''Heroes'' is an American
superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
television series created by
Tim Kring
Richard Timothy Kring (born July 9, 1957) is an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his creation of the drama series '' Strange World'', ''Crossing Jordan'', '' Heroes'', and ''Touch''.
Early life
Kring was born in El D ...
that aired on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
for four seasons from September 25, 2006, to February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover that they have
superhuman abilities and how these abilities take effect in the characters' lives as they work together to prevent catastrophic futures. The series emulates the aesthetic style and storytelling of
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s, using multi-episode story arcs that build upon a larger, more encompassing narrative.
It was produced by Tailwind Productions in association with
Universal Media Studios
Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...
.
It was filmed primarily in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
Four complete seasons aired, ending on February 8, 2010.
The critically acclaimed first season had a run of 23 episodes and garnered an average of 14.3 million viewers in the United States, receiving the highest rating for an NBC drama premiere in five years. The second season of ''Heroes'' attracted an average of 13.1 million viewers in the U.S.
and marked NBC's sole series among the top 20 ranked programs in total viewership for the 2007–2008 season. ''Heroes'' earned a number of awards and nominations, including Primetime
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
s,
Golden Globes
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
,
People's Choice Awards
The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...
, and
British Academy Television Awards
The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955.
Background
The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...
.
An online extension of the series, ''Heroes 360 Experience'' (later rebranded as ''
Heroes Evolutions''), was created to explore the ''Heroes'' universe and provides insight into the show's mythology.
Other official ''Heroes'' media include magazines, action figures, tie-in and interactive websites, a mobile game, a novel, clothing and other merchandise. In the fall of 2008, NBC Digital Entertainment released a series of online content for the summer, including more original web content, wireless iTV interactivity, graphic novels available for mobile viewing and
webisodes
A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available as either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or c ...
.
A 13-episode miniseries, ''
Heroes Reborn'', premiered on NBC on September 24, 2015.
Cast and characters
![Hayden Panettiere 2009 (Straighten Crop)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Hayden_Panettiere_2009_%28Straighten_Crop%29.jpg)
Originally, Kring designed the series to have an ever-shifting cast. However, his motivation changed when he realized how popular the original cast was with audiences; therefore, he brought back most of the first-season cast for the second season, with a few additions who received star
billing. In its first season, the show features an
ensemble cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17
Structure
In contrast to ...
of twelve main characters making it the third largest cast in American primetime television behind ''
Desperate Housewives
''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...
'' and ''
Lost
Lost may refer to getting lost, or to:
Geography
*Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland
* Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US
History
*Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
''. Although NBC's first-season cast page listed only ten characters,
Leonard Roberts
Leonard Roberts (born November 17, 1972) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Sean Taylor in ''Drumline'' and for playing Forrest Gates in the fourth season of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and D. L. Hawkins in a recurring role ...
, who first appeared in the series'
fifth episode as D L Hawkins, was an additional member of the original full-time cast. In the first-season episode "
Fallout
Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...
",
Jack Coleman, who portrays
Noah Bennet
This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Heroes'', the ''Heroes'' graphic novels, and the ''Heroes'' webisodes.
Main characters
Character duration
In its inaugural season, ''Heroes'' featured an ensemble cast ...
, was upgraded from a
recurring role
A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who frequently appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main foc ...
to become the twelfth full-time cast member.
The following remained major characters during all four seasons:
*
Milo Ventimiglia
Milo Anthony Ventimiglia (, ; born July 8, 1977) is an American actor. Making his screen acting debut on ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' in 1995, he portrayed the lead role on the short-lived series '' Opposite Sex'' in 2000 before landing his br ...
as
Peter Petrelli
Peter Petrelli, portrayed by Milo Ventimiglia, is a fictional superhero on the NBC superhero drama series Heroes. He is a hospice nurse-turned-paramedic in his mid-20s with the power to absorb and mimic the powers of other people with special ab ...
