Heroes On 7

[thiskl]

I don't have a problem as much with the character as the actor. I can see that some of the better dialogue may be going to surround him. Already his scenes were some of the better (if stereotypical).

Its just that the kid gives me the screamin' shits!

I think he reminds me too much of Alexander Downer playing Peep-Bo in The Mikado

Not that this means diddly-squat, but the actor has a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics, and worked/works for Industrial Light and Magic. I believe he was also a member of his Uni drama club.

Little Boy Brain was the 4yo character introduced very early on with the ridiculous "I simply repaired the logic board" line.

Ahh Santa, all will be revealed...

[LBM]

...tripe...sooooo predictable with all the stereotypical characters.

Again, what is with this attitude of something being bad as others enjoy it? Seems like one of those anti-everyone else TV viewers everyone seems to want to be these days.

Predictable? You and others keep saying that but I can be sure you are all wrong. Don't like it? Fair enough. Guess what it is like before watching it? Stupid.

[Neon Kitten]

ven though i stay away from these sort of shows and general comercial tv tripe

Heroes is anything BUT "commercial TV tripe". NBC took a big risk putting as much money in it as they did, and even then they only ordered 13 episodes initially as there was no guarantee that such a show would work.

"Commercial TV tripe" is a description that should be applied to the brain-dead franchises like CSI x infinity, Law & Order x infinity and the like. "Heroes" is actually doing something different.

And it can NOT be judged by its first episode. By the end of the second you get a better idea of where it's going, and by the end of the fourth you're hooked. To spend as long as this show does setting up its basic premise is very, very brave and highly unusual.

pretty average , found it sooooo predictable with all the stereotypical characters.

They're stereotypes for a reason. If you keep watching you'll find out why.

just like a cheap version of xmen.

Heroes is anything BUT cheap. The budget for a season of it would make the X-Men movie producers weep.

unknown actors

Aside from the fact that "unknown" actors are NOT a bad thing (do we really want the same cookie-cutter faces and limited acting ability in every damn show?) many of the actors in "Heroes" are well known from other movie and TV work - Ali Larter in particular.

The show would not have worked with "name" actors, which would have made suspension of disbelief much more difficult. In my opinion, that's what helped kill "The Nine" - having the scowly bratty kid from Party Of Five playing EXACTLY the same character (because he has zero acting range) made it impossible to take seriously.

crappy dialogue ( i bet the japanese would be cringing)

You're completely missing the point. It's structured like a comic book / graphic novel, and the occasionally cheesy dialogue is deliberate.

cheap effects etc

Cheap effects? You have GOT to be joking! Once again, keep watching.

a cheap version of x-men.

Why all the reverence for an average b-grade sci-fi actioner like X-Men? "Heroes" has more intelligence and cleverness than the X-Man franchise could ever dream of.

Again, what is with this attitude of something being bad as others enjoy it? Seems like one of those anti-everyone else TV viewers everyone seems to want to be these days.

Exactly. There seems to be a sub-culture of people who blindly react against anything that's heavily advertised and/or popular.

News flash to previous poster: if it wasn't popular, it would have already finished it run in the US. And if it wasn't really, really good, it wouldn't be popular (well, okay, so that doesn't apply to Grey's Anatomy, but ah well )

[big_marcelo]

I found Heros very interesting..... looking forward to the next episodes.....

[50mxe20]

I found Heros very interesting..... looking forward to the next episodes.....

I agree.

[Milorad]

I hate britney spears and kylie minogue too!... you're all so uncool.

If you want chicks to like you, you have to rag on stuff because cool people are always like 'whatever', you know?

Cool people don't like stuff, yo.

....

*hurls privately in a corner* ... I can't believe I just typed all that.

[pietro1503559499]

Not much mention of the PQ here. On Prime I would have sworn it was 1080i, there was quite superb detail and colours. When I looked at SVU on SC10HD straight after it wasn't as good.

[pgdownload]

and even then they only ordered 13 episodes initially as there was no guarantee that such a show would work.

I was under the impression this is going to be standard network behavior from now on. Makes a fair bit of sense really...

Given the amount of rapid cancellations these days, they're only exposed to 13 episodes.

Gives the audience a rest mid season.

Allows networks to assess and possibly tell the produces "you only have 13 epiosde till your cancelled" - less chances of shows left hanging on a cliff hanger.

Regards

Peter Gillespie

[tonygib]

@tonygib

Translating from SantaSpeak;

ConstoBoy is referring to Hiro

Little Boy Brain is referring to Micah

Ahh, ok, well yeah Hiro was a bit 'typical' to start with but he got much better as time went one.

