Does anyone here watch "Heroes"?
 

My brother insisted that I HAD to at least watch the first couple episodes of last year's sleeper hit "HEROES". I was unsure; I don't watch a lot of TV, what I do manage to see I usually judge to be superficial crap. The only shows I've watched regularly over the past 5 years or so were ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and THE OFFICE.

Well, on my brother's insistence, I checked out HEROES.

I was hooked after two episodes.

Luckily for me (kinda), I have been sick lately, so I've been spending some time at home over the past few days. Baseball is winding down, so watching a TV series on DVD wouldn't be a huge waste of time.

Talk about an addictive TV show: I flew through the entire season in a 6-day period! And that includes going to work every single day except Thursday, which I spent at Fenway Park.

In short, the show is incredible. It is very carefully crafted, with details beginning in the first episode coming back to bookend with the last. The characters are among the most carefully-crafted of any dramatic series I've seen in years. For example, the main villian, "Sylar", is despicable, but by the end of the show you end up pitying him as much as hating him... and man, do you end up hating him. He is undoubtedly the most easily-hatable villian in recent memory.

When I say that the story is well-crafted, I mean it. My education is in literature, and it is clear to me that the writers for the show understand intricate construction in a way that the writers of "24" could only dream of. Actually, at first you start to question the credulity of so many disparate plotlines coinciding with one another... until you begin to realize that the overlapping plotlines are anything but coincidence. Suddenly, a show about super-powers has "X-Files"-like conspiracy paranoia. Add to this a "watch the characters from all over the map slowly come together" sense of expectation like "The Stand," and all of a sudden you are hopelessly hooked on HEROES.

Season 1 was an effective self-contained story, although it left quite a few loose ends for another season. For example, the little Walker girl's unnerving assertion that there is someone out there worse than Sylar...

The show is great. Consider this my official endorsement. I can' t wait to watch the two new episodes (last week's premiere and tomorrow's new epsiode) tomorrow with my brother...

I loved the first season, but was kinda lukewarm on the premiere last week...

I like it. If you have BBC America in your area, try "Torchwood". Interesting and really different. Has some tie-ins with Doctor Who. Torchwood is an anagram for Doctor Who.

I enjoy Heroes a lot. My wife can't seem to keep track of it. She is one of those people who works with the TV on as background sound. You have to pay attention to it to keep track of what is happening. A lot of programs, that are good at the start, run out of gas after a season or three.

I liked it.

However, I have liked a lot of shows. Until they stretch them too far.

I wish more shows would go out on a high note, rather than pull the thread until there's nothing left. Nothing is worse than watching a show past its prime (think LOST). If heroes ended after this season, they could make it awesome. I am just worried about them wrecking it by trying for like 6 seasons.

I like Heroes. Good stuff.

I'm patienty waiting for LOST to return though...the only show ever to really glue me to my seat, and put me on edge.

Torchwood is pretty good. Taken off of the newer Doctor Who series, which is also very good.

The new kid (the ex-cheerleader's new boyfriend) was a year behind me in high school. Now he's locking lips with Hayden Panetierre. It's funny - he was also in the movie Election, and even though he's my age (28) he continually gets cast as a high schooler. You may also recall (if you watch the Office) that he was Jan's "administrative assistant" in last year's season finale.

I'm obviously a big fan of Heroes, but was disappointed in the season opener. Hope it gets better as the year goes on.

I agree that too many shows get stretched out too far in the U.S... I think that the British formula works a little better, with every show conceived as a season-long story (a "series") that *might* come back next year, but no guarantees.