Don't know what happened to the font there... sorry about that Shout! Factory.

"Flash Forward" was a U.S./Canadian co-production that aired on both ABC/The Disney Channel in the mid-‘90s.  It has a cult following and lasted for 26 half-hour episodes.  With the recent news of you acquiring "Blossom" (also from Disney) and Shout! Factory's outstanding treatment of one season wonders, I would love to see you tackle this one.  It also had an unusually large recurring cast and production crew behind it.  In addition to Jewel Staite, there are two other people who would go on to the "Stargate" franchise: Amanda Tapping had a hilarious recurring role as "Miss Yansouni" and writer Robert C. Cooper, who wrote my favorite episode of the entire series, "Presents". (I would love an audio commentary by Robert, Ben, Jewel, and director Ron Oliver, who appears in this episode as "Mike Miller").

I hope this Disney property is a possibility for you.  And I can't wait when "Sports Night" finally arrives in the mail.  Thank you again Shout! Factory for revisiting it.

Ryan Gosling had a recurring role on "Flash Forward" as "Scott Stuckey"; in the episodes "Double Bill" and "Skate Bait".

Here's a list of the entire cast, and what episodes they appeared in:

homepage.mac.com/ijball/FF/cast.html

Also, here's the list of the large production crew who worked on it:

homepage.mac.com/ijball/FF/crew.html

I finally found this page. I lost the link the other day. I have been a lurker (apparently like a lot of others judging by the view status for a long time checking back here every so often and hoping that there will be news that the show will be released. A huge thank you goes out to Brian Ward for even considering this and giving us all hope. THank you so much!!! I just want you to know that if this show is released I will definitely buy a dvd set of it right away. I am a huge fan, especially of Tucker (Ben Foster). I hope hope hope so much that this will be released. By the way thank you for releasing Andy Barker PI that show is awesome, I just wish that they could have made more episodes before being cancelled. It now sits proudly on my shelf along with another twenty or so titles from your SHOUT! You guys do such a great job. Thanks again-kelly

I finally found this page. I lost the link the other day. I have been a lurker (apparently like a lot of others judging by the view status for a long time checking back here every so often and hoping that there will be news that the show will be released. A huge thank you goes out to Brian Ward for even considering this and giving us all hope. THank you so much!!! I just want you to know that if this show is released I will definitely buy a dvd set of it right away. I am a huge fan, especially of Tucker (Ben Foster). I hope hope hope so much that this will be released. By the way thank you for releasing Andy Barker PI that show is awesome, I just wish that they could have made more episodes before being cancelled. It now sits proudly on my shelf along with another twenty or so titles from your SHOUT! You guys do such a great job. Thanks again-kelly

I finally found this page. I lost the link the other day. I have been a lurker (apparently like a lot of others judging by the view status for a long time checking back here every so often and hoping that there will be news that the show will be released. A huge thank you goes out to Brian Ward for even considering this and giving us all hope. THank you so much!!! I just want you to know that if this show is released I will definitely buy a dvd set of it right away. I am a huge fan, especially of Tucker (Ben Foster). I hope hope hope so much that this will be released. By the way thank you for releasing Andy Barker PI that show is awesome, I just wish that they could have made more episodes before being cancelled. It now sits proudly on my shelf along with another twenty or so titles from your SHOUT! You guys do such a great job. Thanks again-kelly

I'm glad to hear you found this thread again, Kelly.  Brian, what's the status of this?

I was happy to do it as this has been a long wait to own the entire series, flashforwardfan.  I had a few episodes recorded from the Disney Channel in 1997, but the VHS was accidently destroyed.  In the end, never did get "Flash Forward" before the re-runs cease airing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3wGhJT9_DA

Yes! Here is to hoping that is will be released...I know that Brian Ward is a busy man, but I was hoping he could give us an update on the progress for this show. The thing about Flash Forward is that I live in a very urban area on Long Island, as well as having lived in some other areas around the country, but everywhere I go people remember Flash Forward in my age group, and even younger. My little brothers and little sister were only like to years old when Flash Forward was airing and even they remember it. It was an amazingly well done show. It was like concentrated John Hughes in every episode, and the thing is that people in my age group are getting more nostalgic as they get older now and are starting to have their own kids, and they always ask if they could find it on dvd, a lot of them have already bought shows like Pete and Pete, and Clarissa Explains It All, but I will always feel that Flash Forward is the best of the old school kid's shows from the nineties, becuase the characters don't become dated, the acting and writing is still a step ahead of anything else even today. Ben Foster does some amazingly funny memes, and Jewel Staite is the cutest girl ever.

