# No Ordinary Family
**No Ordinary Family** is an American superhero drama television series that aired on ABC, premiering September 28, 2010, about the Powell family, four ordinary people who gain distinct superpowers after their plane crashes into the [Amazon River](https://www.edgepedia.org/amazon-river) in Brazil.[1](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/no-ordinary-family) • [2](https://time.com/archive/7127243/test-pilot-no-ordinary-family/) It starred [Michael Chiklis](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-chiklis), Julie Benz, Kay Panabaker, and [Jimmy Bennett](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmy-bennett), ran for a single season of 20 episodes, and was canceled after that one season.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/no-ordinary-family/s01) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1591493/ratings/) • [5](https://screenwiseapp.com/media/no-ordinary-family-show)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and premiere | ABC, drama, premiered September 28, 2010; TV-PG rating[1](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/no-ordinary-family) |
| Premise | A drifting-apart family of four survives a plane crash into the Amazon in Brazil, and each member develops a superpower[2](https://time.com/archive/7127243/test-pilot-no-ordinary-family/) |
| Family powers | Jim: super strength, invulnerability, leaping; Stephanie: super speed, healing factor, superhuman reflexes; Daphne: mind reading; JJ: super genius intelligence[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1591493/faq/) • [7](https://noordinaryfamily.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Supers) • [8](https://www.wired.com/2010/10/no-ordinary-family-great-premise-good-execution/) |
| Creators | Co-created by Greg Berlanti (*Brothers & Sisters*) and Jon Harmon Feldman (*Tru Calling*)[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-sep-28-la-et-ordinary-family-20100928-story.html) |
| Run | One season of 20 episodes, canceled after one season[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1591493/ratings/) • [5](https://screenwiseapp.com/media/no-ordinary-family-show) |
| Critical scores | Metacritic metascore 65 (18 positive, 10 mixed of 28 reviews); Rotten Tomatoes 73% Tomatometer from 30 reviews, 83% Popcornmeter[10](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/no-ordinary-family/critic-reviews/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/no-ordinary-family/s01) |
| IMDb rating | 6.9/10 weighted, from about 18,000 user ratings[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1591493/ratings/) |
## Premise and origin of the powers
The series opens with an overscheduled suburban family drifting apart: Jim Powell, a police artist in a funk; his wife [Stephanie](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephanie), a workaholic research scientist who is the household's main breadwinner; and their teenage children, Daphne and JJ.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-sep-28-la-et-ordinary-family-20100928-story.html) • [8](https://www.wired.com/2010/10/no-ordinary-family-great-premise-good-execution/) In an attempt to reconnect, they take a sightseeing trip to Brazil, where their small plane crashes into a patch of glowing water in the Amazon River. They emerge safe, and each later discovers, independently, a new ability.[2](https://time.com/archive/7127243/test-pilot-no-ordinary-family/) A WIRED account attributes the change to "magic flower juice in the water they crashed in."[8](https://www.wired.com/2010/10/no-ordinary-family-great-premise-good-execution/)
The powers reflect the characters' situations. Jim, who feels powerless in his own home, becomes virtually indestructible and super strong, and can leap between skyscrapers; he starts fighting crime.[1](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/no-ordinary-family) • [8](https://www.wired.com/2010/10/no-ordinary-family-great-premise-good-execution/) Stephanie, the brilliant scientist, can run at superhuman speed.[8](https://www.wired.com/2010/10/no-ordinary-family-great-premise-good-execution/) Daphne, the teenage daughter, gains the ability to read minds, which she resents, telling her mother, "I don't want new abilities; high school is hard enough as it is."[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-sep-28-la-et-ordinary-family-20100928-story.html) JJ, formerly learning-disabled, becomes a super genius.[8](https://www.wired.com/2010/10/no-ordinary-family-great-premise-good-execution/)
## Powers shown in the series
Beyond the four family members, the show's fan wiki catalogs the abilities showcased on screen: animal mimicry, electric manipulation, healing factor, intuitive intelligence, invulnerability, pheromone manipulation, postcognition (perceiving past events), and pyrokinesis.[11](https://noordinaryfamily.fandom.com/wiki/Powers_and_Abilities) Stephanie's listed powers are super speed, a healing factor, and superhuman reflexes.[7](https://noordinaryfamily.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Supers)
The powers come with limits. Jim's invulnerability is described as having limitations, and his accelerated healing is shown when a hand wound sustained while his powers were suppressed heals completely the same day they are restored.[12](https://noordinaryfamily.fandom.com/wiki/Jim_Powell) Daphne's telepathic pushing, in which she makes a person forget her family and their powers, requires physical contact with the target, touching his forehead in the episode shown.[13](https://noordinaryfamily.fandom.com/wiki/Daphne_Powell)