, a hospice nurse with the ability to mimic abilities of other people
*
Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Lesley Panettiere (; born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, model, and singer. She is best known for her lead roles as Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' and Juliette Barnes in the Am ...
as
Claire Bennet
Claire Bennet is a fictional character in the NBC psychological thriller superhero drama series '' Heroes''. She is portrayed by Hayden Panettiere and first appeared on television in the pilot episode of the series, "Genesis", on September 25, ...
, a high-school cheerleader who can spontaneously regenerate
*
Masi Oka
is a Japanese actor, producer, and digital effects artist who became widely known for starring in NBC's ''Heroes'' as Hiro Nakamura and in CBS's ''Hawaii Five-0'' as Doctor Max Bergman.
Early life
Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Setsuko Oka. Hi ...
as
Hiro Nakamura
is a fictional superhero on the NBC superhero drama '' Heroes'' who possesses the ability of space-time manipulation. This means that Hiro is able to alter the flow of time, teleport and time travel. In the show, he is played by Japanese actor M ...
, an office worker who can manipulate space-time
*
Adrian Pasdar as
Nathan Petrelli, a congressional candidate with the ability to fly
*
Greg Grunberg
Gregory Phillip Grunberg (born July 11, 1966) is an American film and television actor best known for starring as Eric Weiss in the ABC series ''Alias'', Matt Parkman in the NBC series ''Heroes'', Temmin "Snap" Wexley in '' Star Wars: The Forc ...
as
Matt Parkman, an
LAPD
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...
police officer who can read people's minds
*
Also, although
Niki Sanders
Nicole Sanders is a fictional character portrayed by Ali Larter in the television series '' Heroes''. Niki is the wife of D. L. Hawkins (Leonard Roberts) and mother of Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabey). Niki, a sufferer of dissociative identity d ...
, played by
Ali Larter
Alison Elizabeth Larter (born February 28, 1976) is an American actress and model. She portrayed fictional model Allegra Coleman in a 1996 ''Esquire'' magazine hoax and took on guest roles on several television shows in the 1990s. She made her ...
was written out in the third season, Larter remained on the show throughout all 4 seasons, playing Sanders' sister,
Tracy Strauss
''Heroes'' is an American superhero drama television series created by Tim Kring that aired on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006, to February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover that they have supe ...
for the final season.
*
![Cristine Rose 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Cristine_Rose_2009.jpg)
During the first two seasons, some characters were written out to make room for new characters with new stories. In season one,
Claude Claude may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People and fictional characters
* Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Claude (surname), a list of people
* Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...
, portrayed by
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor. A two-time BAFTA Award nominee, he is best known for his television and film work, which includes his role as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC sci-fi series '' ...
, who had the power of invisibility, was instrumental in helping Peter understand his powers, throwing him off a building to try to help him fly, but he discovered he healed instead.
Simone Deveaux
Simone Deveaux is a fictional character in the TV series '' Heroes''. She is portrayed by Tawny Cypress.
Character's background
Genesis
When Simone Deveaux is introduced in the premiere episode, she is an art dealer living in New York City wh ...
was the first major character to be written out, dying near the end of season one. Hawkins became a guest star after the events of the first season's finale, making two appearances throughout season two. Isaac Mendez was also written out, dying at the hands of
Sylar
Sylar (Gabriel Gray) is a fictional character and a primary antagonist of the NBC superhero drama series ''Heroes''. Portrayed by Zachary Quinto, he is a super-powered serial killer who targets other Superhumans in order to steal their powers. H ...
, which was shown during Hiro Nakamura's time traveling expedition to New York earlier in season one.
New characters added during season two include:
Maya Herrera
This is a list of fictional characters in the television series '' Heroes'', the ''Heroes'' graphic novels, and the ''Heroes'' webisodes.
Main characters
Character duration
In its inaugural season, ''Heroes'' featured an ensemble cast ...
, played by
Dania Ramirez
Dania Ramirez (born November 8, 1979) is a Dominican actress. Her credits include the roles of Maya Herrera in '' Heroes'', Alex in '' Entourage'', and Blanca during the last season of ''The Sopranos'' on television. Her film roles include Ale ...
, a fugitive with the ability to emit a deadly poison;
Adam Monroe
This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'', the List of Heroes graphic novels, ''Heroes'' graphic novels, and the ''Heroes'' webisodes.
