The Boob Tube: Heroes
I am starting a new feature here at BTS which I call the boob tube and it will examine the shows on tv that I think are worth watching. The other night I was checking out the latest installment of NBC's "Heroes." This is a show which I have followed from its onset last september and I have to say that it's really starting to heat up.
There was something that always bugged me about it but I could never put my finger on it and I think that I have finally figured out what it is. At first I thought that it was the fact its premise is somewhat derivative being so close to the American comic book "X-Men." The show has also been compared to the British production "The Tomorrow People". Indeed, the whimsical writer Peter David routinely refers to Claire's indestructible cheerleader character as "Cheerverine" in his blog as a tongue in cheek nod to her healing powers being identical to the Marvel mutant phenom.
Actually, what bugged me about "Heroes" was the fact as good as it was, it wasn't as compelling as some of the comic book series I was currently following. For example, last year's excellent "Generation M" mini which takes place after most of Marvel's mutant population has been depowered I think is infinately more interesting than this narrative. However, this show is free to watch and it is the closest show based on the American comic book format as it is being written by comic book scribe Jeph Loeb and featuring art by comic book artist Tim Sale. Having such close ties to the industry I feel compelled to follow it.
This week may have given us the best episode to date as we finally find out some secrets about Claire (perfectly played by Hayden Panettiere) and Sylar is running around loose. He reminds me of some of the creepy supernatural serial killers which Fox Moulder used to hunt down periodically on the X-Files. I am not going to review the episode here as I am sure there are millions of internet sites which already scrutinize the show to death including this pretty cool unofficial site. You can always tell when a show has a cult following if the show has a message board or fan site attached to it like this one does. I am merely going to add that if Heroes hasn't been on your tv radar then you should definately check it out. Original eps air Mondays 9 PM PST on the Peacock and are rerun fridays at 4 PM PST on the Sci Fi network.
