Category Archives: Heroes

My (And Tim Kring’s) Apologies

My Apology

Over the past four weeks or so, the output on Cultural Learnings has been fairly limited. This has been especially damaging when, over the past week, the WGA strike has essentially provided a whole host of important commentary that any good blogger should be commenting on. However, coincidentally, I was dealing with a strike of my own, assisting my Students’ Union with an information blog during a three and a half week long faculty strike.

As a result, I’m sorry I missed many great episodes of television, many important news stories, and in general just wasn’t around. During that time, I was fortunate enough to finish in 2nd place in Hey! Nielsen’s Best in TV Blog Contest, and I felt incredibly guilty that I wasn’t living up to this fantastic honour bestowed upon me by you, the reader. I plan on trying to live up to that in the near future, so stick with Cultural Learnings in the interim.

Tim Kring’s Apology

However, my apology is not the only one I want to discuss today. Tim Kring, creator of NBC’s slowly fading Heroes, has officially gone on the record that the second season of Heroes has been a wildly miscalculated and redundant exercise (my words, not his). For someone who has defended the show’s various problems (Which aren’t all new, let’s be honest), it is strange to see Kring backing down – the fan response has just been that overwhelmingly negative. And I tend to agree with Alan Sepinwall: just as Kring says this, the show has its best episode of the season. Coincidence? I think not.

Now, I think we shouldn’t give Kring a free ride based on this apology: he’s never been a good writer, and much of last season’s iconic moments came from the mind of Bryan Fuller, not the ex-executive producer of Crossing Jordan. But it’s good to see that he’s at least admitting that his series has fallen off the rails creatively, which shows me that he’s willing to listen to fans. However, adversely, he also considers his vision to be expendable.

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Heroes: “Fight or Flight” or “The Kristen Bell Episode”

“Fight or Flight”

October 22nd, 2007

Five episodes into its first season, Future Hiro showed up on a subway train informing Peter to “Save the Cheerleader, Save the World.” Five episodes into its second season, it might take more than Kristen Bell’s much-anticipated arrival to save a series struggling to get a grip on its own storylines. Will she bring with her the overarching storyline the season so desperately needs, or just a fanboy surge without any last impact?

Obviously, considering that her arc will last a fairly long period of time, it’s hard to judge what impact Bell will have. Her scenes were both sparse and uneventful, her impact limited thanks to either low budgets or the show’s deluge of storylines being juggled. I think her character at least introduces something new to the equation, which is at least the kind of step forward that the show needed at this stage of the game. While it doesn’t quite happen in this episode, even though Peter’s storyline moves forward slowly, there are more redemptive elements present than in weeks before.

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Heroes – “Kindred”

“Kindred”

October 8th, 2007

Heroes gets off the ground with two story threads that were left hanging for its opening two episodes: Niki and Micah Sanders, the fate of their patriarch up in the air, and Sylar, dragged into the sewers after last year’s finale. Before the first scenes come to a close we get our answers: D.L. is dead, and Sylar lives. Neither of these are surprising, but the latter in particular is quite frustrating.

My view on Sylar’s resurrection can be found here, remaining unchanged since that post was written, but this episode could have made up for that. It could have used his return to chart a new path for his character, and a new path for the series. Instead, we get a complete ripoff of every superhero origin story inhistory (And Three Men and a Baby) which Sylar makes a single appearance in the opening half hour. And that? Results in yet another extremely frustrating episode of Heroes.

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Heroes – “Lizards”

“Lizards”

October 1st, 2007

At the opening of this week’s episode, we gained a structure to this year’s season: A Series of Eight, Isaac Mendez’s unfulfilled prophecy paintings. The first in that series showed Hiro’s father bloodied and dead on the pavement below, and is in Mr. Bennet’s possession. The other seven? He hasn’t seen them, but intends to find them. It looks like we’ve got a Collect-a-thon ahead of us.

Except that, you know, we learn almost nothing about Isaac’s Series of Eight in this episode. The title itself refers to Claire’s biology class, and her inability to keep her mouth shut about regeneration while boy toy West watches on, chatting up Suresh Sr.’s book. I really hate to see Claire get the episode title when her storyline isn’t exactly the most compelling thing the show has going for it: a stolen car? Really? Uncool.