Main characters
Character duration
In i ...
, a 400-year-old Englishman also known as Takezo Kensei with the ability to regenerate, portrayed by
David Anders;
Monica Dawson
This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'', the List of Heroes graphic novels, ''Heroes'' graphic novels, and the ''Heroes'' webisodes.
Main characters
Character duration
In i ...
, portrayed by
Dana Davis
Dana Davis (born October 4, 1978) is an American actress, voice actress, and novelist known for playing Monica Dawson on the NBC series '' Heroes'' (2007), Chastity Church on the ABC Family television series ''10 Things I Hate About You'' (2009 ...
, a restaurant worker with the ability to mimic physical movements she sees; and
Elle Bishop
Elle Bishop is a fictional character who appeared on the American psychological thriller superhero series ''Heroes'', which aired on NBC from 2006 to 2010. The character was created by series creator Tim Kring and portrayed by actress Kristen Bel ...
, a
sadistic
Sadism may refer to:
* Sadomasochism, the giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation
* Sadistic personality disorder, an obsolete term proposed for individuals who derive pleasure from the s ...
sociopath
Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been u ...
with the ability to generate electricity, portrayed by
Kristen Bell
Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress. Beginning her acting career by starring in stage productions while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, she made her Broadway stage debut as Becky That ...
. Two recurring characters from season one,
Sylar
Sylar (Gabriel Gray) is a fictional character and a primary antagonist of the NBC superhero drama series ''Heroes''. Portrayed by Zachary Quinto, he is a super-powered serial killer who targets other Superhumans in order to steal their powers. H ...
, portrayed by
Zachary Quinto
Zachary John Quinto (; born June 2, 1977) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his roles as Sylar, the primary antagonist from the science fiction drama series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' (2006–2010); Spock in th ...
, and
Ando Masahashi, portrayed by
James Kyson Lee
James Kyson (born December 13, 1975) is a South Korean-born American actor best known for his television work. Best known for his role as Ando Masahashi on the NBC television series ''Heroes'', his guest appearances on television series include ...
, were upgraded to main characters in season two.
Starting in season three, recurring character
Angela Petrelli
''Heroes'' is an American superhero drama television series created by Tim Kring that aired on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006, to February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover that they have supe ...
, portrayed by
Cristine Rose
Cristine Sue Rose (born January 31, 1951), sometimes credited as Christine Rose, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Angela Petrelli on the hit NBC science fiction drama '' Heroes''.
Early life
Rose was born in Lynwood ...
, was promoted to a main character. Elle, Adam, and Micah were removed from the main cast. Monica Dawson did not appear after scenes including her were cut. Niki was also written out but actress
Ali Larter
Alison Elizabeth Larter (born February 28, 1976) is an American actress and model. She portrayed fictional model Allegra Coleman in a 1996 ''Esquire'' magazine hoax and took on guest roles on several television shows in the 1990s. She made her ...
remained on the show portraying a new character
Tracy Strauss
''Heroes'' is an American superhero drama television series created by Tim Kring that aired on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006, to February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover that they have supe ...
, Niki's triplet sister with the power to freeze objects with a touch. For season four, a new character
Samuel Sullivan
This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'', the List of Heroes graphic novels, ''Heroes'' graphic novels, and the ''Heroes'' webisodes.
Main characters
Character duration
In i ...
, portrayed by
Robert Knepper
Robert Lyle Knepper (born July 8, 1959) is an American actor best known for his role as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox drama series '' Prison Break'' (2005–2009, 2017), Samuel Sullivan in the final season of the NBC series ''Heroes'' (2 ...
, was added. Originally cast as a recurring part, the part was changed to a starring role.
Deanne Bray
Deanne Bray (born May 14, 1971) is an American actress. Bray was born deaf and is bilingual in American Sign Language and English.
Early Life and Education
Bray was born in Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California and has spent most of her life in ...
was also added as
Emma Coolidge
This is a list of fictional characters in the television series '' Heroes'', the ''Heroes'' graphic novels, and the ''Heroes'' webisodes.
