Zealand. It was quickly released to DVD by Lions Gate Entertainment in September of 2011.
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