Every boy and girl from that time wanted to experience that kind of innocence you rarely find in real life, with someone of the opposite gender. I know so many boys who wanted to be Tucker and go out with Becca, and so many girls who wanted to be Becca and finally end up with Tucker. Here is an article I just found on the net:  

http://smallscreenscoop.com/flash-forward-jewel-staite/35305/

As stated before I would do anything to own this show on dvd, even without any coveted frills like outtakes, and commercials. And I even have most of this show on vhs. I can feel for you because I thought the reruns were always going to be there and so I didn't record them as much as I should, and the tapes I have are wearing out rapidly. Here's to the hope that Flash Forward comes out on dvd soon! From talking to friends and other people I know in my age group, I know its something that would sell well, you would be surprised at the cult response to this great show!

Thanks for sharing the article.  It should further clear up any confusion with the FlashForward that is currently airing on ABC.  I wouldn't be surprised if that is something Shout may be factoring in.

I am surprised we haven't heard again from Brian on this thread, although quite understandable with what Shout! Factory has on their plate for this year already.

Thank you for that wonderful post, CrispyComments, I really enjoyed it, and don't apologize for anything, I enjoyed everything you said. Honestly, this thread alone is a godsend, I'm finding out all kinds of great things I never knew about Flash Forward, like those little tidbits about the rewritten Lizzie McGuire episodes, and your insights are priceless. It's really nice to know that there are other people out there who are as interested as I am in such a great show.

You really hit the nail on the head when you said Flash Forward has humour and heart, some of the most touching scenes I have ever watched acted out on tv have been between Ben Foster as Tucker and Jewel Staite as Becca. It's hard for me to rewatch tv shows or even really good movies that I love, but Flash Forward just has that rewatchability to it. I never get sick of it. It's like a more innocent place you can go you when situations in everyday life get too stressful or people seem too heartless. The plutonic love between two friends has never been better exemplified in tv in my opinion, and in a situation that is ripe for will they/won't they dramatic exploitation too. I really enjoy both the writing and the acting.

I love that scene where Tucker gets turned down by that girl at the bowling alley, and Becca sees it all and the nice little conversation afterwards. Such great wordless displays of empathy, and when it's so easy to get cheesy dialogue, real meaningful expressions afterwards. And another favorite, in another episode where Becca is dating a guy that Tucker hates (played by the talented Ryan Gosling), his humility in admitting he might not be the type of guy she's looking for, the conversation comes off with such a natural grace you rarely see in television. Sure the show might not have started off very well with the first four episodes, but when it picked up, it was an instant classic. I can still see Flash Forward playing today on tv and fitting right in and even standing out against all of the latest teen pop programming. I've often wondered why its been buried for so long, especially when you hear directors like Bill Lawrence, Joss Whedon, Kevin Smith, Judd Apatow, and Greg Garcia mention in commentaries about finding it interesting after watching acting reel cuts of it, etc. It really has stand out quality in writing, acting, and even cinematography.

I just hope that one day I will be able to own this on dvd, becuase I am burning out my videotapes fast, lol. Thank you so much for your post, it really cheered me up, as I check this site everyday, and I just had to write back the moment I had a free ten minutes. This is truly a dream of mine as well to see this dvd come out, and I understand that Shout! Factory is a company that must see some profit come back on their dvd releases, but I honestly beleive this collection would sell a lot better than a lot of stuff previously released so far, I know plenty of people personally who would buy it, and that is a good slice of the average crowd, as well as people on line who are dying to own this.

