Heroes (American TV series)
| Heroes | |
|---|---|
| File:Heroes title card.png Heroes title card | |
| Created by | Tim Kring |
| Starring | see below |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 11 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 44 minutes approx. |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | September 25, 2006 – present |
Heroes is an American drama television series, created by Tim Kring, which premiered on NBC on September 25, 2006. The series tells the story of several people who "thought they were like everyone else... until they woke with incredible abilities" such as telepathy, time travel and flight. These people soon realize they have a role in preventing a catastrophe and saving mankind.[1]
The series loosely follows the writing style of American comics by doing short, multi-episode story arcs that build upon a larger, more encompassing arc. Even with small story arcs that move the story forward, Kring said he mapped out where he intends the show to go for the next five seasons.[2]
When the series premiered in the United States, it was the night's most-watched program among adults 18-49, attracting 14.3 million viewers overall and receiving the highest rating for any NBC drama premiere in five years.[3]
On October 6, 2006, NBC President Kevin Reilly announced Heroes had been picked up for a full season.[4] The show is currently on hiatus until January 22, 2007.
Characters
The show features an ensemble cast of twelve main characters. Although NBC's cast page lists only ten characters, Leonard Roberts, who first appeared in the series' fifth episode, was an additional member of the original full-time cast. Later, Jack Coleman was upgraded from a recurring role to become the twelfth full-time castmember as of the eleventh episode.[5]
The main cast, not all of whom have been shown to possess powers, currently consists of:
- Mr. Bennet (Jack Coleman), Claire's adoptive father who works for an unnamed organization dealing with the abduction of people with superhuman abilities.
- Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere), a cheerleader who lives in Odessa, Texas, with the ability of spontaneous regeneration.
- Simone Deveaux (Tawny Cypress), Isaac's ex-girlfriend, an art dealer who sells his paintings in her gallery.
- D.L. Hawkins (Leonard Roberts), an escaped criminal with the power to alter his physical tangibility and phase through solid objects, both inanimate and organic.
- Isaac Mendez (Santiago Cabrera), an artist living in New York who can paint future events during precognitive trances. He also writes and draws a comic book named 9th Wonders!
- Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka), a programmer[6] from Tokyo with the ability to manipulate the space-time continuum.
- Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), a Los Angeles police officer with the ability to hear other people's thoughts.
- Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar), a New York congressional candidate with the ability of self-propelled flight.
- Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia), a former hospice nurse and Nathan's younger brother. He has the ability to temporarily mimic the powers of others when in close proximity. He also experiences clairvoyant dreams.
- Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabey), the son of D.L. and Niki. He is a child prodigy and has a technopathic ability enabling him to "communicate with machines and electronics".[7]
- Niki Sanders (Ali Larter), the wife of D.L. and mother to Micah. A former internet stripper from Las Vegas, she has an alternate personality that identifies itself as Niki's dead sister, Jessica. When Jessica has taken control, she exhibits superhuman strength.
- Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy), a genetics professor from India who travels to New York to investigate the death of his father, Chandra. Through his investigations, he comes into contact with people his father listed as possessing superhuman abilities.
The show also features a large number of guest and recurring characters.
Plot
The first four episodes were advertised with the tagline "Ordinary people discovering extraordinary abilities". At the end of the fourth episode, an event occurs that kicked off the second arc, where the slogan "Save the cheerleader, save the world" has appeared many times. Several characters presume this phrase to refer to Texas high school cheerleader Claire Bennet, who has the ability to rapidly heal from injury, and the apocalyptic visions of New York artist Isaac Mendez. Beginning at the conclusion of the episode "Fallout," a new tagline appeared, "Are you on the list?" As the characters slowly discover their abilities and the existence of others like them, they begin to realize the need to come together to prevent a catastrophe and save mankind.
According to NBC's official Web site, not only do the characters discover their superpowers, but they also uncover a larger picture concerning their superpowers' origins. The characters become involved in each other's lives as they attempt to evade the series' antagonist, Sylar, who is tracking and killing super-powered humans to use their superhuman DNA to his own ends.
Symbols
Appearing frequently throughout the series is a symbol that strongly resembles an RNA molecule. Said appearances include:
- As a decorative object in the Bennets' home
- In a swimming pool at the scene of one of Sylar's murders. Several flotation devices form the shape.
- On a billboard behind Hiro in Times Square when he teleports there.
- Frequently on a computer screen, scrolling across a genetic profiling program created by Chandra Suresh.
- On a drawing done by Peter Petrelli.
- On various paintings by Isaac Mendez.
- On a post-it note on the map in Mohinder Suresh's apartment.
- Written on a geometry textbook owned by Claire Bennet.
- Written on pictures in Sylar's apartment.
- On Jessica's back whenever she surfaces as Niki's alternate personality.
- Engraved on the hilt of future Hiro's sword.
- Printed on the front of Chandra Suresh's book, Activating Evolution.
- Printed on the upper-left corner of the 14th issue of 9th Wonders! comic book, written by Isaac Mendez.
- On a necklace worn by the Haitian.
- On a picture of Niki as "Jessica", painted by Isaac. The symbol was hidden under an extra layer of paint.
- Drawn on a Greyhound bus sign, seen right before D.L. spots the runaway Micah in the episode Homecoming.
