Heroes

[grand theft sparrow]

(Lost - Alias) X (Crash - racism) X Unbreakable = Heroes

[RegularKarate]

I think the show wishes to be the above formula.
You also have to subtract any trace of decent acting or dialogue.

[grand theft sparrow]

The similarities between this show and Lost don't just stop at the ad campaign; they're really trying to piggyback on a show that has the exact fanbase they want.  But the worst thing of it was that the show was so artlessly directed.  Like my girlfriend said, it's like they took the crew of Law & Order and gave them a trash bag full of J.J. Abrams' thrown-out ideas.

They spent too much time with the characters introduced when they should have done the Lost/PTA method of introducing everyone as fast as they can and then go back to them later.  How many times do we need to see the cheerleader mutilate herself?  That fall explained everything we needed to know; she's Wolverine.  We didn't need to see the ribs or the train or the ring in the garbage disposal.  They should have spent more time with the Indian dude who seems to be the Professor X of the show.  Instead, they tried to ensure that 15 year-old boys with raging hard-ons will continue to watch the show by having Hayden Pantierre in a cheerleader outfit through half of it.

And the NYC painting was enough to make me stop watching the show altogether.  So fucking cliche.  They couldn't come up with something better than to save New York from destruction?

I'm giving the show one more episode but I think it's already cemented itself in the category of Not Lost, which makes it no good to me. 

[Ravi]

I'm intrigued enough by it to keep watching until I either decide I like it or give up on it.  The Japanese guy and the Indian guy were interesting.  The others, not so much. 

Hayden Pannatiere = Bruce Willis in Unbreakable

[MacGuffin]

This was the premiere episode, right? Because I felt like I was missing a whole beginning introduction episode. I watched the entire thing and I still feel like I came away not knowing anything, not one thing, about the characters other than their 'abilities;' not even their names.

[MacGuffin]

I think I'm out. The show is more concerned about the 'abilities' than about the characters. None of them question why or how they got their 'powers.' And they are none to discreet with them, and even those who do know, don't seem to be surprised either. While I would be fine to go along with them if it followed an X-Men-type storyline (since the show is so trying to be a comic-book), I think the show will become a Lady In The Water-type meeting of the 'chosen ones' by the end of the season. Not even Laura from Brick was worth watching in this. It's this year's Invasion.

[grand theft sparrow]

You know I haven't even watched last night's episode yet but after reading that, I don't want to.  Still, to its credit, it's better than Invasion in that it was able to hold my attention longer (if only slightly) than the first 5 minutes of the pilot.

As much as I'm underwhelmed by it, I may keep watching for 2 reasons.  1) All the critics keep saying it improves after the first two episodes; and 2) they were filming in a hotel in City of Industry where I briefly stayed back in August and I want to see it.

[polkablues]

Not even Laura from Brick was worth watching in this.

You shut your damn mouth.


Anyways, everybody here has gotten so fickle when it comes to TV.  Maybe I just keep my expectations low or something, but when shows like this and Studio 60 come out, my response isn't "not as good as they could be," it's "way better than most of the crap out there."

And remember, last night's episode was technically still the pilot, so you can't make any final judgements yet.  Pilots suck.  Always.  They're awkward, gangly little globs of exposition that exist only as a measure of potential, not as a gauge of quality.  The only truly great pilot ever was Lost, and now we're spoiled because of it.

[MacGuffin]

Not even Laura from Brick was worth watching in this.

You shut your damn mouth.

Sorry, but she played second fiddle to a lizard.

And remember, last night's episode was technically still the pilot, so you can't make any final judgements yet.  Pilots suck.  Always.  They're awkward, gangly little globs of exposition that exist only as a measure of potential, not as a gauge of quality.  The only truly great pilot ever was Lost, and now we're spoiled because of it.

Yes, I can make judgments now. If they don't set up the characters in the pilot, why should I care what happens to them during the rest of the series? I'm not comparing this to Lost, but give me a reason to tune in every week for people I can care about. I got that from Homicide, Alias, even Dawson's Creek to name a few.

[Kal]

I think the show tries too hard to be "the great new show on TV" and thats why it fails... its not a bad show, but the expectactions and the hype were too much.

