Watching Heroes

The latest edition of The Beaming Beeman is up with the usual episode insight and behind-the-scenes photos.

There is an excellent article about James Kyson Lee at MochiMag.com. James talks about how he got started in showbiz.  Excellent read.

io9.com has published a list of 63 Reasons You Should Give Heroes One More Chance. Some of them are pretty clever.

Have you heard that Heroes alums Jayma Mays (Charlie) and Jessalyn Gilsig (Meredith) have both been cast in a new comedy for Fox?  Both ladies will star in Glee, an hourlong comedy that centers on Will, a thirtysomething Spanish teacher at an Ohio high school who has the daunting task of taking over the school’s glee club, which has become a heaven for outcasts.  The show has been picked up to series for next season. 

In this week’s Mega Buzz at TVGuide.com, they again address the question on whether Ali Larter and/or Hayden Panettiere are wanting to leave the show.  Their answer:  “One of the key Heroes dies at the end of this volume, so that would be an easy out. But Larter recently said she’s "100 percent part of Heroes" and Panettiere repped hard for the show at the Super Bowl. We all know actresses never lie. Also, we all know the fate of the world relies on the cheerleader, so why would NBC let her go?”

Also in that same Mega Buzz, Heroes (or more precisely, the Heroes Super Bowl promotion) was Matt Mittovich’s Mega Rave:  “I know many of you have derided them as cheesy, but I loved NBC’s Super Bowl promos involving the Heroes. The football game offered a great showcase for every character’s ability (e.g. Hiro freezing time to grab the ball), while the ‘Feelin’ Alright?’ sing-along (with stars of Chuck and Medium) was a blast, if only just to see Sylar look at us askew and bellow a few notes.”

Don’t forget to keep checking our Ratings and Reviews post.  I’m updating it as I find more reviews.  I just added another from io9.com this morning.

NBC is proud of the numbers that their trio of shows pulled in last night.  They have issued a press release with an emphasis on the positives of last night’s ratings:

NBC’S MONDAY LINE-UP OF ‘CHUCK,’ ‘HEROES’ AND ‘MEDIUM’ RETURN TO STRONG NUMBERS

A SPECIAL 3-D EPISODE OF ‘CHUCK’ SCORES ITS HIGHEST 18-49 RATING AND OVERALL VIEWERSHIP OF THE SEASON, DELIVERING NBC’S TOP NON-OLYMPIC DEMO RESULT IN THE SLOT IN 11 MONTHS

‘HEROES’ RETURNS TO ITS BEST NUMBERS SINCE OCTOBER, WINNING ITS TOUGH HOUR IN KEY MALE DEMOS AND FINISHING WITHIN ONE SHARE OF THE SLOT LEAD IN ADULTS 18-49

THE FIFTH-SEASON PREMIERE OF ‘MEDIUM’ SUMMONS NBC’S TOP NUMBERS IN THE TIME PERIOD SINCE NOVEMBER 3, ASCENDING 26 PERCENT IN 18-49 AND 46 PERCENT IN TOTAL VIEWERS VERSUS THE NETWORK’S SEASON AVERAGE FOR THE SLOT

Universal City, Calif. – February 3, 2009 – Last night, NBC’s Monday lineup of "Chuck," "Heroes" and "Medium" returned to propel the network to its strongest Monday primetime performance in three months in both adults 18-49 and total viewers, according to "fast affiliate-based" "live plus same day" viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research.

Last night at 8 p.m. ET, "Chuck" returned with a special 3-D episode to score its highest 18-49 rating and biggest overall viewership of the season, a 3.0 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49 and 8.3 million viewers overall. Versus its "live plus same day" season-to-date average, "Chuck" last night was up 20 percent in 18-49 rating (3.0 vs. 2.5) and 24 percent in total viewers, despite formidable time-period competition from Fox’s "House," CBS’s "Big Bang Theory" and "How I Met Your Mother" and ABC’s "The Bachelor." In 18-49, this is NBC’s highest rating in the time period in 11 months (since February 25, 2008).