Main characters
Character duration
In its inaugural season, ''Heroes'' featured an ensemble cast ...
, the deaf woman who had enhanced
synesthesia
Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who re ...
(seeing colors for music) including the ability to create a
siren song.
Episodes
Synopsis
The plot of ''Heroes'' is designed to be told in a way similar to the way comic books are told. Each season of ''Heroes'' contains one or two "volumes". There are several main story lines in each volume. As the main plots develop, smaller, more intimate stories are told within them. Each main character's story is developed separately and as time passes their paths cross and it is explained how their stories are intertwined and connected. This is the story of ordinary people who discover extraordinary super powers after a solar eclipse reveals them, and how these abilities affect the characters' daily lives.
The
first season, known as "Volume One: Genesis", begins with a seemingly ordinary group of people who gradually become aware that they have special abilities. The story develops showing their reactions to those powers, and how that discovery affects their personal and professional lives. At the same time, several ordinary individuals are investigating the origins and extent of those abilities. Mohinder Suresh (
Sendhil Ramamurthy), a research geneticist, continues his late father's research into the biological source of the powers, while Noah Bennet (Jack Coleman) represents, and is a lead agent for, a secret organization known only as "the Company" that wants to control, and if necessary, terminate those who are gifted. After only having a short time to come to terms with their new abilities, each of the heroes is drawn into the final showdown. They must each do their part to stop the destruction of the world that starts with an impending explosion at Kirby Plaza in New York City.
Season two Season 2 may refer to:
* ''Season 2'' (Infinite album)
* ''2econd Season
''2econd Season'' is the second and most recent album by Atlanta-based rapper Unk.
Release
It was released on November 4, 2008.
Guest Performers
The album features gu ...
, known as "Volume Two: Generations", begins four months after the events at Kirby Plaza. The main plot of ''Generations'' deals with the Company and its research on the
Shanti virus
This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Heroes'', the ''Heroes'' graphic novels, and the ''Heroes'' webisodes.
Main characters
Character duration
In its inaugural season, ''Heroes'' featured an ensemble cast o ...
. In a flashback to 1977, the research is performed by the Company's founders, whose identities are eventually revealed, to discover what the effects of various strains of the virus will do to the human and superhuman population. The virus is weaponized and locked away at Primatech Paper, the Company's facility used as a front. Returning to the present, the heroes must come together in an attempt to stop the release of a deadly strain of the virus and avert a global
pandemic
A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...
.
The first part of
season three
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
is called "Volume Three: Villains". Volume three begins with an assassination attempt on Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar), a political figure who can fly, and explores its consequences. Meanwhile, several villains escape from the confines of Level 5, a maximum security area owned and operated by the Company within Primatech, and Noah Bennet attempts to recapture them.
Arthur Petrelli (
Robert Forster
Robert Wallace Forster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019) was an American actor, known for his roles as John Cassellis in '' Medium Cool'' (1969), Captain Dan Holland in ''The Black Hole'' (1979), Abdul Rafai in '' The Delta Force'' (1986 ...
), Nathan Petrelli's father, heals from systemic nerve damage and aims to create a formula to give ordinary people superhuman abilities, simultaneously stealing Peter's powers. The second part of season three, "Volume Four: Fugitives", reveals what happens after Nathan fails to produce the formula. After the destruction of Primatech and Pinehearst, the rival company of Primatech, the heroes attempt to lead normal lives until Nathan initiates his plan to round up all people with abilities. He is opposed in that plan by the other heroes, led by Peter, who used the synthetic formula to acquire a new ability where he can only copy one power at a time as opposed to his previous array of abilities. Sylar kills Nathan in an intense duel. However, because Nathan is a prominent political player, Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), who has power over people's minds, is instructed to alter Sylar's mind so that he will believe that he is Nathan and take his place, utilising Sylar's new powers of shapeshifting and psychometry to take on Nathan's appearance while his psychometry would 'fill in the blanks' on other details. This has a negative side effect causing Sylar's consciousness to become trapped in Matt Parkman's mind.
