Televised drama has always given us choices — not always good ones, but they are still there. For a while medical shows were the rage (ER), and then we had the rash of cop dramas (NYPD Blue), and then the crime procedurals (CSI). Then Lost came around in 2004 and reintroduced the serialized, season long arc style to a wider audience, not to mention the fact that it has its base in science fiction.
Now, serialized tales have been around for a lot longer than Lost, but it was that show that brought them back to the large audience. Genre fans have long been treated to them with the likes of Buffy, Babylon 5, DS9, and Angel, among others. But, with the explosive popularity of Lost, there was renewed interest in the sci-fi serial and the networks went looking for the next big thing. 2005 had a few failed attempts with Surface, Invasion, and Threshold. Then 2006 rolled around and NBC introduced us to Heroes.
Heroes has roots in science fiction and comic books, two decidedly geeky areas. It's an epic story of people around the world exhibiting superhero-like abilities. The story aimed to bring all of these people together to "save the cheerleader, save the world" — not to mention stopping a massive explosion from devastating New York.
I remember when I first saw the ads for the show. I thought it looked pretty good, although I did have some initial resevations. The show reminded me, almost suspiciously so, of USA Network's The 4400. That show concerns 4400 people who have been abducted over the years, who are all returned at the same time. Each of those people exhibited a special ability, and they started choosing the side of good or bad, with the government in the middle. I was worried this was just going to be a copy of that show. Then there are always going to be the comparisons to comic books like The X-Men, which clearly played some sort of inspirational role in the genesis of Heroes.
Heroes is a fantastic new show which shows us how to weave multiple storylines and a large cast into a show that is compelling, fresh, and fun to watch. After saying all of that, I must admit that I wasn't sure I was going to like it. I remember watching the first episode and being a little put off by all of the character-hopping that was going on, and then the second episode rolled around and we had more characters added to the mix. I had the distinct feeling that it was going to be something of a train wreck. Fortunately for me, I decided to ride it out and continue watching. The more I watched, the more I was rewarded with the weave of characters becoming tighter, individual characters coming into sharper focus — an overall intriguing televised version of a comic book.
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