Peter, obviously the most intriguing storyline, spends time tied to a chair and being spongebathed by a young Irish lass. And then he saves her honour with his newfound powers: super strength, his light flash projectiles, and becoming an expert at untying fairly complex knots. Oh, and he doesn’t have a scratch on him, so perhaps the blood may not be his own. Then, whose blood is it? This is an interesting question, but when the show barely even spends any time with him it doesn’t resonate. And especially when he basically becomes a thief for hire.

And there’s the big problem with Heroes right now: each individual episode is only able to string together a series of small-scale storylines, and as a result it never feels like anything really happens in each episode. Whether it is Mohinder’s time with the Haitian, Hiro’s attempts to woo himself a princess, or Parkman’s investigation in New York, or the gruesome attack on Angela Petrelli, nothing seemed to be given any time to matter.

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Heroes – “…Four Months Later”

“…Four Months Later”

September 24th, 2007

Slate recently posted an article about overpopulation against television casts, referring to it as a “plague.” As if to prove their point, Heroes started its second season struggling to come to terms with its expanding cast, and ignoring several of its key characters in the process. A meandering and inconclusive hour, “…Four Months Later” felt like we were being shown what a better writer could have done through subtle hints, as opposed to anything of true consequence.

The episode’s main focus was establishing that, forced to live normal lives due to the threat of The Company, our heroes are miserable. Noah moved from Primatech to Copy Kingdom, Claire went from athletic cheerleader to quiet Badminton player, and Nathan went from politician to alcoholic. It is only Parkman who gets out lucky, able to use his ability to read minds discreetly, earning a job as an NYPD Detective. Everyone else is suffering, big time. And do you know what? That doesn’t make for very exciting television.

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Cultural Learnings’ Fall 2007 Lineup: Mondays

[Although I’ll be covering some of this week’s early premieres, I thought I’d take a break this week and let readers know what shows I’ll be focusing on this television season. Thanks to writing a thesis and all, admittedly post volume might be lower, but I think it will simply challenge me to say more in less words. And I think we’d all agree that’s in the best interest of everyone. So, each day, I’ll preview the shows I’ll be following in this year’s lineup at Culturall Learnings. This doesn’t exclude other shows, but simply means they won’t be a focus. If you want me to write about anything, always feel free to send me an email at cultural.learnings @ gmail.com!]

Cultural Learnings’ Monday Lineup

Heroes

NBC’s sophomore drama series disappointed with its finale, but I’m more than willing to give this strong ensemble another shot. With Kristen Bell appearing for an extended guest arc, and the Heroes: Origins segments to air at the end of the season, it’s looking like an interesting year for the crew. I’ll start the coverage with a look at the show’s season finale airing September 24th, where at least one of the characters in peril during last year’s finale (Peter, D.L. and Nathan) will perish.

Cultural Learnings’ Heroes Coverage 

Chuck

A comedy of sorts from Josh Schwartz, Chuck follows the exploits of a Nerd Herd employee who finds himself a wealth of government secrets due to an email. The dialogue is sharp, and Schwartz has shown an ability to tap into the humour in more serious situations in the past. The show debuts on September 24th, and you can find my review of the show’s pilot by following this link.

Pilot Preview: “Chuck” – Cultural Learnings 

Weeds

Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky, little boxes…sorry, I got carried away. Weeds’ infectious theme song isn’t the only thing keeping me interested: things heat up tonight with Mary-Kate Olsen’s arrival and further escalation of the U-Turn storyline. I’ll be covering the series until it rides off into the sunset in November. You can find my existing Weeds coverage by following this link.

Cultural Learnings’ Weeds Coverage

How I Met Your Mother

I discovered this show over the summer, and it was well worth my time: it is the best traditional sitcom on television, and is certainly deserving of more attention. The show premieres on September 24th with guest stars Enrique Iglesias and Mandy Moore, as Robin returns from Argentina while Ted has moved on from their breakup. This is one I hope that gains more viewers: if you want some more info, check out our coverage by following this link.

Cultural Learnings’ How I Met Your Mother Coverage

I’ll also be watching Aliens in America, The CW’s freshman sitcom, and may occasionally update on its progress and perhaps pick it up post-Weeds depending on how balancing four shows goes.