And I am just going to mention one more scene of brilliant acting on Ben Foster's part, in the episode where Becca loses her tickets to Malta and he has to dig through some garbage and runs back to her house and excitedly makes up an explanation for his predicament, it cracks me up every time. Ben Foster has some of the best comedic timing back then, I've only seen him come close comedically since then in his episodes of My Name Is Earl, although I think he has always been a great dramatic actor. I would love to see Jewel Staite in something that utilizes her acting skills as well as Flash Forward did again. She was amazing as Becca Fisher. Still waiting and still excited...

They've been monitoring this thread for some time, that I have no doubt.  Crispycomments and flashforwardfan, I think you just knocked the socks off Shout! Factory with your posts.

I just want to add that since we're coming up almost a year since Brian's "Well, I do like me some Ben Foster and (especially) Jewel Staite, so I'll look into it!" post; I'm hopeful (wishful thinking on my part) that the silence means they'll be a DVD announcement of some sort on the horizon for "Flash Forward".  My best to the acquisitions department, if anyone can get this out on the market, it's you guys.  With a mostly (and as said before, large) Canadian cast and production crew, and being a huge fan of extras, I'm eager to see what can be done with this in their hands. (Still hoping for my dream commentary track for "Presents" I mentioned earlier in the thread; and one of the sharpest written and acted episodes in my opinion, with Robert C. Cooper, Ben, Jewel, and Ron Oliver - whoever is available.)

When and if it gets released, I know it won't disappoint.

Thank you for starting this thread, macphoen, it was such a great idea. and thank you for the words of encouragement, I've been so busy with work lately, but this is always on the back of my mind. Whenever I have a bad day I pop in a Flash Forward tape and it cheers me up. As far as Shout! Entertainment is concerned, I really do think this would be a hit for them, I could see alot of people buying it on Amazon, as their search engine has been inundated with "flash forward disney" and "flash forward ben foster" search phrases for years, and right now you have the generation that fell in love with Flash Forward at the age where they have plenty of credit and I could see people picking this up at Best Buy and Target on an impulse when the nostalgia hits them. I really think it has potential, besides the fact that its just a beautifully crafted peice of television that really captures the teenage emotions, and not just the sad ones but a lot of the happy innocent ones and not in a sappy, sacharine way, but in truly fun aspect that makes the characters seem almost like old friends. I really hope this becomes a part of the Shour! Entertainment family, and a successful one at that.

Sophie Zhu, you're welcome.  We're not all here.  There's a few of us who haven't shown up here from Memoirs of a Show: The Flash Forward Dedication Site, including its founder Robert Cota. (I had his e-mail address at one point, but lost it and the site was ultimately taken down due to the closure of GeoCities.)  Ian J. Ball is another who hasn't yet found his way to this thread.  I haven't had a chance to see if I can get in touch with him.

Correction: I just stumbled upon Memoirs of a Show AND Robert's e-mail address.

How's this for a blast from the past?

http://memoirsofashow.net16.net/

     True, I miss the old geocities pages, I even miss my friends' old aol pages. I know what you're sayin'. I remember how awesome it was when I first got on the internet in 2000 and saw that page that ijball had set up on a mac network: The Unofficial Flash Forward Homepage. http://homepage.mac.com/ijball/FF/Home.html  It was the first time I had seen a definitive order of the episodes and there was even a somewhat vague but still satisfying explanation about why Flash Forward had been cancelled, and also how Maxine had replaced Kerry as an ancillary character on the show.
    

     Recently, I've been seeing a surprising trend in the blogosphere of increased nostalgia for shows from our particular generation's youth. Blogs in the uproxx network have been publishing articles like 13 celebrities who appeared on Are You Afraid of the Dark? (it even featured Jewel Staite surprisingly enough) being the most recent among many, and Chive even had a nostalgia overload photo essay featuring screenshots from Flash Forward, The Adventures of Pete and Pete and Hey Dude. And I've been noticing a lot of awful quality, second hand dvd sets being sold of shows from disney and nickelodeon from the period of the 90's on websites like ioffer.

     It seems that according to how fast our pop culture changes these days and how critically it changes, people are searching for something familiar more and more and they are finding it in the shows of their childhood. Flash Forward has one of the added benefits of being so well made it stands up to the test of time. The episodes are so well written and acted out by some of the better, albeit lesser known, actors and actresses out there today. Ben Foster and Jewel Staite both have decent fan followings as well as a respect among the general viewership because of certain roles they have played; a cult status i.e. Jewel's run as the mechanic in Firefly.