I will give it a couple more episodes and see how it develops. I like the Japanese guy, and I like how the 2nd episode ended (in terms of space/time/abilities, etc). So we'll see how it continues...

But again, I think the biggest problem is that everybody talked so much about the show that they fucked it up... usually this shows are good when they are discovered and nobody has great expectactions... like LOST... who nobody really believed it would be the sucess it was, or Desperate Housewives, or even Two & 1/2 Men.

[pete]

I dunno if I agree with you that the show's hype caused its demise, I think it's a bad show by most standards.  however, it does seem like NBC this season is pushing every show like it's the most briliant thing ever.  I don't watch much TV, so maybe NBC has been doing that all along, but this season's it's been a little ridiculous in its hubris.

[grand theft sparrow]

Yep, I'm with Mac on this.  I'm still going to give it one more episode but I'm pretty much out.  Laura from Brick was a waste in this show.  And it's painfully obvious that she and the Indian dude are gonna get a little Sayid/Shannon action going on.

Anyways, everybody here has gotten so fickle when it comes to TV. Maybe I just keep my expectations low or something, but when shows like this and Studio 60 come out, my response isn't "not as good as they could be," it's "way better than most of the crap out there."

The only truly great pilot ever was Lost, and now we're spoiled because of it.

Yes, Heroes is better than most of the crap that's on TV and I'd much rather watch it than CSI or most hour-long dramas on network TV.  But that's like saying X-Men 3 is a better movie than Catwoman; maybe so, but do I really have to watch it?  Lost definitely spoiled almost everyone's concept of what a show should be but even if I didn't watch Lost or get caught up in the obsession, I still wouldn't like this.  24's pilot was much better written and executed (and more engrossing) than this one is too so it's not just the Lost factor.  It's still poorly acted and the writing is average at best... it feels like a Roland Emmerich movie.  There's not much energy to the show, except for the Nightcrawler Japanese guy and the Jean Grey cop (who was in the pilot of Lost).  And like Mac pointed out, we barely know their names and barely know anything about them besides their powers, which are kind of boring powers if you think about it.   

I can appreciate that they want to do the Unbreakable thing where the characters are just regular people who suddenly realize they have superpowers but the problem is that, with Unbreakable, we were allowed to see who Bruce Willis was before he understood why he survived the train crash.  With Heroes, it just feels like any other superhero story because we're introduced to them via their powers.  That takes away from the "ordinary people doing extraordinary things" aspect they're trying to go for.  They're not ordinary people just because they're cops and cheerleaders and Vegas trash.  They're ordinary because they don't do shit.  We see them almost immediately doing shit, for fear of viewers turning off.  But yet, they take too long with the introductions.  I mean, damn, Smallville is able to capture that ordinary person thing better and it's about Superman!

But like I said, one more episode.

I think the show tries too hard to be "the great new show on TV" and thats why it fails... its not a bad show, but the expectactions and the hype were too much.

It's trying too hard to be Lost specifically and THAT'S why it fails.  Like all the Tarantino copycats in the mid 90s.  You have Heroes, which has the sci-fi angle and similar cast diversity as Lost, you have The Nine which has a similar flashback angle as Lost from what I've heard, you have Six Degrees which has the "everybody's connected"-ness of Lost.  And that Vanished show on Fox is more like a bad 24 but they have an extensive online game they tried to do that apparently failed miserably because it was poorly executed.  I haven't seen The Nine and Six Degrees but I'm sure they're not doing too hot either because all these shows are trading on a gimmick. 

this season's new sci-fi/suspense shows: Lost :: all non-CGI (EDIT: I meant non-Pixar) CGI animation: Pixar

[Ravi]

The Japanese guy's story is still the most interesting.  And I'm waiting for the acting to improve.

[grand theft sparrow]

The Japanese guy is the ONLY interesting part; I wish he had his own show.  And the acting won't improve unless they largely recast.  I'm done with the show.

I turned off this episode when the Fake Sayid threw his laptop across the room and found a journal in it. 

[Ravi]

Give the Japanese guy his own show.  I don't care if its going to be in Japanese, just do it!

I'll probably continue watching just for him.