## Supporting characters and structure
Two confidants anchor the adults. Jim's best friend George St. Cloud ([Romany Malco](https://www.edgepedia.org/romany-malco)) quickly overcomes his disbelief, eggs his friend on toward heroics, and converts Jim's garage into a lair equipped with TV screens, police scanners, and WiFi.[12](https://noordinaryfamily.fandom.com/wiki/Jim_Powell) • [8](https://www.wired.com/2010/10/no-ordinary-family-great-premise-good-execution/) Stephanie's lab assistant Katie Andrews ([Autumn Reeser](https://www.edgepedia.org/autumn-reeser)), a comic-book fan, learns of the powers and investigates their source.[14](https://reviewsfrommycouch.com/2011/02/television/no-ordinary-family-vs-the-cape-which-is-the-better-superhero-show/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/no-ordinary-family/s01)
The pilot is framed by Jim and Stephanie recounting their story to a marriage guidance counselor, and it departs from secret-identity convention early: both parents confide in a third party about their powers from the start.[15](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/no-ordinary-family-episode-1-review-pilot-episode/) In the first episode Jim tries to stop a criminal and discovers the man is also super-powered, opening the series' supervillain thread.[15](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/no-ordinary-family-episode-1-review-pilot-episode/)
## Reception
Critics received the season favorably. Metacritic recorded a metascore of 65, with 18 of 28 critic reviews positive and 10 mixed, none negative.[10](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/no-ordinary-family/critic-reviews/) Rotten Tomatoes lists a 73% Tomatometer from 30 reviews and an 83% Popcornmeter, with a critics consensus calling the show "a pleasant adventure that's light and fun for the whole family."[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/no-ordinary-family/s01) [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter) found it "different and refreshing" that the family's supposed normalcy disintegrates into something more fun before the pilot's end credits.[10](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/no-ordinary-family/critic-reviews/) User ratings on IMDb settled at 6.9/10, with individual season-one episodes scoring between 6.9 and 7.8.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1591493/ratings/)
Reviewers repeatedly compared the series to Pixar's *The Incredibles*. TIME's pilot review argued the comparison ran backward: the film is about a family that has always known superpowers forced to live as regular people, while the series is about a family that has always known ordinariness being changed by their powers, a premise the reviewer found better suited to serial television.[2](https://time.com/archive/7127243/test-pilot-no-ordinary-family/) [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club) later grouped the show with early post-MCU network superhero attempts that, in its view, failed to develop their world and mythos beyond the original pitch and origin story.[16](https://www.avclub.com/from-heroes-to-wandavision-how-superheroes-learned-to-1846282614) The series was canceled after its single season.[5](https://screenwiseapp.com/media/no-ordinary-family-show)
## References
1. [No Ordinary Family: Parents' Guide & TV Review, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/no-ordinary-family)
2. [Test Pilot: No Ordinary Family, TIME (July 28, 2010)](https://time.com/archive/7127243/test-pilot-no-ordinary-family/)
3. [No Ordinary Family: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/no-ordinary-family/s01)
4. [No Ordinary Family Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1591493/ratings/)
5. [No Ordinary Family – WISE Score & Parent Review, Screenwise](https://screenwiseapp.com/media/no-ordinary-family-show)
6. [No Ordinary Family (TV Series 2010–2011) FAQ, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1591493/faq/)
7. [List of Supers, No Ordinary Family Wiki](https://noordinaryfamily.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Supers)
8. [No Ordinary Family: Great Premise, Good Execution, WIRED (October 2, 2010)](https://www.wired.com/2010/10/no-ordinary-family-great-premise-good-execution/)
9. [Television review: 'No Ordinary Family', Los Angeles Times (September 28, 2010)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-sep-28-la-et-ordinary-family-20100928-story.html)
10. [No Ordinary Family critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/no-ordinary-family/critic-reviews/)
11. [Powers and Abilities, No Ordinary Family Wiki](https://noordinaryfamily.fandom.com/wiki/Powers_and_Abilities)
12. [Jim Powell, No Ordinary Family Wiki](https://noordinaryfamily.fandom.com/wiki/Jim_Powell)
13. [Daphne Powell, No Ordinary Family Wiki](https://noordinaryfamily.fandom.com/wiki/Daphne_Powell)
14. ['No Ordinary Family' vs. 'The Cape', Reviews From My Couch (2011)](https://reviewsfrommycouch.com/2011/02/television/no-ordinary-family-vs-the-cape-which-is-the-better-superhero-show/)
15. [No Ordinary Family episode 1 review: pilot episode, Den of Geek (August 24, 2010)](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/no-ordinary-family-episode-1-review-pilot-episode/)
16. [From Heroes to WandaVision: How superheroes learned to meet TV halfway, The A.V. Club](https://www.avclub.com/from-heroes-to-wandavision-how-superheroes-learned-to-1846282614)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Adapted and franchise screen series › Comic-book and superhero television series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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