     I definitely think there is a market for these shows, and hopefully they will still be released on dvd. I would love to own them, because I still watch this show so much. I like how the character's are faced with moral decisions most shows don't even consider, and they aren't ridiculous scenarios; they are the type of dilemmas every person has faced in their teenage years. And sometimes they make the right choice and sometimes the wrong and they always see the consequences, but there was an unpredictability to it that really seemed to mirror and accentuate real life while encouraging you that it was ok to care enough about small things even when everything else was telling you that you had to be apathetic. I guess that's why I am still pulling for a dvd release of this show.

     That was a good point you made crispy, shows like this have a lot of people we don't think about who put a lot into it, and it would be cool to see them recognized for their work as well. I could see how not being able to share something you worked hard on with loved one could be frustrating. I can only imagine the surprise on the actors faces, its been so long that they probably don't remember any of the show.

You've been missed in this thread discussion, Brian.

I've seen advertised that Ben is co-starring in The Mechanic.  Matt Lemche and Rachel Blanchard were on the back half of Flashpoint's recently wrapped third season.  Anyone else I'm missing?   Nice bit of unintentional publicity, would you say?

I'm not really, but I unintentionally left it out when editing the post and kept receiving error pages.  So if it sounds off, that's what happened.

I've figured he probably knew as much as we did.  That's interesting E1 Entertainment is looking into acquiring it (they've released Syfy's Sanctuary, I can see why this would be of interest) but sincerely, Flash Forward was tailor made for Brian's personality.  Just beware of the blunt pencils.

----- Original Post -----
by flashforwardfan at 3/19/2011 12:15:37 AM

Hey Macphoen, its good to see that you are still posting here. Truth be told, I check back here often, but after two years of no response from from Brian (no offense to him, I'm sure he's busy and I am amazing and impressed by his correspondence so far), I have become quite despondant on the issue. I have seen other threads with less likely shows and more offensive posters receive replies from him. For the longest time I assumed that he was keeping quiet because he was interested in the show, however I have a personal friend at E1 that told me they started looking into the distribution rights for some reason. I had read your post from earlier that seems to be gone now, about Jewel Staite's new made for television movie, and was going to reply about the trailer for The Mechanic that I had seen. By the way, what happened to that post, it seems like it changed in some odd way. Thanks for keeping up the good fight, Macphoen. I will still buy a couple of copies if Shout! ever releases it, and I know a lot of other people who would as well. I know on the fan boards that this thread has been a beacon of hope for a long time.

Just thought you might want some examples of why Flash Forward is so great:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IiAwvKsjLQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qRZT3hICLQ&feature=related

Brian I hope that you are still considering this property, it has a very talented cast and crew.

Here is the scene I talked about in an earlier post where Ben Foster portrays a very endearing humility when relating to Becca (Jewel Staite) how he know's he not on the same level as Ryan Gosling:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGTfXcdUTgY&feature=related

and the fitting finale where the main characters realize their deeper feeling for each other. I couldn't think of a better ending (quality is lacking, but that is a good thing, it will make people buy the dvd):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNVE9HWUxiE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

I hope it is ok to post youtube videos here. My only intent is to give you an example of the quality of writing and acting on this great show!

I'm going to slip in a link here that got lost in this thread.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/shows/Flash-Forward/1500

To everyone at Shout! Factory and on this community forum, be safe and enjoy your Memorial Day/weekend.

Brian, has Shout! ever actively pursued Flash Forward?  I know you've indicated elsewhere you can't divulge the intricacies of any negotiating/or license deal, but despite the very clear interest here (even though as of late it appears only myself and flashforwardfan; if there is anyone else who hasn't had their say, or voted at TVShowsOnDVD -- we're currently hovering with 89 votes away from 1,000), should we, as fans, realistically rule this out as not a possibility for Shout! Factory?

I think this proves my point quite nicely:

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/teennick-finds-success-in-the-nostalgic-90s/