Emma
11-06-2006, 05:56 PM
<img src="http://www.fanbolt.com/forums/images/avatars/heroes/101806heroes13.jpg" width="85" height="85" vspace="5" hspace="5" align="left" border="0" alt="Heroes, NBC"> Back in July, the cast and creators of NBC's new ``Heroes'' made a promotional journey to the annual Comic-Con International convention in San Diego -- the ultimate gathering of fanboys and fantasy geeks in the country -- and came away stunned.
A screening of their show's first episode drew thousands, with a fire marshal threatening at one point to shut things down because of overcrowding. He eventually relented and ``Heroes,'' the saga of reluctant superheroes, got a thunderous response.
``At the moment, we had a pretty good idea that we had a shot at an initial audience and it was up to us to deliver,'' recalls Adrian Pasdar, a series co-star who was there. ``That's always the best you can hope for because, in this day and age of television, if you don't hit your stride right out of the gate, it's very tough to play catch-up.''
Three months later, boosted by the Comic-Con appearance and big buzz on the Web, ``Heroes'' is the hottest new show of the fall season. Its viewership has gone up every week, hitting a new high of 14.7 million viewers last Monday, tops among new network series. It is one of the most-watched shows -- new or old -- among younger viewers.
``Heroes'' also has one of the breakout stars of the season in the unlikely form of Masi Oka as geeky Hiro Nakamura. And there is such a surge of interest in its non-TV spinoffs -- an Internet comic book, games, action figures -- that its production company has had to hire someone to oversee all the ancillary rights.
What makes ``Heroes'' unique is its birth in the brain of a writer who cheerfully admits he has no background in the sci-fi/fantasy-superhero genre.
``I did not grow up reading comic books. I'm not a comic book geek,'' says 49-year-old veteran TV producer Tim Kring (``Crossing Jordan,'' ``Providence'').
<a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/columnists/15935515.htm" target="_blank">Click here for more!</a>
A screening of their show's first episode drew thousands, with a fire marshal threatening at one point to shut things down because of overcrowding. He eventually relented and ``Heroes,'' the saga of reluctant superheroes, got a thunderous response.
``At the moment, we had a pretty good idea that we had a shot at an initial audience and it was up to us to deliver,'' recalls Adrian Pasdar, a series co-star who was there. ``That's always the best you can hope for because, in this day and age of television, if you don't hit your stride right out of the gate, it's very tough to play catch-up.''
Three months later, boosted by the Comic-Con appearance and big buzz on the Web, ``Heroes'' is the hottest new show of the fall season. Its viewership has gone up every week, hitting a new high of 14.7 million viewers last Monday, tops among new network series. It is one of the most-watched shows -- new or old -- among younger viewers.
``Heroes'' also has one of the breakout stars of the season in the unlikely form of Masi Oka as geeky Hiro Nakamura. And there is such a surge of interest in its non-TV spinoffs -- an Internet comic book, games, action figures -- that its production company has had to hire someone to oversee all the ancillary rights.
What makes ``Heroes'' unique is its birth in the brain of a writer who cheerfully admits he has no background in the sci-fi/fantasy-superhero genre.
``I did not grow up reading comic books. I'm not a comic book geek,'' says 49-year-old veteran TV producer Tim Kring (``Crossing Jordan,'' ``Providence'').
<a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/columnists/15935515.htm" target="_blank">Click here for more!</a>