A second symbol, consisting of two black parallel lines, has been shown on the necks of two super-powered characters. The characters have engaged in in-show conjecture that the symbol is connected to their experiences with The Haitian.
- Matt Parkman, the mind reading policeman from Los Angeles.
- Ted Sprague, who emits radiation.
Reception
One week after completing its first half season, Heroes began to receive several honors and accolades. On December 10, 2006 the American Film Institute named Heroes one of the ten "best television programs of the year".[8] Three days later on December 13, the Writers Guild of America nominated the program for "best new series" of 2007.[9] The next day (December 14), the Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated the program for a Golden Globe Award for "best television drama", and nominated Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura) for Best Supporting Actor on a TV Series.[10] Neither the series nor the actor won. Heroes was nominated for, and won, the award for Favorite New TV Drama at the 2007 People's Choice Awards.[11]
The cast of Heroes was named in the 2006 Time Magazine's Person of the Year issue under "People Who Mattered".[12] In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald lift-out section, "The Guide", listed Heroes as one of the best shows to come in 2007. It was described as a "Modern twist of The Tomorrow People".
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Production notes
When the writing team works on an episode, each writer takes a character and writes the individual scenes surrounding that character. These stories are then combined and given to the episode writer, allowing every writer to contribute to every episode.[13]
A special 72-minute version of the pilot was first screened to a large audience at the 2006 Comic Con in San Diego.[14]
The series is filmed in Los Angeles and Santa Clarita, California.
International broadcasters
Heroes is broadcast on the following stations around the world.
- In a January 3, 2007 interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Masi Oka said he heard "rumors" recently that Japan would soon be airing the series as well.
Emerson lawsuit
On October 2, 2006, Emerson Electric Company, an appliance market competitor of NBC's owner General Electric, filed suit in federal court against NBC. The suit was in regards to a scene that appeared in "Genesis," the pilot episode, which depicts Claire Bennet reaching into an active garbage disposal unit—labeled "In-Sink-Erator"—to retrieve a ring, and severely injuring her hand in the process. Emerson claims the scene "casts the disposer in an unsavory light, irreparably tarnishing the product" by suggesting serious injuries will result "in the event consumers were to accidentally insert their hand into one."
Emerson is asking for a ruling barring future broadcasts of the pilot, which was previously available on NBC's Web site and has already aired on NBC Universal-owned cable networks USA and Sci Fi. It also seeks to block NBC from using any Emerson trademarks in the future.[15]
The episode in question was briefly unavailable in the iTunes Store, but an edited version was shortly made available for download.
References
- ^ "Heroes first look". NBC.com. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
- ^ Kring, Tim (2006-09-25). "How many seasons/scripts are plotted out?". NBC Universal Heroes Live Blog. NBC.com. Retrieved 2006-10-31.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|work=(help) - ^ "'Heroes' debut paces NBC's second Monday win of the new season" (Press release). NBC Universal Media Village. 2006-09-26. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
{{cite press release}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "NBC Rewards Hit Fall Drama 'Heroes' With Full-Season Order For 2006-07" (Press release). NBC Universal Media Village. 2006-10-05. Retrieved 2006-10-13.
{{cite press release}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Schneider, Michael (2006-10-23). "'Heroes' zeros in on its bad guy". Variety.com. Retrieved 2006-10-27.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Colette, Aaron (w), Gunnel, Michah, Darren Moran (p), Roslan, Mark (i). "The Crane" Heroes, vol. 1, no. 2 (2006-10-02). Aspen Comics, Inc..
- ^ Interview with Bryan Fuller, Co-Executive Producer/Writer. Retrieved 1 Jan 2007.
- ^ "AFI Awards 2006 Official Selections Announced" (PDF) (Press release). American Film Institute. 2006-12-10. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
{{cite press release}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "2007 Writers Guild Awards Television & Radio Nominees Announced" (Press release). Writers Guild of America. 2006-12-14. Retrieved 2006-12-14.
{{cite press release}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Hollywood Foreign Press Association Announced the Nominations for the 64th Golden Globe Awards" (Press release). Hollywood Foreign Press Association. 2006-12-14. Retrieved 2006-12-14.
{{cite press release}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Associated Press (2007-01-09). "Aniston, Depp are People's Choice winners". MSNBC. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Poniewozik, James (2006-12-17). "People Who Mattered: The Cast of Heroes". Time. Retrieved 2006-12-31.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Taylor, Robert (2006-10-26). "Reflections: Talking with Bryan Fuller". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2006-11-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Goldman, Eric (2006-06-22). "Comic-Con 2006: Heroes Pilot Premiere". IGN. Retrieved 2006-11-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Garbage Disposal Maker Sues NBC Over 'Heroes' Scene". Zap2It.com. 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2006-10-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
- Heroes on NBC - Heroes TV Show on NBC: NBC Official Site
- 9th Wonders - Semi-official site from Heroes creator Tim Kring
- Heroes at the Internet Movie Database
- Heroes (TV series)
- Superhero television programs
- 2000s American television series
- 2006 television program debuts
- Drama television series
- Fantasy television series
- NBC network shows
- Running television shows
- Science fiction television series
- Serial drama television series
- Television series by NBC Universal Television