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Filed under 2007 Fall Preview, Aliens in America, Chuck, Cultural Learnings, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, NBC, Television, Weeds

Emmys 2007: Cultural Learnings’ Final Emmy Awards Predictions

[Months ago, Cultural Learnings put its neck out there to predict which shows and performers might get those coveted Emmy Nominations. Now, it’s time to put the prediction power to the test again, predicting who will win during tomorrow night’s ceremony. Some of them might be wishful thinking, others might be far too safe. Regardless, it’s our job to stand by them to the bitter end. We’ll see how things turn out during tomorrow night’s LiveBlogging Extravaganza!]

Cultural Learnings’ 2007 Emmy Predictions

Oustanding Drama Series

The Sopranos [WINNER]

Heroes

Boston Legal

Grey’s Anatomy

House

[It only won once, it had a critically acclaimed final season, and the rest of the competition was either too uneven or too green. Simply put, it is the class of this field, and will easily walk home with the Emmy]

Oustanding Comedy Series

The Office

Entourage

Two and a Half Men

30 Rock [WINNER]

Ugly Betty

[This is going with my gut on this one, but I think that 30 Rock combines the liberal-minded sentiment of Emmy voters and strong pedigree in Baldwin/Fey. The Office got their due last year, and Ugly Betty will get theirs eventually. This is 30 Rock’s year.]

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

James Spader (Boston Legal)

James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) [WINNER]

Kiefer Sutherland (24)

Denis Leary (Rescue Me)

Hugh Laurie (House)

[While Laurie is a potential spoiler, I’d say that Gandolfini should easily ride the Sopranos wave to victory within this category.]

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) [WINNER]

Ricky Gervais (Extras)

Steve Carell (The Office)

Tony Shahloub (Monk)

Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men)

[Picking between Carell and Baldwin is very tough, as Carell got robbed last year, but I think that Baldwin was the breakout star of the year in comedy, while Carell’s star just didn’t shine as brightly.]

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Kristen Bell and ‘Heroes’: A Double-Edged Sword

In case you missed the big news from very late last evening…well, okay, very late for me four hours ahead of pacific time…

From Variety:

NBC is adding former “Veronica Mars” star Kristen Bell to the cast of “Heroes.”

Peacock has snagged Bell for a key multiepisode arc of its sophomore sensation. Casting is a major coup for NBC since Bell — who plays the title character in Judd Apatow’s upcoming “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” — was reportedly being sought for several TV gigs, including a part on ABC’s “Lost.”

Now, I admit I’ve been too busy to be blogging about this entire saga, but Bell was apparently approached for a gig on Lost, a more substantial one than a “multiepisode arc,” but turned it down. According to TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello, this was because she didn’t want to move to Hawaii and was perhaps lining up a Broadway run in Legally Blonde.

This announcement is, however, a double-edged sword. On the one hand, I love seeing a talented actress whose series struggled in the ratings be recognized as just that: a true talent capable of continuing on in television. I have to admit, though, that I am concerned about a lot of things in this development.

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Why Sylar Needs to Die for ‘Heroes’ to Succeed

When NBC released promotional images for Heroes’ second season this weekend in preparation for Comic Con, there was something about them that bothered me. Ever since the first season ended, I have been hoping against hope that producers would not be stupid enough to sustain the life of the evil villain who was thwarted at the end of the show’s first season. Alas, it appears that they’ve made the decision: Zachary Quinto and his character, Sylar, will be around for Season Two. And this, my friends, basically kills any of the resolution of the show’s first season. These are the reasons why Sylar must die for this series to continue with any level of quality.

The First Season Won’t Matter

A lot of great things happened in the first season, but paramount amongst them was all of the Heroes coming together in the end to defeat Sylar. If Sylar doesn’t die, then this would have basically all been for nothing: Hiro’s training and resolve wouldn’t have resulted in his murder of Sylar, but rather just a life-threatening injury. This emasculates everything Peter, Claire, Hiro and everyone else went through if he just slinks off into the sewers. They stopped the bomb, sure, but the evil serial killer who threatened their livelihood? He just got hurt a little.

Hindsight is 20/20

In retrospect, Sylar’s death was handled terribly: how could someone with all of those superpowers possibly not be able to stop Hiro from stabbing him with that sword? He went out a pussy, basically, and I think that now producers want to resurrect him to give him a more badass sendoff later. This sets a terrible precedent: just because the producers screwed the pooch shouldn’t mean that they can just manipulate their series in contrived fashions to make up for it.