At 9 p.m. ET, "Heroes" (3.9/9 in 18-49, 8.5 million viewers overall) returned to its highest 18-49 rating since October 27 and its biggest overall viewership since October 20. "Heroes" finished within one share of the time period lead in adults 18-49 and won its slot in men 18-49 and men 18-34, against such tough competition as ABC’s "The Bachelor," CBS’s Monday 9-10 p.m. comedies and Fox’s "24." In head-to-head competition in the 9-10 p.m. hour, "Heroes" topped rival drama "24" in adults, men and women 18-49 and adults, men and women 18-34, pending updates.

"Heroes" built on its lead-in from the previous hour by 30 percent in adults 18-49 and by 58 percent in adults 18-34 (to a 4.1 from a 2.6). It is worth noting that "Heroes" ratings this season have been increasing by an average 22 percent in adults 18-49 when going from "live plus same day" to "live plus seven day" measures.

At 10 p.m. ET, the fifth season debut of "Medium" (2.9/7 in 18-49, 8.5 million viewers overall) conjured NBC’s highest 18-49 rating and largest total viewership in this time period since November 3. "Medium" ascended 26 percent in adults 18-49 (2.9 vs. 2.3) and 46 percent or 2.7 million persons in total viewers (8.5 million vs. 5.8 million) versus NBC’s "live plus same day" season-to-date average for the time period. "Medium ranked #2 in adults, men and women 25-54 and men 18-49.

NBC delivered its highest Monday primetime average in adults 18-49 (a 3.3) and total viewers (8.4 million) since November 3. NBC’s 3.3 average for the night in adults 18-49 is up 22 percent versus the network’s "live plus same day" season-to-date average for Monday night (3.3 vs. 2.7)

Preliminary 18-49 averages for Monday night are: Fox, 4.6/11; CBS, 4.3/10; ABC, 3.7/9; NBC, 3.3/8; CW, 1.2/3. In overall total viewers, February 2 preliminary results are: CBS, 13.3 million; Fox, 13.0 million; ABC, 9.6 million; NBC, 8.4 million; CW, 2.4 million
Note that all national ratings are "live plus same day" unless otherwise indicated.

It will be interesting to see what the DVR numbers and internet viewing statistics show when they are calculated, too.

There is good news and bad news in looking at the ratings from last night’s episode, “A Clear and Present Danger.”  The good news – ratings were up about 5% over the last episode coming in with 8.5 million total viewers and earning a 3.9/9 share of the ratings.  The bad news – well the show still ended up in fourth place for the timeslot, coming in behind Two and a Half Men (16.52 million), The Bachelor (11.46 million seriously?) and 24 (11.28 million).

So what did the critics think of the show?  Here’s a rundown of some of the articles on the web this morning and what critics had to say about last night’s episode.  The majority of them seem cautiously positive and are willing to give the show a chance:

(Edited:  Updating the top of this list as more reviews are published)

io9.com – Annalee Newitz

“Last night’s episode of Heroes, the first in new chapter ‘Fugitives,’ was pretty damn good. Our characters are returning to normal just as the government is breaking down. Can this show return to form? Maybe…My interest in this show is definitely re-awakened. Even if the plot arc feels a little dated, I’m willing to go with it because the characters are developing in intriguing ways again. If you left the show during Villains, but you miss the old days of saving the cheerleader, I’d say give this show a try again. You might like it.”