And yes the smarty little kid, is in fact just that, not surprising given the parents, but as for the line, well thats just standard, I don't think any TV/movie ever gets it right with tech/IT stuff, its always made up, made simple or just made up. But then that par for the course, since its the Graphics department that does all the 'screen shots', etc.

If it was all done for real, it would most likely just bore ppl to death, I know, I'm in IT, its actually not all that exciting.

even then they only ordered 13 episodes initially as there was no guarantee that such a show would work.

Aside from the fact that "unknown" actors are NOT a bad thing (do we really want the same cookie-cutter faces and limited acting ability in every damn show?) many of the actors in "Heroes" are well known from other movie and TV work - Ali Larter in particular.

Needless to say they have order many more episodes now, a certain 'Doctor' even shows up.

As for a range of actors I had never really seen before (apart from the guy that was in Alias), I though it was a great choice. They all seem to fit and do a great job and you don't have any preconceived idea's based on what else they have done.

I guess I should also state that my views, unlike some other here (Santa) are based on having seen the first half of the Season, so trying to cast my mind back to every little bit in just the first ep isn't easy.

[Santa1503559644]

I wouldn't have said the production looked cheap, really.

In terms of production values, it was quite good.

I certainly appreciate that the producers have to tread a fine line when creating series these days, between being non-taxing enough for instant ratings success (and thus lifespan), and a little substance.

One of the producers of The Wire (the gold standard for quality TV drama) commented that it could never have worked had it been made for normal TV ... and was helped by the fact that HBO repeated each ep several times within a week!

I'm glad to hear that ConstoKid improves ... I suppose he couldn't get any worse! (That said, I find his "time stopping" and "teleportation" powers the most ridiculous of the lot!)

I doubt I'll warm to Little Boy Brain, if they continue to write that bogus attempt at Baby Genius scripting for him. Someone should tell script writers that its only the mildy gifted who spout the precocious crap ... the truly gifted are beyond that!

[aztec]

I doubt I'll warm to Little Boy Brain, if they continue to write that bogus attempt at Baby Genius scripting for him. Someone should tell script writers that its only the mildy gifted who spout the precocious crap ... the truly gifted are beyond that!

Irony???

Just kidding.

Anyway, it would be a hard task balancing two opposing drivers, one to satisfy the intellectual and the other to keep ratings up.

HBO dropped Carnivale before it ended as it failed in the latter

[Santa1503559644]

Irony???

Just kidding.

Anyway, it would be a hard task balancing two opposing drivers, one to satisfy the intellectual and the other to keep ratings up.

HBO dropped Carnivale before it ended as it failed in the latter

Might cop some criticism here ("what's new!"), but I thought Carnivale was the biggest, saddest, lamest try-hard in tv history! Lent credibility to the saying "you can't fake quality"!

[aztec]

Might cop some criticism here ("what's new!"), but I thought Carnivale was the biggest, saddest, lamest try-hard in tv history! Lent credibility to the saying "you can't fake quality"!

As someone once said, "to each his own".

[Santa1503559644]

As someone once said, "to each his own".

(And long may it be!)

[Thomas Magnum]

I'd like to step in at this point and defend thudabot, who took a bit of a hammering for what I thought were pretty innocent comments. For the record, I pretty much agreed with his assessment of the the first episode - I thought it was a bit simplistic as well and the Japanese character, my God, all the authenticity of a Sushi Train!

Santa is also correct that some of the characters are somewhat stereotyped - the stripper with the heart of gold, the gifted kid (extra points if they are an ethnic minority as well) and the nerdy/zany Jap salaryman - two stereotypes for the price of one.

Unfortunately, thudabot then got slammed a little too hard by some zealots of the show. I think on these forums you need to take the tone of a post into account, and I felt thudabot was not trying to be controversial for the sake of it, just offering an opinion. He prefaced his remarks with the caveat that he usually steers clear of commercial tripe (me too) but didn't lump Heroes in that category, as one person made out. And he finished by stressing it was just his opinion, not trying to bag anyone who likes it.

I think he actually did watch it, LBM, before making his comments, so maybe you're the stupid one. And just because the show is structured like a comic book, or as the preview for the next ep suggests, the characters belong in some sort of comic tradition, doesn't excuse stereotyping them or using bad dialogue.

And as I was watching I also felt that there were too many X-Men undertones as well. I doubt that Heroes has "more intelligence and cleverness than X-Men ... could ever dream of." Is that why X-Men has been going since 1963 with enduring popularity and 3 successful big screen adaptations?

