"Heroes" (2006/II)TV series 2006-????

Creator:

Tim Kring

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Save the Cheerleader. Save the World.

Plot:

They thought they were like everyone else... until they woke with incredible abilities.

Plot Keywords:

Brotherly Love | Human Chameleon | Future | Mental Blackout | Multiple Personality

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 15 wins & 42 nominations

Cast

Hayden Panettiere	...	Claire Bennet (34 episodes, 2006-2008)
Jack Coleman	...	Noah Bennet (34 episodes, 2006-2008)
Sendhil Ramamurthy	...	Mohinder Suresh (34 episodes, 2006-2008)
Masi Oka	...	Hiro Nakamura (33 episodes, 2006-2008)
James Kyson Lee	...	Ando Masahashi (33 episodes, 2006-2008)
Milo Ventimiglia	...	Peter Petrelli (31 episodes, 2006-2008)
Greg Grunberg	...	Matt Parkman (29 episodes, 2006-2008)
Ali Larter	...	Niki Sanders / ... (29 episodes, 2006-2008)
Adrian Pasdar	...	Nathan Petrelli (29 episodes, 2006-2008)
Noah Gray-Cabey	...	Micah Sanders (27 episodes, 2006-2008)
Cristine Rose	...	Angela Petrelli (21 episodes, 2006-2008)
Ashley Crow	...	Sandra Bennet (21 episodes, 2006-2007)
Zachary Quinto	...	Sylar (21 episodes, 2006-2008)
Jimmy Jean-Louis	...	The Haitian (19 episodes, 2006-2007)
Leonard Roberts	...	D.L. Hawkins (17 episodes, 2006-2007)
Santiago Cabrera	...	Isaac Mendez (16 episodes, 2006-2007)
Adair Tishler	...	Molly Walker (15 episodes, 2006-2007)
Tawny Cypress	...	Simone Deveaux (14 episodes, 2006-2007)

Also Known As:

Heroes: Villains (USA) (promotional title)

Runtime:

45 min | 60 min (including commercials)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

South Korea:15 | USA:TV-14 | Hungary:16 (some episodes) | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-13 (Season 1 DVD rating) (2008) | Australia:MA (Season 1 DVD rating) | Australia:M | Australia:MA (some episodes) | Singapore:NC-16 (season 1) | New Zealand:R13 (Season 1 DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

NBC Universal Television

Trivia:

James Kyson Lee cannot speak a word of Japanese. He has to be taught it phonetically.

Quotes:

Hiro Nakamura: That's fighting dirty.
Takezo Kensei: That's fighting smart sir. Don't get me wrong I give him a fair wage... if he lives.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Free Radio: Sidekick for a Day (#1.6)" (2008)

As Good as Advertised

I just watched this today (recorded it from last night) and quite honestly, I'm pleasantly surprised. I was convinced the hype machine would kill this show, building up expectations so high they could never be met, but Heroes has measured up nicely, hitting on all marks in my book. I'm as a huge a 24 and House fan as is out there, but Heroes may have just taken TV's top billing in one night.

I must admit, shows now-a-days tend to go down hill after the pilot, but NBC's latest offering seems to have set itself up with a concept and tone that could carry on strong, at least for a season. My initial reaction was that we would either see clichéd super hero garb or some awkward NBC drama soaked in hero juice. What we got instead was a surprisingly good pilot that brought enough "hero material" to live up to its name, but not too much as to make us think we were watching an X-men ripoff.

The writing and the interweaving plot and characters is compelling and interesting, nothing dumbed down, but nothing contrived either. The direction fits the concept perfectly, it grabs you as much as it should, without being distracting. The acting is most surprising in that it's actually good. Masi Oka, who plays "Hiro Nakamura", is quite possibly the best of the cast, though he never speaks a word of English (unless you count "Spock"). Overall the cast is nothing big on paper, but they all manage to hit their marks well.

Last but not least, there were some pop culture references and nods to comic book lore that just made me smile. There seems to be a very cool hero/comic book hip feel that makes you trust the writers on this one.

Again, shows have been known to start strong and fall off soon after, but in this case, Heroes has made a strong enough showing that everyone should check this out.