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2007-2008 Fall Premiere Dates – FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC and The CW

This fall, all of your favourite shows will be returning, and some new blood will join the pack. Which nights should you be scheduling off? Here’s the full calendar list of premiere dates for the Big 5 Networks.

NOTE: New shows are shown in blue.

September 6th

8:00pm

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader [FOX]

September 11th

8:00pm

The Biggest Loser [NBC]

September 12th

9:00pm

Kitchen Nightmares [FOX]

September 14th

9:00pm

Nashville [FOX]

September 17th

8:00pm

Prison Break [FOX]

9:00pm

K-Ville [FOX]

September 18th

8:00pm

Beauty & The Geek [Two Hours] [The CW]

Bones [FOX]

September 19th

8:00pm

Kid Nation [CBS]

America’s Next Top Model [The CW]

Back To You [FOX]

8:30pm

‘Til Death [FOX]

9:00pm

Gossip Girl [The CW]

September 20th

8:00pm

Survivor: China [CBS]

September 23rd

8:00pm

The Simpsons [FOX]

8:30pm

King of the Hill [FOX]

9:00pm

Cold Case [CBS]

Family Guy [FOX]

10:00pm

Shark [CBS]

September 24th

8:00pm

How I Met Your Mother [CBS]

Chuck [NBC]

Dancing with the Stars [ABC]

8:30pm

Big Bang Theory [CBS]

9:00pm

Heroes [NBC]

Two and a Half Men [CBS]

9:30pm

Rules of Engagement [CBS]

The Bachelor [ABC]

10:00pm

CSI: Miami [CBS]

Journeyman [NBC]

September 25th

8:00pm

New Amsterdam [FOX]

NCIS [CBS]

Dancing with the Stars (Results) [ABC]

9:00pm

House [FOX]

The Unit [CBS]

Reaper [The CW]

9:30pm

The Singing Bee [NBC]

Boston Legal [ABC] [Special 90 Minute Premiere]

10:00pm

Cane [CBS]

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit [NBC]

September 26th

8:00pm

Deal or No Deal [NBC]

9:00pm

The Bionic Woman [NBC]

Criminal Minds [CBS]

Private Practice [ABC]

10:00pm

Life [NBC]

CSI: New York [CBS]

Dirty Sexy Money [ABC]

September 27th

8:00pm

My Name is Earl [NBC]

Smallville [The CW]

Ugly Betty [ABC]

9:00pm

The Office [NBC]

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation [CBS]

Grey’s Anatomy [ABC]

10:00pm

ER [NBC]

Without a Trace [CBS]

Big Shots [ABC]

September 28th

8:00pm

Ghost Whisperer [CBS]

Deal of No Deal [NBC]

9:00pm

Moonlight [CBS]

10:00pm

Las Vegas [NBC]

Numb3rs [CBS]

September 30th

7:00pm

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2 hours) [ABC]

9:00pm

Desperate Housewives [ABC]

9:30pm

American Dad [FOX]

10:00pm

Brothers & Sisters [ABC]

October 1st

8:00pm

Everybody Hates Chris [The CW]

8:30pm

Aliens in America [The CW]

9:00pm

Girlfriends [The CW]

9:30pm

The Game [The CW]

October 2nd

8:00pm

Cavemen [ABC]

8:30pm

Carpoolers [ABC]

October 3rd

8:00pm

Pushing Daisies [ABC]

October 4th

8:30pm

30 Rock [NBC]

9:00pm

Supernatural [The CW]

October 5th

9:00pm

Friday Night Lights [NBC]

October 12th

8:00pm

20/20 [ABC]

9:00pm

Women’s Murder Club [ABC]

10:00pm

Men in Trees [ABC]

October 15th

9:30pm

Samantha Who? [ABC]

October 18th

10:00pm

Viva Laughlin (Preview) [CBS]

October 21st

8:00pm

Viva Laughlin [CBS]

October 25th

9:30pm

Scrubs [NBC]

November 27th

10:00pm

Cashmere Mafia [ABC]

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Filed under 'Til Death, 2007 Fall Preview, 30 Rock, Brothers & Sisters, Cavemen, Chuck, CSI: Miami, Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, FOX, Friday Night Lights, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, House, How I Met Your Mother, My Name is Earl, NBC, New Amsterdam, Prison Break, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Reaper, Scrubs, Shark, Supernatural, Television, The Bionic Woman, The CW, The Office, Ugly Betty