My Hero (British TV series)
| My Hero | |
|---|---|
 Series title card | |
| Created by | Paul Mendelson |
| Starring | Ardal O'Hanlon (Series 1-5) James Dreyfus (Series 6) Emily Joyce Hugh Dennis Geraldine McNulty Lou Hirsch Philip Whitchurch Lill Roughley Tim Wylton |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 51 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Geoffrey Perkins Marcus Mortimer Sophie Clarke-Jervoise |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | February 4, 2000 – September 10, 2006 |
My Hero is a British BBC sitcom created by Paul Mendelson and directed by John Stroud. It sees the dim-witted superhero "Thermoman", portrayed by Ardal O'Hanlon and later James Dreyfus, trying to cope with life on earth in the form of health store owner George Sunday, married to Janet Dawkins. The show aired on BBC One from February 2000 to September 2006 for six series and fifty-two episodes, one of which a Christmas special broadcast in December 2000. In the UK, re-runs air on UKTV Gold; in the United States, it is shown regularly on select PBS stations and on BBC America.
In 2002, the third series was released on DVD including actor biographies and out-takes. The first series was released on Region 1 DVD in America on January 16, 2007.
Cast & Characters
Main article: List of My Hero characters
- Ardal O'Hanlon- Thermoman/George Sunday (for series 1-5)
- James Dreyfus- Thermoman/George Sunday (for series 6)
- Emily Joyce- Janet Dawkins
- Hugh Dennis-Dr Piers Crispin
- Geraldine McNulty-Mrs Raven
- Lou Hirsch-Uncle Arnie
- Philip Whitchurch- Tyler
- Lill Roughley- Ella Dawkins
- Tim Wylton-Stanley Dawkins
Plot
George Sunday is the dim-witted "Thermoman", a super hero of multiple powers from planet Ultron. He does his best to fit in with life on earth, but unfortunately George's unfamiliarity with human life leads to many misunderstandings. At the beginning of the series, George saves wife-to-be Janet Dawkins from danger, and after falling in love, the pair later have children born with full sets of teeth and fluent English from birth. Janet's admirer is self-obsessed doctor Piers Crispin, whose receptionist is the miserable Mrs Raven.
Amongst other characters in the show is Ella and Stanley, George's mother/father-in-law, and once superhero Arnie, an American who runs a restaurant in Brooklyn. He too is from George's home planet.
Episodes
There are 51 episodes of My Hero over six series. The first series was broadcast on 2000-02-04 and the last on 2006-09-10.
The show was written by a team of writers, as are most American sitcoms, as opposed to by the creator(s) alone, in British sitcom tradition. The writers of the show were creator Paul Mendelson, along with Paul Mayhew-Archer, Paul Alexander, Simon Braithwaite, Gary Lawson, John Phelps, Ian Brown and James Hendrie.
Some of the episode titles pun on other TV or film titles. Examples include: Cassie Come Home (Lassie Come Home), How Green was my Ollie (a novel How Green Was My Valley), Time and Time again (Back to the Future II), The First Husbands Club (The First Wives Club).
All episodes were filmed at Teddington Studios, Middlesex and on location in Pinner, Middlesex. The green roofs seen through the windows in some shots are the flats on Capel Gardens. A curious feature of the show were the constant jokes about nearby Northolt.
Reception
The show was enjoyed by family audiences; however, the sixth series, beginning in July 2006, saw James Dreyfus taking over from Ardal O'Hanlon in the lead role, as George loses his former human identity in a game of poker. (This is similar to a concept used in British television show Doctor Who, called regeneration, in which the lead actor changes.)
The cast change proved unpopular with viewers, as the show began suffering from plummeting ratings and thus was moved to a Sunday afternoon slot. The series was then axed in September 2006 due to these low ratings. It has been rumoured that ITV were going to bring the programme back as part of their investment into comedy. No announcement has yet been made, but if the series was revived, it would possibly be around the autumn/winter of 2009.[1]
Continuity errors
Several continuity errors appear in the show. For example, in one episode Arnie reveals that Ultronians can't die, but in episode five, series one, George's mother is an Ultronian and she is dead.
When Cassie is born, George says Female Ultronians don't get powers besides the ability to predict the future. However in series two, episode three, Xil is female and she has all the powers of Thermoman (Although it may have been that George was referring to the powers she would possess as an infant rather than what she would manifest over time).
In the same series, it is revealed that Tyler is fluent in Ultronian, yet in series three, when he says "Zneet Znadder Znooding Zneet", he didn't know what he said.
In series six, episode four, George hates spiders and kills one in fear, but in episode four of series one, George is fearless when killing the spider that scares Janet.
In another episode, George reveals he is 842 years old, but in a later episode he is revealed to be 327 (However, when he was discussing his age as 327 he stated that this is the age at which his human body begins to age, suggesting that it actually refers to his time in his human form, while his chronological age in 842). On another occasion, he states that age is somewhat vague on Ultron and that there are three ages: 'Young', 'Getting on a bit', and 'Nearly dead.' (Later in that episode it's mentioned that there's also 'Dead'.)
It is said that Ultronians may not profit from their powers, but in the episode "Car", George uses his powers to earn money (Although the fact that he was simultaneously helping people by diagnosing what they had come into his shop seeking help with might have helped to 'cancel out' the rule, coupled with the fact that he was not explicitly using his superhero identity to do so).
References
- ^ "My Hero No More". Down the tubes. 2006-09-25. Retrieved 2006-09-30.
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External links
