Heroes

[Cyrrex]

I'm an irredeemable fanboi of this show.  It is probably the only regular TV I watch that isn't football.

Last season got torpedoed pretty well by the strike, but was still decent.  Here's hoping season 3 gets everything back on track.

[K9]

Is the 22nd a double bill season starter?

IMDB is listing two episodes for that day.

Either way I'm  for this, I'll probably go back and rewatch S2 now to get myself back up to speed.

[Cyrrex]

Dang, I hope so.

I'm nearly done with an S1 and S2 marathon (on Blu Ray and a projector on about a 110" screen, which is patently fucking awesome I must tell you).  There is just way too much entertainment packed into the month of September. 

[K9]

meh, now you've got me looking at Blu-ray box sets

Shame Blu-ray is so expensive compared to DVD.

[HaemishM]

I am fanboi, here me mush. Still love this show, despite the annoying characters that were added last season. Seeing the Villains tag for the new season got me happy in the pants.

[NiX]

Season 2 wasn't that good for me. Probably a cause of the silly strike. I hear this season is only supposed to get worse though from all the advanced screenings they've done of the premiere.

[schild]

Season 2 was dreadful. I'm going to watch it again, but I really think we're at the point of no return.

[Cyrrex]

Dreadful is a strong word.  It certainly wasn't as good as Season 1, but the bar was set pretty fucking high, IMO.  Weaker characters in S2, but I still thought the writing was pretty clever so I have high hopes.

[HaemishM]

Season 2 suffered from misinterpreting what made your show a success in the first place. A number of characters essentially rehashed their season 1 arcs, and there was a lot of running in place. I think part of the problem was trying to build a 22 show season, which means you have a good bit of padding and then realizing that the writer's are about to strike and OH SHIT WE ONLY HAVE 3 EPISODES LEFT! It would have worked better without the padding.

I honestly think the 22-show seasons on US television contribute to a lot of the problems of some shows, especially shows with heavy continuity. You end up having to pad things out between the very exciting moments of premiere/sweeps/finales. Really, a 12-13 episode run tends to work much better for these type of shows so long as your writers don't suck.

[schild]

Japan's TV shows air in 13-26 episodes. Generally they tell one story and there's never a season 2. Sometimes there's a special and a movie (i.e. GTO), but for the most part, they tell their story and move on. If American shows were clearly defined to run for x amount of time and then be over, I'm pretty sure the problems with storytelling would be solved. Unfortunately we have no idea (nor do the creators or execs that signed the show) how long a show will run or if it'll even make it through the first season. Needless to say, the system is fucking flawed.

Edit: Before anyone says otherwise, I can name off the top of my head the last decades worth of live-action TV shows in Japan that got a second season. It is Not a long list.

[MrHat]

Edit: Before anyone says otherwise, I can name off the top of my head the last decades worth of live-action TV shows in Japan that got a second season. It is Not a long list.

You're like the rainman of useless knowledge.

[K9]

He has a point though, an awful lot of shows with a great 1-season concept end up being dragged out ad ridiculam. Lost being a topical example of a show that just needs to conclude and fuck off.

I'm willing to give Heroes the benefit of the doubt, although season 2 wasn't as good as season 1 I feel that the writers strike buggered up the pacing and forced them to conclude prematurely. Overall I thought the story arc revolving around Hiro, Adam, Peter and the Company felt really well put together, the arc surrounding the Bennets wasn't as good, and the "magic blood" ending was an awful gimmick they probably had to throw in just to turn the plot around to meet the ending. The only real blight was the twins storyline, but the writers did a decent job of responding to feedback there and downplaying their role. I fully expect Maya to be killed during the season's premiere.

The telling thing with season 2 were the number of loose ends that were presumably left loose due to the squeeze on time imposed by the strike. For example the future virus plot I guess will be the baseline for this new season, but in S2 it felt out of place.

[Oz]

Is the 22nd a double bill season starter?

Pretty sure its 3 hours on the 22nd. 

1 hour of recap of EVERYTHING previous
2 hour season premier starting of the villians arc.