Season four contains "Volume Five: Redemption", and takes place six weeks after the events of season three. The heroes try to return to their normal lives; Peter returns to his job as a paramedic, while Claire attends college. Sylar's body is causing his previously acquired abilities to manifest as he struggles with his forced identity as Nathan. Sylar's actual consciousness, trapped in Matt Parkman's mind, taunts Matt and seeks out his own body. Meanwhile, Hiro has to deal with a
brain tumor
A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...
that is slowly killing him and preventing him from controlling his powers. A carnival group is introduced whose leader, Samuel, tries to recruit more people with abilities into his carnival family. Samuel claims he is creating a community for special people where they are welcome to be open with their abilities and respected by outsiders. In truth, he is bringing together as many people with abilities as possible to build up his own power, moving earth. The more special people he has around him, the stronger his power. The heroes have to come together to battle Samuel and his plan to expose "specials" to the world by killing thousands of people. The series finale ends by opening the nonexistent "Volume Six: Brave New World" in which Claire reveals the existence of people with special abilities to a group of reporters and photographers.
The series mimics how it started, with the last scene involving Claire Bennet jumping from a
ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...
and stating, "My name is Claire Bennet, and that was attempt number—I guess I've kind of lost count."
Production
Conception
''Heroes'' began development early in 2006, when
Tim Kring
Richard Timothy Kring (born July 9, 1957) is an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his creation of the drama series '' Strange World'', ''Crossing Jordan'', '' Heroes'', and ''Touch''.
Early life
Kring was born in El D ...
, creator of NBC's ''
Crossing Jordan
''Crossing Jordan'' is an American crime drama television series created by Tim Kring, that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001, to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed in ...
'', came up with the show's concept. Kring wanted to create a "large
ensemble
Ensemble may refer to:
Art
* Architectural ensemble
* ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album
* Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary
* Ensemble cast (drama, comedy)
* Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the chorus
* ''En ...
saga" that would connect with the audience. He began thinking about how big, scary and complicated he felt the world is, and wanted to create a character-driven series about people who could do something about it. Kring felt that a cop or medical drama did not have characters that were big enough to save the world. He came up with the thought of
superheroes
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
; ordinary people who would discover extraordinary abilities, while still rooted in the real world and in reality.
Casting directors Jason La Padura and Natalie Hart brought forth a cast of new faces such as
Milo Ventimiglia
Milo Anthony Ventimiglia (, ; born July 8, 1977) is an American actor. Making his screen acting debut on ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' in 1995, he portrayed the lead role on the short-lived series '' Opposite Sex'' in 2000 before landing his br ...
who described the TV pilot as a "character drama about everyday people with a heightened reality." Said heightened reality was brought to light through the work of production designer Ruth Ammon. Kring wanted the series to have touchstones that involved the characters and the world they lived in.
Before he began putting his ideas together, he spoke with ''
Lost
Lost may refer to getting lost, or to:
Geography
*Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland
* Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US
History
*Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
'' executive producer
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof (born April 24, 1973) is an American screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer. Among his accolades, he received three Primetime Emmy Awards, from twelve nominations. In 2010, ''Time'' magazine named him one of the ...
, with whom he had worked for three years on ''Crossing Jordan''. Kring credits Lindelof for giving him ideas on how to pitch the series to the network and advice on the lessons he (Lindelof) learned about working on a
serialized drama. The two still speak and support each other's projects. When Kring pitched the idea for ''Heroes'' to the NBC network, he described the network's reaction as "excited...very supportive."
He comments that he has been partners with NBC for some time based on his six-year run as
showrunner
A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...
for ''Crossing Jordan''.
When he pitched the pilot, he described every detail, including the
cliffhanger ending
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhange ...
. When NBC executives asked him what was going to happen next, Kring responded, "Well, you'll just have to wait and find out."
After the project was
greenlit
To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead".
Film industry
In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...
, a special 73-minute version of the pilot was first screened to a large audience at the 2006
San Diego Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
. It was initially reported that this unaired pilot would not be released, but it was included on the season one DVD set.