HitFix.com - Ryan McGee

“If one were to look on the bright side of things, one could argue that the impending plane crash upon which the cliffhanger rests does something ‘Heroes’ hatahs have long called for: a group of heroes working together over a prolonged period of time to fight a common enemy. Season 1 worked as it slowly drew all the characters inexorably towards Kirby Plaza, but since then has scattered them all across the world except for a few fleeting moments here and there. If those aboard that plane form some type of cohesive unit for the rest of the season, then I’m intrigued to see how this plays out.  But that’s a big ‘if’ right there. We ‘Heroes’ fans know all too well how quickly promising seasons disintegrate before our very eyes. With Hiro powerless and Peter less powerful, perhaps this season can at least avoid the headache of time travel and focus on creating believable characters in extraordinary situations. And while I gagged at all those "the most super of all powers is working together" commercials, it just might be the key to turning a failing show into something approaching special once again.”

Fancast.com - Brian Gianelli

The show was his “What’s Hotter” pick - “It’s been trendy of late to say how bad this show has gotten and that it needs serious help (Entertainment Weekly cover anyone?) But NBC has got to be breathing a sigh of relief after the kickoff of the new ‘Fugitives’ arc debuted with a bigger audience than the show concluded with in December at the end of the ‘Villains’ chapter.  The show desperately needed a shot in the arm, and it looks like that just might be what this latest chapter serves up, with all of our favorites reunited and on the run. Let’s get back to simpler storytelling, and please, keep the time travel and deaths/not real deaths to a minimum. It’s encouraging that Bryan Fuller is back on board, but we won’t see his handiwork until later in the season. I’m hopeful that this show can get back to the escapism we all enjoyed in Season 1 - and in the meantime Monday’s episode will keep me tuned in… for now.”

BuddyTV – Meghan Carlson

“…there was a marked change in both the action and tone of the show since the last chapter. The show felt somehow… calmer. The characters are sitting, talking, hugging, relating to each other! One plot (rather than several seemingly unrelated ones) involving all the major characters (rather than a circus of B-list supporting heroes) dictated all the action. Decisions were logical and consequential. The villain was familiar, scary, and human again, instead of some weird mystic catalyst. And Peter’s got his adorable good-boy hair back!”

(more…)

At Thursday’s TCA panel, Angela Bromstad, president of primetime entertainment for NBC, said that Heroes is safe from cancellation this season, though she stopped short of commiting to a renewal for another season as she did for The Office, 30 Rock and The Biggest Loser.

“Heroes is very secure," said Bromstad. "We have a great relationship with Tim Kring…what’s important is we never lose sight of being responsible in production. And television is about the characters and the writing, and we want to make sure that that show is on track. But very secure. I think that what Tim is interested in doing is getting back to the core of the show and that it’s these ordinary people with extraordinary powers and that they may have taken on too much in terms of characters and multiple storylines."

It sounds like ratings for the second half of the season will be very important to the future of the show.

Heroes is still way off its former ratings glory, but they are still winning the 18-34 year old demographic, and by a wide margin,  leading NBC to a win among 18-34 year olds for the night.  Overall, total viewers for Heroes were down a little from last week, but up from the series low we saw a couple of weeks ago.

Heroes is still getting a big boost from DVR numbers as they come out each week, but those numbers don’t mean much to advertisers.

Noah Bennet’s horn-rimmed glasses made BuddyTV’s list of Best Male Fashion Icons. The ol’ HRG’s came in at #6. They cite the fact that the glasses "serve to make his bad-ass nature more terrifying." They go on to say that, even without powers, they would pick HRG (Jack Coleman) to win in a fight against any other character on the show, and the glasses are a big part of it.

Robert Forster talked to Zap2It about his role as Arthur Petrelli.  He didn’t give up much information about what we can expect from Papa Petrelli, but he did say that he is enjoying his work on the show. "These are interesting scenes. I could not imagine doing a show that was the kind of shows that are very successful [right now], that actors love to work on because they are successful. Oh, boy, a procedural show would be murder. This is fun. These are interesting scenes."  Forster was working on episode 9 at the time and he called it the "halfway point" for him. If he started on episode 5, that would seem to mean that we will see him in 10 episodes this season.