[Cyrrex]

He has a point though, an awful lot of shows with a great 1-season concept end up being dragged out ad ridiculam. Lost being a topical example of a show that just needs to conclude and fuck off.

I'm willing to give Heroes the benefit of the doubt, although season 2 wasn't as good as season 1 I feel that the writers strike buggered up the pacing and forced them to conclude prematurely. Overall I thought the story arc revolving around Hiro, Adam, Peter and the Company felt really well put together, the arc surrounding the Bennets wasn't as good, and the "magic blood" ending was an awful gimmick they probably had to throw in just to turn the plot around to meet the ending. The only real blight was the twins storyline, but the writers did a decent job of responding to feedback there and downplaying their role. I fully expect Maya to be killed during the season's premiere.

The telling thing with season 2 were the number of loose ends that were presumably left loose due to the squeeze on time imposed by the strike. For example the future virus plot I guess will be the baseline for this new season, but in S2 it felt out of place.

My thinking almost exactly.  Most of what was wrong with Season 2 was a few uninteresting characters (which may not have been a problem given more time) and a plot that had an uneven pace due to the necessity of having to rush to the finish line.  Still, it's always pretty much spot on when it has to do with the most important characters:  Hiro and Peter.  And Sylar as well, though the twins annoyed me.

[Evildrider]

It's funny that stupid strike last year turned me off a bit to TV.  I'm still planning on watching Heroes, but I'm not as excited as I used to be about it. 

[Ookii]

Has anyone seen the commercials for the new season?  There are some interesting tidbits such as what Mohinder says in one of them.

[Pennilenko]

Edit: Before anyone says otherwise, I can name off the top of my head the last decades worth of live-action TV shows in Japan that got a second season. It is Not a long list.

You're like the rainman of useless knowledge.

Uselessness of his knowledge is subjective.

[Slyfeind]

Season 2 might have been a bit weaker, but still, the worst episode of Heroes is better than a lot of crap out there.

[schild]

Season 2 might have been a bit weaker, but still, the worst episode of Heroes is better than a lot of crap out there.

Not really, unless all you watch is shit and then it's not the fault of TV, but your fault.

[caladein]

Japan's TV shows air in 13-26 episodes. Generally they tell one story and there's never a season 2. Sometimes there's a special and a movie (i.e. GTO), but for the most part, they tell their story and move on. If American shows were clearly defined to run for x amount of time and then be over, I'm pretty sure the problems with storytelling would be solved. Unfortunately we have no idea (nor do the creators or execs that signed the show) how long a show will run or if it'll even make it through the first season. Needless to say, the system is fucking flawed.

Edit: Before anyone says otherwise, I can name off the top of my head the last decades worth of live-action TV shows in Japan that got a second season. It is Not a long list.

I'm sure a good number of series are just meant to go on for "as long as they'll keep us on the air" and I don't really blame them for how many decent shows get canceled every season.

There are some exceptions though.  Firefly was supposed to be seven seasons and I think Alias was supposed to go six.  That said... both shows got canceled a good distance away from those number so we'll never know if they would have tried to stretch the shows out.

[CmdrSlack]

I'm so glad that I checked the NBC website today. I would have totally forgotten to DVR the season premiere.

I haven't seen any ads for the show yet, so I'm a bit less torqued up than I was last year, but I'm still damn excited.

[MrHat]

I'm so glad that I checked the NBC website today. I would have totally forgotten to DVR the season premiere.

I haven't seen any ads for the show yet, so I'm a bit less torqued up than I was last year, but I'm still damn excited.

I just hope they don't screw the internet folks like a lot of other stations are doing and release the online version like a week later.

[Venkman]

This pre-show hour-long premiere is really pissing me off. It's like one of those poorly hyped over-marketed waning shows "the thing you'll be talking about tomorrow at work" contrivances. This is a COMIC BOOK SHOW. Stop going for the frat-boy stupid mass market. You lost them at superpowers.

[naum]

Didn't see any of season 2… …will hold off until it in DVD form (much more pleasant to watch, and if it sucks will spare myself the view time for other affairs…)

[Slyfeind]

Season 2 might have been a bit weaker, but still, the worst episode of Heroes is better than a lot of crap out there.

