Watching Heroes

Remember a few months back when Greg Beeman posted that blog with photos of all the characters drinking “Slusho” brand drinks? He said, “The next group of photos falls into the ‘don’t ask/don’t tell’ category…Their cultural significance will become clear in the coming months, so…pay attention.” Then later, we saw Elle (Kristen Bell) slurping on a “Slusho” in her car as she spied on Claire and her family. Silly me, I thought I was grasping the significance of Slusho by catching the name on Elle’s cup. There’s a little more to it than that. (more…)

Hey Heroes fans. I apologize for my absence the last few days. The holiday threw me off a bit. I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving. I’ve got a recap coming later tonight. Here’s some news in the meantime.

The Heroes website Activating Evolution has posted some interesting new videos about the Shanti virus. If you haven’t looked at this site, it is worth checking out. It goes into great detail about things related to Dr. Suresh’s research and theories.

Congratulations to Heroes’ Evolutions for winning Best TV Show Site in the TV Guide Online Video Awards.

Heroes’ ratings are up a bit (now that the season is coming to a close - at least for a little while). Monday’s episode earned a 6.7 rating/10 share. That’s up slightly over the 6.6 from the previous week. It put the show in third place behind the CBS comedies and ABC’s Samantha Who?. They won the key demographic of adults 18 to 49, as usual.

Ever wondered what it’s like to visit the set of Heroes? Well the Google Reader team got to do just that. Lucky Bastards! Check out their blog to read all about it.

Check out the latest Beaming Beeman for insight into “Truth and Consequences” as well as great photos of the cast. I love Greg’s photos!

The latest chapter of the Graphic Novel, Revolutionary War, is up now. It tells the story of a man who could not die. Guess whoooo!

And finally, here is a sneak peak of the upcoming final episode, “Powerless.”
 

Heroes ratings for Monday were down again. They lost another 500,000 viewers from last week bringing in only about 9.8 million and earning a 4.9/11. I suspect this will creep up with the buzz about this week’s show and the promise of the “Four Months Later” episode. It’s the one we’ve all been waiting for, after all. I don’t have to tell you who won the night, do I? I’ll give you a hint - in involves dancing.  

My favorite Hero, Greg Grunberg, did an interview with Buddy TV this week. Greg talked about how the writers strike is affecting production, Parkman’s newly expanded powers, and his relationship with his TV dad, Alan Blumenfeld (Did you know Alan played Greg’s dad on Felicity, too?).

James Kyson Lee, who plays Ando, will be making an appearance at Pacific Media Expo (PMX) this Sunday, Nov. 11. Lee will greet fans with a “rare, intimate two-hour panel and autograph session.” For more information, you can visit PMX’s website: http://www.pacificmediaexpo.com./ (Thanks to Heroes-TV!)

If you want to be spoiled about who may be dying sometime in the next few episodes, Use Your Ability has a very revealing photo posted. (Don’t click if you don’t want to know!)

Greg Beeman reveals some interesting things about Isaac’s paintings and how they create them in his blog this week and has fantastic photos of cast and crew, as always.

The latest chapter of the graphic novel is called “Quarantine.” It tells the story of Howard LeMay of Homeland Security, who I suspect may be the DHS officer who interviewed Peter in Monday’s episode. I can’t find anything to verify that this was Mark Harelik’s character’s name in that eppy though.

I haven’t seen a sneak peek of next week’s episode yet but I suspect it may surface later today. I’ll share it with you as soon as it’s available.

Heroes ratings for Monday night fell to the lowest in the series’ history, earning just a 4.9/11 with about 10.4 million viewers. That’s down about 250,000 viewers from last week. I don’t have to tell you who won the night…it’s the same old mind-boggling story every week, isn’t it? Curse you Dancing with the Stars!  

Kristin at E! Online has some spoilers for us about Elle, Maya, Nathan and Kensei. She also gives us a few hints about who is getting killed and who is doing the killing. I won’t post them here, but if you want to know, check out ‘Watch With Kristin’!

Greg Beeman didn’t post much in his blog this week. He says it’s too crazy at Heroes central. He did, however, post some great photos, as he always does, and he even has some Storyboards posted.

Chapter 57 of the graphic novel is entitled “Team Building” and features H.R.G. and his Russian mentor, Ivan. In it, we see the story of the “liquid man” that Ivan spoke about in Episode 6.

Masi Oka will be serving as ambassador for the One Laptop Per Child non-profit organization. You can read more about their mission at http://www.laptop.org/.

Hayden Panettiere has been in Japan trying to save the Dolphins. Apparently she got into a scary confrontation with some fishermen. Read more about it here.

The premiere issue of Heroes Magazine will be available on November 20. It is billed as “the ultimate guide to exploring one of the biggest shows of 2007!” You can pre-order your copy at NBC/Universal now for $9.99.

And finally, here’s a sneak peek at next week’s episode, “Out of Time” - Looks good!