The NY Times has an interesting article about NBC’s new index for measuring viewers across multi-platforms. According to NBC’s numbers, the second episode of Heroes, on Sept. 29, was viewed about 17 million times. Television viewing accounted for 12.8 million of those views. Online streams added 4 million views to the total. Paid downloads on iTunes, Microsoft’s Zune and Xbox stores, and Amazon.com accounted for 19,780 views. Video on demand added 19,438 views and mobile added 16,984 views.

Brea Grant is everywhere these days. She has a new interview with Film School Rejectstoday. She confirms that her character’s name was Joy in the planning stages (remember those casting rumors?) and talks a little about how they do the special effects involving Daphne. If you haven’t gotten to know Brea from her interviews yet, I encourage you to read this one. She is a very neat person!

Be sure to catch Milo Ventimiglia on the Bonnie Hunt Show on Monday, October 20 and Hayden Panettiere on the Ellen Degeneres Show next Thursday, October 23.

And speaking of talk shows, check out this interview with Dania Ramirez from last night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live.

People are still watching Heroes despite what the ratings may show. Some watch when it airs, others watch legally online at Hulu or NBC.com, while others catch it on DVR. Even thought it is available by all of those legal means, Heroes is still the #1 most pirated show on BitTorrent. Take a look at these statistics from TVbytheNumbers:

Top Downloads October 05 - October 12

The show was downloaded over a million times, mostly from outside the US. When the show ‘releases’ on Tuesday, BitTorrent sites see a significant traffic increase on that day.

As expected, Heroes has shown a big increase in viewers when the DVR numbers are counted. Statistics for the first week of the television season have been released and, for week 1, Heroes was NBC’s biggest gainer, with its adult 18-49 rating jumping by 20 percent (to a 6.05 rating from a 5.05). In all, NBC had nine primetime telecasts that week that generated double-digit gains in 18-49 rating going from “live plus same day” to “live plus seven,” the most for any major network ahead of Fox (eight), CBS (seven) and ABC (four).

Among the NBC premiere-week shows that added more than 1 million total viewers in this transition were Heroes (12.018 million vs. 10.150 million, an increase of 1.868 million), The Office (10.914 million vs. 9.393 million, an increase of 1.521 million), ER (9.317 million vs. 8.057 million, an increase of 1.260 million) and Law & Order: SVU (10.902 million vs. 9.698 million, an increase of 1.204 million).

Everyone’s blogging about the drop in ratings, not only for Heroes, but for shows across the board. Have people quit watching TV? Probably not.

More and more are watching online and via DVR. Heroes executive producer and writer, Jesse Alexander, had this to say about the DVR trend:

Some shows are getting an almost 70% bump in their ratings via TIVO and DVR. A stat that is reported some three weeks after the airing of the episode.

That’s insane. Three years ago it was around 9%. That kind of audience shift is catastrophic for the traditional ad revenue models the networks and studios depend on to fund their business. With that many people supposedly skimming through commercials, the production budgets of shows that have a low on-air rating — but massive DVD sales, INTERNATIONAL audience, and WEB viewership will be hard to justify.

What’s going to save the TV business? Integrated advertising? Smaller budgets? New accounting practices? New biz dev partnerships between content creators and hardware creators? Probably all of the above.

DVR viewing numbers come out October 13 and it will be interesting to see how Heroes fares. 

All of Monday nights shows on NBC showed a decline last night.  Heroes fell 20% (8.2 million, 3.9/9), by far a series low, marking the third consecutive week of decline. It was rated lower than CBS’s How I Met Your Mother for the first time.

The show is still strong with the 18-34 crowd though, earning a 4.4 rating /11 share, and easily winning that demographic.

Heroes fell 12% from its two-hour debut last week to a new low. The show had 9.3 million viewers and earned a 4.5/10. It was a different story in the 18-34 demographic though.  Heroes dominated with the younger crowd, earning a 4.9/13 and leaving the other shows in the dust.

NBC came in third for the night, behind ABC and CBS. For complete details, and to see how the other shows did last night, check out TV by the Numbers.