Emma
11-06-2006, 06:02 PM
<img src="http://www.fanbolt.com/forums/images/avatars/heroes/101806heroes05.jpg" width="85" height="85" vspace="5" hspace="5" align="left" border="0" alt="Heroes, NBC"> Cool alert. If you're not watching Heroes, you're missing the best-crafted mystery serial this side of Lost. Some might say it's even better.
"It's been really a lot of fun," says Tim Kring, the show's creator.
Actually, it's been a lot of work — trying to save the world is exhausting, tricky business — but Kring & Co., including three executive producers, a hefty writing staff and a large ensemble cast, have succeeded in doing what so many others have tried: capture the cliffhanger and mystery qualities of a Lost or a 24 without sacrificing character or otherwise alienating a fickle audience.
The results: Heroes is the No. 1 new show among the 18- to 49-year-old audience and is averaging 14 million total viewers per week.
"We're committed to trying not to fall into this idea that the audience feels that the show didn't know where it was going," Kring said. "That is a dangerous relationship to start with an audience."
So far, so good. Audiences have been hooked since Episode 1, when Heroes introduced characters with supernatural capabilities — one can fly; another can hear thoughts; there's a cheerleader who appears to be indestructible; and there's a Japanese businessman who can teleport to the future and back. There are others, too (see the story above).
That's all well and comic-book good, but Kring, who's not a comic aficionado, has stocked these characters with appropriate ordinariness ("why is this happening to me?") and intriguing traits (not all these "heroes" work for good — but which ones?). He then tacked on an overarching back story that's becoming clearer as the series progresses.
"We decided early on to try to prove to the audience that we knew where we were going," Kring said. "It's a very hard thing to do, because the audience knows only what you tell them. But there are certain key elements that are going to start showing themselves, a few of which have already been seen, like the character Hiro coming back from the future."
Ah, Hiro. Whoever said we don't need another Hiro never met Masi Oka, the show's most delightful character.
<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/4312241.html" target="_blank">Click here for more!</a>
"It's been really a lot of fun," says Tim Kring, the show's creator.
Actually, it's been a lot of work — trying to save the world is exhausting, tricky business — but Kring & Co., including three executive producers, a hefty writing staff and a large ensemble cast, have succeeded in doing what so many others have tried: capture the cliffhanger and mystery qualities of a Lost or a 24 without sacrificing character or otherwise alienating a fickle audience.
The results: Heroes is the No. 1 new show among the 18- to 49-year-old audience and is averaging 14 million total viewers per week.
"We're committed to trying not to fall into this idea that the audience feels that the show didn't know where it was going," Kring said. "That is a dangerous relationship to start with an audience."
So far, so good. Audiences have been hooked since Episode 1, when Heroes introduced characters with supernatural capabilities — one can fly; another can hear thoughts; there's a cheerleader who appears to be indestructible; and there's a Japanese businessman who can teleport to the future and back. There are others, too (see the story above).
That's all well and comic-book good, but Kring, who's not a comic aficionado, has stocked these characters with appropriate ordinariness ("why is this happening to me?") and intriguing traits (not all these "heroes" work for good — but which ones?). He then tacked on an overarching back story that's becoming clearer as the series progresses.
"We decided early on to try to prove to the audience that we knew where we were going," Kring said. "It's a very hard thing to do, because the audience knows only what you tell them. But there are certain key elements that are going to start showing themselves, a few of which have already been seen, like the character Hiro coming back from the future."
Ah, Hiro. Whoever said we don't need another Hiro never met Masi Oka, the show's most delightful character.
<a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/4312241.html" target="_blank">Click here for more!</a>