FlashForward Premiere: My Vote for Best New Show of The Season

Warning: Watching this show may induce headaches, heart palpitations, uncontrollable yelling, and constant repetition of the question "What the fuck is going on?" and the word "AWESOME."

There, now that you've been properly warned, let's talk about my new favorite show, FlashForward (I'm still not sure if that's the correct spelling and capitalization, so if anyone has insight there, I'd appreciate it). My reasons for ardent love are threefold:

1. The "WTF?!!!" premise. So you know I love LOST, right? And the whole mystery about that fucking island, right? Well, ladies and gents, we've got an even better premise here. What would happen if everyone (or almost everyone) in the world blacked out at the exact same moment? I think the show would have a lot of interesting territory to mine just answering that question (or even just dealing with the very implications of all the plane crashes and car accidents and what not), but the show takes it one very cool step further. During the blackout, each and every person saw a vision of themselves 6 months in the future (April 29, 2010 at 10 pm PST to be exact). So now the question is not only "How did this happen?" but also "Does knowledge of future events mean that we can avoid that future, or is that knowledge the thing that sets us down that path?" So basically, can we change the future? That's a pretty heady topic (and one I'm hoping LOST will answer as well this season.)
2. The Cast. Let me name a few. Sonya Walger (Penny from LOST), John Cho (Harold!), SETH MACFARLANE (yes that Set MacFarlane, the voice of Stewie), Joseph Fiennes, and even guest star Alex Kingston (Dr. Corday from ER!). This is a talented, talented cast, who elevates the material. Admittedly, some parts of last night's episode felt a little exposition-y, especially the scenes at the FBI HQ. But the scenes between Olivia (Sonya Walger) and Mark (Joseph Fiennes) were GOOOOOOD.
3. The Pop Culture homages. I'm not sure if that's the right term for it, but this show definitely understands the legacy it comes from. Apparently there was even an Oceanic Airlines poster somewhere (I'm embarassed to say I missed it.) The shot of Mark running trying to get home evoked memories of Sydney Bristow running. And of course Seth MacFarlane's voice reminded me of Brian. This show feels familiar, yet different, which is enough for me.
   

One thing I didn't care for: the creepy children. ("Hi Olivia," from the little boy Olivia never met, and "I dreamed there were no more good days," from Olivia's daughter.) CREEEEEPY.

I will be following this show week in and week out. Unless it starts to suck.