Ratings for Monday’s episode were just so-so. Heroes had about 10.7 million viewers for a 4.9/11 ratings share. Dancing with the Stars continues to dominate and I’m sure Marie Osmond’s fainting spell will have viewers glued to their sets next week to see if she keels over again.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out Greg Beeman’s blog, make sure you mosey over there and take a gander. He tells how Kristen Bell came to be on the show and explains how some special effects were created. He also has some fantastic candid photos of the cast posted.

Chapter 56 of the graphic novel is up. This one is called “Molly’s Dream” and features, of course, the three M’s - Molly, Matt and Mohinder. It’s takes a look at what’s going on in Molly’s mind while she is in the coma and let’s just say if you don’t like cockroaches you should stay away.

If you’re a fan of Legos, you must check out this guy. He won multiple awards for creating this awesome display of the final scene from Season 1 in Legos. He did an awesome job with the mini figures.

Remember those Zeroes parodies from last season? Turns out NBC had a hand in these and they have created some more. Check them out at MySpace TV.

I don’t want to post these theories here, but if you’re into spoilers, Use Your Ability has some major ones posted. I’ll tell you they are very detailed, but unverified, but it sounds like a viable theory. Read if you dare!

And as I always try to do, I bring you a sneak peek at the next episode, “The Line.”

*Heroes is nominated for 3 TV Guide 2007 Online Video Awards. The Online Video Awards honor the best professional online content. Heroes is recognized in 3 categories: Web Extras (for Heroes Character Profiles), TV Drama Webisodes (for the Yamagto Fellowship’s “Takezo Kensei: Sword Saint”), and TV Show Site (for Heroes Evolutions). Winners will be chosen by fans. You can vote at TV Guide’s Online Video Awards site. Awards will be handed out on December 1.

*TV Guide has an interview with Zachary Quinto (Sylar) in the issue that is on newstands now. He talks Sylar, Spock and about how his life has changed in the last year. You can also catch the interview at TVGuide.com.

*George Comics pays homage (sort of) to Heroes in today’s comic strip. Check it out!

*Greg Beeman’s weekly blog is posted. He discusses “The Kindness of Strangers” and how they managed to pull off the Hollywood sign scene. He has great pictures up as usual, too.

*Chapter 55 of the graphic novel is up at NBC.com. It features Takezo Kensei and a little cat (or I think that’s what it is) named Hiro in an adventure called “The Trial of the Black Bear.”

*Speaking of graphic novels…do you want to know what happened to Claire’s Nissan Rogue? Check out this link for an exclusive downloadable edition of the graphic novel to find out. (Thanks to Heroes-TV.com for the heads up on this one.)

*Buddy TV has interviewed Kristen Bell (Elle) and Heroes creator Tim Kring. Some of the topics they discussed include Kristen’s character, the structure of season 2 and the possibility of seeing more of the Group of 12, and Bell’s offer to be on LOST.

*Heroes ratings improved a little over last week, bringing in a 6.8/10. Dancing with the Stars continues its domination of Monday night and the CBS comedies are still going strong. Heroes is still capturing the coveted 18-49 demo though.

*Chapter 54 of the graphic novel is up at NBC.com. This time it features Peter Petrelli and is called “Petrified Lightning.” This edition picks up where we left off with Peter and Caitlyn in “Kindred.”

*Greg Beeman has another picture-filled blog up. Oh and he talks about “Kindred” in there as well. He also talks about Milo and his directing aspirations and gives him a plug for “It’s a Mall World,” which he directed for American Eagle Outfitters.

*New cast member Shalim Ortiz (Alejandro) is interviewed in Entertainment Weekly. In it, he talks about being a “Wonder Twin,” what it’s like to be on Heroes, and introduces us to the actor.

*FADPOV, which is a Sci-Fi site written by women, has a great interview with Dana Davis, who will be playing Monica in the New Orleans storyline. Dana discusses her character, working with Nichelle Nichols and the rest of the cast and how she was a Heroes fan before being cast.

*Entertainment Weekly also spoke with the youngest Hero, Adair Tishler who plays Molly. She talks about working so closely with Sendhill and Greg, how her brother will break her arm if she quits Heroes (read and find out!) and, of course, about Molly.

*Monday’s ratings are in. Dancing With the Stars continues to dominate the night (which completely baffles me). In the 9pm slot, CBS’ comedies, Two and a Half Men and Rules of Engagement averaged the highest viewers with 13 million (4.4/10) and 10.7 million (3.8/9) respectively. Heroes averaged nearly 10.8 million (5.0/11) total viewers in the hour, and won the coveted 18-49 demographic, as usual. But Heroes has lost almost a quarter of its audience since the season premiere. Will they pick back up once the stories get beefier? It remains to be seen.

*Speaking of ratings, Nielsen has reversed its decision to allow networks to combine the ratings of an original broadcast and a rebroadcast after the outcry caused by the use of the new rule by Heroes in premiere week.

Watching Heroes, NBC Heroes, Ratings, Nielsen Ratings, Dana Davis, Adair Tishler, Shalim Ortiz, Greg Beeman, Graphic Novel

We’re less than 2 hours away from the Season 2 premiere. I have a few snippets of things to tell you about, but I’ll make it quick. I don’t want you to be reading this and miss the show. 