Not really, unless all you watch is shit and then it's not the fault of TV, but your fault.

"A lot of the crap out there" mainly includes the stuff I don't watch, like Digimon, FOX News, and the Oxygen channel.

[Merusk]

...

Well they sure didn't wait long to get this season going.

[Lakov_Sanite]

what....


the...



fuck....

I'm not sure if this season is the most awesome ever or just horrible...can it be both?

[Venkman]

I loved both episodes.

Somebody will probably critique them for over compensating for the sloth of last season (too much time establishing characters, busted writer-strike pacing problem). But screw 'em, this was good stuff.


though if you're reading this, you're looking for spoilers.

[Hawkbit]

I can name off at least five direct rip-offs of sci-fi/comic literature and media.  Not paying homage, rip-offs. 

It's like the past two hours were written by 15 year olds that were locked in closets all their lives.  Or else... the writers have no fucking shame. 


I'm interested to see how this season plays out... but those writers need kicked in the teeth.  The people that are actually watching this show have already seen these stories played out before. 

[Bunk]

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! FUCK TAGS



That Sylar line was mightily predictable, but fun none the less. The Nicki thing has me curious and I while I'm sad that killed off Midas, I was glad to see Elle survived.

One thing that will bug me through the whole thing though, regarding season 2 - Are they going to give any resolution to what happened to Irish Lass? I know the seaon was cut short from the strike, but having her just kind of go poof in a future that didn't happen kind of pisses me off.

[Lakov_Sanite]

[UnSub]

Japan's TV shows air in 13-26 episodes. Generally they tell one story and there's never a season 2. Sometimes there's a special and a movie (i.e. GTO), but for the most part, they tell their story and move on. If American shows were clearly defined to run for x amount of time and then be over, I'm pretty sure the problems with storytelling would be solved. Unfortunately we have no idea (nor do the creators or execs that signed the show) how long a show will run or if it'll even make it through the first season. Needless to say, the system is fucking flawed.

Edit: Before anyone says otherwise, I can name off the top of my head the last decades worth of live-action TV shows in Japan that got a second season. It is Not a long list.

I'm sure a good number of series are just meant to go on for "as long as they'll keep us on the air" and I don't really blame them for how many decent shows get canceled every season.

There are some exceptions though.  Firefly was supposed to be seven seasons and I think Alias was supposed to go six.  That said... both shows got canceled a good distance away from those number so we'll never know if they would have tried to stretch the shows out.

On the general topic: I never got "Heroes". On paper I should love the show, but it moved so slowly and was full of characters I couldn't stand and / or acted like idiots most of the time (for the episodes I saw - first few of series 1).

As to the above: US shows want to spin out past 100 episodes so they can get into syndication, while don't want to run longer than seven seasons with the same characters or else the actors in those roles get a huge pay bump. This works in conjunction with a "cancel it as soon as it looks like it isn't getting an audience" to make US television shows as schizo as they sometimes are.

Let's face it: "Lost" would have been awesome in two seasons, not mediocre-to-trash spun-out-to-seven seasons. "The Prisoner" did all its work in 15 episodes or so and was all the better for it. "X-Files" would have been better in 5 seasons. And so on.

[Samprimary]

RECAP

The first season was okay, like a wobbly legged baby gazelle which eventually gets its bearing and bounds clumsily off towards greatness!

Then season two was our charming little baby gazelle running headlong into a baobob trunk and there's this sickening crunch sound and we're not sure he's ever going to be quite right again.

Season three is the make it or break it part. Is it going to suck, or rule? Is babby gazelle okay???

Verdict: uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh TUNE IN TO FIND OUT WE'LL KNOW PRETTY QUICK

[CmdrSlack]

My take on the episode(s)....largely spoilerriffic.

The non-spoiley parts:  Awesome. Still not totally sure if things are working out the way I figured they'd work, but damn, that was some grippy TV.


This is either going to be a killer season, or utter shit.

[Hoax]

That was crap, watchable because the hotties have multiplied (Maya, Elle, Claire) but I really lost track of season2 so I hope they give me a reason to give a fuck in a hurry or I'm going to stop tuning in.