Get ready to 'FlashForward'

The hard part about reviewing a TV series is you don't know where it's going. And, far too often, critics see only one episode before the series premieres.

Such is the case with ABC's "FlashForward." I can only tell you that tonight's premiere (7 p.m., Ch. 4) is must-see TV — it's exciting, intriguing and sets up what could be the best "Lost"-like show since, well, "Lost."

But we'll just have to wait and see if they can pull it off.

As "FlashForward" opens, it's just another day. But, suddenly, everyone on the planet blacks out for two minutes and 18 seconds. And just about everyone has a flash-forward vision of where they'll be and what they'll be doing on April 29, 2010, at 11 p.m. Mountain Time.

Of course, having billions of people black out at the same time causes no small degree of death and destruction. If you happen to be driving a car, flying a plane or performing surgery, that's definitely a problem.

But it does make for some fairly spectacular film footage of the mayhem that results.

And what we're left with is a planet full of people wanting to know what happened, what will happen and why.

"The over-arcing sort of cause of why the blackout happened, that's kind of like our background-radiation mystery of the whole series," executive producer David S. Goyer said.

And the producers assure us that they have a plan.

"The one thing I can say is that, as a viewer, I really like to feel that the storytellers know where they're going," Goyer said. "We just constantly talk about the obligation we have toward our viewers to really figure it out and know where we're going.

"By the end of the first season, most of the questions raised in the pilot … will be answered."

However, that doesn't mean there won't be more flash-forwards. (No answer on that from the producers.) Or that the show will wrap everything up in a single season.

"I think to really do the show justice, we need at least three seasons," Goyer said.

To that end, there's a large ensemble of characters in "FlashForward." (The cast includes Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Zachary Knighton, Peyton List, Dominic Monaghan, Brian O'Byrne, Courtney B. Vance, Sonya Walger and Christine Woods.)

And, according to Goyer, "part of the heart and soul of the show … and where I think a lot of the drama and suspense can be mined is if you saw your future, what would you do about it? And can you change it? … I mean, that is sort of what the show is about."