*Did anyone catch Masi Oka on the intro for NBC’s Sunday Night Football last night? He did some kind of skit with Terrell Owens (T.O.) of the Dallas Cowboys but I didn’t find out he was going to be on until after the game had started so I missed it. I haven’t been able to find a video of it, so if you know where I can watch, let me know.

*If you haven’t read the description for tonight’s episode, click here to do so.

*My new TV Guide magazine arrived today (the one with Kristen Bell, Hayden Panettiere and Ali Larter on the cover). It has a big article on Heroes, but across the top it had a warning telling me to stop reading if I hadn’t watched the season 2 premiere, so I did. I’ll be reading it after the show tonight so I’ll fill you in on anything you need to know tomorrow.

*Don’t forget that Jack Coleman (H.R.G. aka Noah Bennett, aka Claire’s dad) and creator Tim Kring will be liveblogging at NBC.com right after the show.

*Director Greg Beeman has a new blog up, but it contains some spoilers so you might want to wait until after the show to read it.

I’ll be back in the morning (or maybe later tonight) with a recap and my thoughts on the show. Come back to check it out and discuss the show. Now go get ready for the premiere!

Watching Heroes, NBC Heroes, Masi Oka, Terrell Owens, Sunday Night Football, Dallas Cowboys, Jack Coleman, Tim Kring, Greg Beeman, Kristen Bell, Hayden Panettiere, Ali Larter, TV Guide Magazine

Greg Beeman is one of the talented directors of the Heroes Series and in his latest post on his personal blog, Beaming Beeman, he discusses Hayden Panettierre’s on set graduation from High School, The wrap party and episode 19 (.07%). He also has several exclusive, behind the scenes pictures. A must read for any Heroes fan.

Greg gives us, the fans, a wealth of information concerning the production and behind the scenes aspects of Heroes. In his latest installment on his blog he interviews Production Designer Ruth Ammon, giving us a sneak peek behind the curtains during the shows hiatus. From the intro:

Today I’m going to talk about, and with, our production designer Ruth Ammon.

The look and design of the show, its sets and locations, are as big a star as the cast… okay, who am I kidding… The sets aren’t nearly as sexy and they can’t go on TRL. But they’re still good.

Ruth is the person who deigns and/or finds every set we shoot on and runs one of the biggest departments on the show

It’s a really great interview an a must read for the die-hards. I know you’re out there, I can here you sniffing the monitor for updates. read the rest of Greg’s interview with Ruth here.

Days Remaining until next Episode: 17

Welcome back fellow Watchers, hopefully you had a wonderful New Years celebration the settle in to watch the Heroes marathon! To get us back in the groove of the post holiday I thought a little bit of insight into the production aspect of Heroes would be right on target. From the site:

It’s actually amazing that we’ve gotten that many episodes on the air in a row. I’ve worked on a lot of TV and - on any show that premieres in late September or early October - I’ve never seen one that got more that 9 on the air. Most 1 hour shows on TV shoot for eight shooting days… more or less 10 working days. A new episode airs every 7 days. The math of all this catches up to you, until there’s less and less time per episode to edit, do music and sound effects and visual effects. Add to that the fact that HEROES usually shoots for 10 or 12 days and it gets even worse.

Beeman’s blog is a must read for Heroes fans. He is awesome with his openess and willingness to share with the fans. He also post great candids and behind the scenes pics as well.

Also the official countdown is in effect: Days Remaining until next Episode: 19

Heroes director Greg Beeman has another post up over at his personal blog Beaming Beeman. He really touches on aspects of Homecoming as well as drops this interesting tidbit:

Also, Jack Coleman continues to be awesome. In this one, we show (I believe) that he is, in fact, a worried father. Whatever his overall assignment is, he genuinely loves Claire. I wonder if his love for her will eventually bring him into conflict with whoever he works for? I also wonder if whoever he works for knows that Claire has powers? I know I work on the show, but I legitimately don’t know the answers to things like that and I speculate along with you.

Pretty cool, Huh. it’s nice to see an insider with a little inner fanboy working.

The post also has some cool pics from the set. Bloody Hayden (Claire), DL and Micah. Good stuff.

To check it out head on over to Beaming Beeman.

In the comment section of my Better Halves (Episode 6 recap) post, commenter BB speaks out about the lack of things happening in this episode. After viewing Director Greg Beeman’s blog I learned that there was a reason for this.

Tonight’s episode is the second episode that I directed. It was, by design, a smaller episode… It follows fewer characters and goes to fewer locations than the first 5. HEROES, as you hopefully can tell, is a big and relatively expensive TV show. To balance out the big episodes, Tim Kring and the writers have planned that there will be three or four smaller, less expensive ones which, effectively, offset the costs of the big ones.

In the rest of the post, Beeman discusses what went into directing episode 6 and has an Interview with Ali Larter. A must read for any Heroes fan.