Celebratory beer drinking has to be the reason why the writing for Heroes Season 2 took such a huge dive into the deep end.
I'm a Heroes fan. Been one since San Diego Comic Con 2006 when I went to the panel to originally oogle Ali Larter(Varsity Blues) and Hayden Panettiere(Malcolm in the Middle). Came out as a fan of Greg Grunberg for his funny personality and respected Milo Ventimiglia for giving his "Grunberg is My Hero" shirt to a fan right off his back.
For those who haven't seen Heroes yet....what is wrong with you? Season One was one of the best shows ever! First ever obviously multi-racial cast since the original Star Trek, good acting, nice over arcing main theme and a nasty ass Villain named Sylar all culminating in an explosive finally in New York city. "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World". Huge following, huge hit, grass roots movement. Talk about Heroes, talk about Heroes talk about Heroes. Obviously I bought Heroes Season One on Bluray(thanks for making me wait Universal/Kenny G.).
Well all this success went to the writers heads and they obviously started imbibing the celebratory beer prior, during, and post writing the episodes because most of it did not have the cohesiveness or the charm of season one. In fact season two stories remind me of this commerical:
Now imagine the road means "awesome" and replace driving with writing and you have season two. Didn't go to SDCC 2007 so didn't attend the Heroes panel then but the buzz phrase for that one was "Don't talk about it". Gee prophetic anyone? Stories weren't terribly engaging, pacing is off, no over arcing plot, "SuperMan Whiny" is back. Tim Kring apologized for the season and HRG is still awesome HRG. At least they got that right. Despite all my complaints I still bought Heroes Season two on Bluray as well. Jack Coleman(HRG) ruled Season One in "Company Man" and they really developed his character in Season two when he went to visit his mentor in Europe. I'll raise a glass to the writers for that one.
Which brings us to Heroes Season three.
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TALK ABOUT IT.
Yup went to the SDCC 2008 panel, ever hopeful for something good and boy did I feel rewarded. The magic I felt when watching the original SDCC 2006 pilot, which was never to be aired again but because of popular demand is now included in the DVD and Bluray S1 boxsets, is back. The shortened writers strike gave the producers the time they needed to get the writers into Alcoholics Anonymous long enough that they stopped drinking and started writing again. Pilot for S3 showed their results.
Prepare to get your socks rocked on September 22 for the 3hr premier of Heroes Season 3. Just be prepared for Season 4 to suck since the writers are obviously going to relapse into drinking after this season is over.
This blog has been brought to you by the writers drink of choice Slusho.
4 comments:
I can't believe you are supporting mediocrity with your money. Why the hell would you buy Heroes Season 2 and on bluray? Now that crap will last forever.
And let me say that while Season 1 was not as groan-inducing as Season 2, it still had cheesy dialogue and weak character development.
The only thing that keeps Heroes going is a whole legion of X-Men fans.
Heroes > Reality TV.
I'm not buying a boxset of Big Brother, American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance.
It's not like you were forced to buy a bluray disc and therefore, picked the lesser of two evils. You could have just chosen not to buy Heroes Season 2.
I am fed up with the assumption that all reality TV is crap. That kind of snobbery comes from the same well as the belief that all cartoons are for children or that all science fiction has no connection to the real world.
The athleticism and artistry that is demonstrated on a weekly basis on "So You Think You Can Dance" is good TV. Better, in fact, than the second season of "Heroes".
Of course I was not forced to buy it. It was MY CHOICE and I'm using MY MONEY to buy what I LIKE. I enjoyed Season one alot and during Season two the director Tim Kring acknowledged that they messed it up and would fix it for Season 3. I appreciate that type of up front honesty and I'm willing to show the studios that there is still a market for this show by buying their product. Heroes is an expensive production and they won't continue producing it if the return on investment isn't there. Just look at Battlestar Galactica. Great cast, good writing, awesome production elements but they weren't getting the return investment and look what happened. It's cancelled.
I also enjoy watching the show in HD, which I'm surprised that you're making my purchase of a high def version of the show an issue. You know what an image difference there is between a show shown in SD versus HD. It's why you wouldn't let Joe compromise when you bought your tv.
What I'm fed up with is generalizations when making arguments. I see it everyday on the toy forums I moderate and I see it in this statement. "The only thing that keeps Heroes going is a whole legion of X-Men fans." WTH? You have more recent X-men comics then I do! Also if you frequented the Official and Unofficial Heroes fansites you would know alot of the fans definitely aren't X-men fans but, I hate to say it, but fans of Milo Ventimiglia's hair, and because they think that Adrian Pasdar and Sendhil Ramamurthy are hot. Your argument of Heroes being solely supported by X-men legions was true at the beginning of S1 but not towards the end of S1 and definitely not S2.
I did NOT say reality TV was crap. I rated Heroes higher then reality tv. Not my fault you consider Heroes Season 2 crap and didn't like Season 1 that much. That's your opinion and you're entitled to it. What you're doing is overlaying your feelings on my statement and coming to a conclusion I did not say.
I won't argue that the athleticism isn't better in SYTYCD because it is. Artistry and, I'll throw in, production value? No way. SYTYCD is basically a production at a single location, there isn't an overarching storyline and the show would be episodic if it weren't for the fact that it's an elimination competition. They bring in famous choreographers to work with the dancers to create stunning dance pieces in the latter half of the season. Definitely artistic but the first half of the season? The first half of the season usually showcases the horrible auditions and cataclysmic failures of promising dancers. Artistic I think not. It's StarSearch but with better production value, a panel of charismatic judges and audience participation from their comfy couch.
On to Heroes' artistry and production values. Acting is art. Best actor on Heroes IMO is Jack Coleman followed by Ali Larter. Watch her character you can differentiate which psyche/character she's portraying at the moment. When Hayden Panettiere is on she's on but she also flubs some of her lines. Thankfully that's not too often. Christine Rose? Awesome as the mom. James and Masi steal the show as they dynamic duo. Then their performances are balanced by actors like whiny Milo, black tears Dania, diva Tawny and "currently one facet character" Zach Quinto. They either can't act, can only act a certain way or their character is so one dimensional that they're boring because they don't push that dimension to the extreme. Sylar actually does become more interesting in Season 3 episode one. Watch for it.
Next up is set location. Multiple sets, locations, lighting, audio setup. Most location shots have to be done in a day. So area setup, makeup, actor line delivery, crew presence etc etc etc. Location. Framing of shots. Mood lighting. Being able to completely and efficiently accomplish this at multiple locatiions under sometimes adverse conditions is art. SYTYCD with it's meticulously controlled stage and setting is still art but IMO not as impressive as what set engineers for Heroes have to do.
I can appreciate SYTYCD for what it is and I rank it just under America's Best Dance Crew, which I like more but I still won't buy it. I don't follow weekly reality shows but I do follow Heroes. Small wonder I'll rank Heroes higher and buy the show and not even consider buying a reality tv show.
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