News flash to Neon Kitten: being popular does not make it good or vice-versa. You may notice that Epic Movie is tops at the US box office. Case closed. No two people are ever going to agree on the merits or otherwise of every program they watch, as long as people dole out their thoughts with some wit and style live, and let live.

[LBM]

No need to take things personal there, you explained why whereas the last poster simply did it so as to say "I expected the usual tripe and that is what I got"... after a single episode. That is just asking for the criticism given.

Comparing it to Epic Movie? Give me a break. That show only got to air for the names behind the series (Scary Movie titles) and failed after being seen. That is not comparable to Heroes which has, and will, receive a decent following a full season schedule for the simple fact that it is a good show.

Don't agree with that? Fair enough, just don't go in the middle of a thread and state a useless argument about stereotypical characters after spotting them. Hiro, the character, is closer to a stereotype of a nerd than anything else - what is wrong with that?

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Spoiler below

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Highlight to read:

Just look at when he comes back from the future on the train speaking full English with the sword, it wipes that stereotype away for good.

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End spoiler

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[50mxe20]

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Spoiler below

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Highlight to read:

No link?

[LBM]

Link? The spoiler was from around episode 7 IIRC and is written in white so that people don't read it by mistake. Press CTRL+A to see it clearly.

[50mxe20]

Link? The spoiler was from around episode 7 IIRC and is written in white so that people don't read it by mistake. Press CTRL+A to see it clearly.

Clever boy. Never even saw the white on this screen.

[rustle]

Great show IMO, watched up to Ep 13 and interest hasn't waned

[Thomas Magnum]

Thanks for your response, LBM, I appreciate you are passionate about the show. It's just that I thought thudabot got worked a little too hard for what he said, and if you re-read his post he is clear that he stays away from most commercial tv shows, as many of us do, because there is a lot of garbage out there, as Neon Kitten points out with NCIS, CSI et al. But to me he didn't go in expecting tripe, he was prepared to give it a fair shake (as I was) and was disappointed with the result, that's all.

Please be careful with what you attribute to people, I never directly compared Heroes to Epic Movie, you are absolutely correct that it would be a very silly comparison as Heroes is clearly trying to do something completely different. Neon Kitten asserted that the show was popular and therefore is almost certainly good. I was just pointing out that popularity and viewing numbers are not necessarily a sign of quality, and used Epic Movie to illustrate that point. I'm not trying to split hairs, just that there is a difference between the two statements.

And of course there's nothing wrong with a nerdy stereotype, most stereotypes have some grounding in actuality, but I guess I was hoping for a little more subtlety. Stereotypes are easy to use, and easy to write but I guess I like things a little 'edgier' these days. I'm sorry if it appeared that I was a latecomer to the thread, but I too watched the show, I read all the posts first and then felt I had something to contribute re the merits or otherwise of the show. If I thought my argument was useless I wouldn't have posted it.

I am my own harshest critic ...

Anyway, your enthusiasm for the show has ensured that I will give it another chance over the next few weeks.

[anthonysimilion]

I was just pointing out that popularity and viewing numbers are not necessarily a sign of quality, and used Epic Movie to illustrate that point. I'm not trying to split hairs, just that there is a difference between the two statements.

Absolutely, there is so much rubbish on that is 'popular' (according to the current ratings system).

However, in this case, 'Heroes' is definitely a popular show that (I believe) is worth watching. It even beat '24' in the ratings in the US to be the top show for it's night, which is quite an achievement.

[thudabot]

wow i didn't expect such a fuss.....

and yes i did actually watch the whole thing.

why do people keep insisting on giving US ratings figures to proove a show is popular and therefore must be good?? I don;t need ratings to tell me what i think is good. just because the masses like somehting it doesn't necessarily make it good.

people - you can all enjoy what you want but surely you must question some things. i just found myself rolling my eyes too often at the dialogue and come on - is there anything that's new here?

1. guy thinks he can fly

2. girl can heal herself.

etc etc

[anthonysimilion]

why do people keep insisting on giving US ratings figures to proove a show is popular and therefore must be good?? I don;t need ratings to tell me what i think is good. just because the masses like somehting it doesn't necessarily make it good.

Popular definitely doesn't always equal good! However, in this case, I personally believe it is good - and it happens to be popular. Obviously not everyone likes it, but that's with everything.

[big_marcelo]

if people don't like the show... its pretty simple... don't watch it!!

and quite rightly popular doesn't mean good ....

I'm giving Heroes a chance and seeing where the show goes... for me it looks promising..

I'm actually impressed with Chanel 7 Line up this year....