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davron · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 1:11 pm Post subject: NBC's 'Heroes' comes to rescue

So, you can leap tall buildings in a single bound and outrun a speeding locomotive. Good for you. Try emerging as a new hit show in this dismal fall season. Now that's impressive.

Only five of the 23 rookie network series qualify as runaway successes, the most unlikely of which is Heroes, the Monday-night drama about a group of mutants who have the daunting task of saving the cheerleader, saving the world and saving NBC, not necessarily in that order.

The series averages 14.3 million viewers a week, roughly the same as ABC's Ugly Betty, and more than the other early winners, Shark, Jericho and Brothers & Sisters.

Before its launch, the show sounded like kryptonite. It was another serialized series, which are as complex and sticky as Spidey's web, and it involved science fiction, a genre that rarely does well on TV.

But Heroes, like WB's modest hit Smallville, doesn't rely on superpowers. The success of the show is rooted in real, down-to-earth characters dealing with such mortal dilemmas as being a single mother, struggling with a language barrier, drug addiction or trying to live in the shadow of your big brother.

"I knew we didn't want to rely too heavily on sci-fi. There's not enough of a broad market for that," said creator Tim Kring. "Plus, you have to make a show every eight days on a limited budget, and you can't compete with $200 million feature films."

No character has registered more with audiences than Hiro Nakamura, a cubicle-bound office worker in Japan who knows only a few words of English but comes to America to stop world destruction with his ability to bend time. Even more unbelievable than his power to freeze-frame life is his exuberance and never-say-die spirit.

"He's such a joy to play," said actor Masi Oka. "He's the kid we probably all once were but couldn't hold onto."

Adrian Pasdar, who plays Nathan Petrelli, a politician with the ability to fly, said it's better to deal with the reality of the world than to ignore it.

"It's there in the newspaper kiosk and on CNN. You can't get away from it," he said. "I think people accept it as a basic intrusion in life. Our show presents the state of the world but with people willing to take extraordinary steps to change it."

Kring said the show is basically about hope.

"The message is that, yes, the world is a scary, complicated place, but we've deposited the theory that the world has also populated itself with people who can do something about it," he said.

Enjoy
davron