Writing
![8](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/8.28.07JephLoebByLuigiNovi1.jpg)
When the writing team worked on an episode, each writer took a character and wrote the individual scenes surrounding them. These stories were then combined and given to the episode writer. This system allowed every writer to contribute to every episode, and enabled the writing team to finish scripts sooner, so the filming crew could shoot more scenes at a location.
Kring described the writing process as a collaborative one and stated that the collaboration process was important because production needed to shoot several scenes at a single location. To do this, several scripts had to be ready.
Jesse Alexander
Jesse Alexander is an American television writer and producer. He was a co-executive producer and writer on '' Heroes''. Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Alexander attended Sarah Lawrence College and AFI Conservatory. At Sarah Lawrenc ...
, co-producer and writer, explained that this process was important in a serialized drama because one has to know where each character's development is heading.
Season two coincided with the
WGA writers' strike, meaning only 11 out of the planned 24 episodes were produced. That forced the producers to redesign the season to encompass only the ''Generations'' volume out of the three planned. The planned third volume, ''Exodus'', which was originally designed to be a story arc reflecting the effects of the release of strain 138 of the Shanti virus, was cancelled. The planned fourth volume, ''Villains'', was changed to the third volume and moved into season three.
Scenes from the volume two finale, "
Powerless", were reshot to reflect the cancelation of the ''Exodus'' volume, and to tie up all the loose plot storylines of ''Generations''.
Following criticisms of the second and third volumes, Tim Molloy from ''
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' reported that ''Heroes'' would return to its roots with the fourth volume, ''Fugitives'', to attract new viewers and regain those who gave up on the show because of too many characters and plotlines. In November 2008, NBC fired Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb from the production staff of ''Heroes'' over creative differences and budget problems. As a result, Kring would refocus the series on character development and simple storytelling. However, a high-ranking insider told ''TV Guide'' that rather than pressure from NBC or Universal Media responding to recent plummeting ratings, it was Kring himself who fired Alexander and Loeb, because the duo refused to continue character-driven stories that made the first season popular from the start. In December 2008,
Bryan Fuller signed a two-year deal with
Universal Media Studios
Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...
after the cancellation of his
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
series ''
Pushing Daisies
''Pushing Daisies'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Bryan Fuller that aired on ABC from October 3, 2007, to June 13, 2009. The series stars Lee Pace as Ned, a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to life ...
''.
He rejoined the writing staff of ''Heroes'' starting with the 20th episode of season three and had a "key role in the writing and direction" of the series.
However, on June 22 it was revealed that Fuller left ''Heroes'' to work on other projects. On April 28, 2009, director/producer
Greg Beeman
Greg Beeman (born 1962 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American film and television director and producer and winner of the Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.
He is well known for his work on the television ser ...
was fired by NBC.
Music
The series score is composed by
Wendy Melvoin
Wendy Ann Melvoin (born January 26, 1964) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Prince as part of his backing band The Revolution, and for her collaboration with Lisa Coleman as one half of the duo Wendy ...
and
Lisa Coleman, with music engineer Michael Perfitt and vocals provided by
Shankar Shankar may refer to:
People
* Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name
* Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer
* L. Shankar, Indian violinist
*S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar
* San ...
. Each episode averages 30–35 minutes of music. Melvoin and Coleman became involved with ''Heroes'' from their previous work with executive producer
Allan Arkush
Allan Arkush (born April 30, 1948) is an American director and producer of films, television and videos. He is a collaborator of Joe Dante.
Early life
Arkush grew up in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He graduated in 1966 from Fort Lee High School. His ...
.
Kring gave general instructions to the pair, including the emotion and direction for each character. Kring wanted incredibly unusual music and gave Melvoin and Coleman a lot of freedom and permission to experiment. In
the pilot
A pilot is a person who flies or navigates an aircraft.
Pilot or The Pilot may also refer to:
* Maritime pilot, a person who guides ships through hazardous waters
* Television pilot, a television episode used to sell a series to a television netw ...
episode, Kring suggested that a "dreamy" cue be used in the scene involving
Claire Bennet
Claire Bennet is a fictional character in the NBC psychological thriller superhero drama series '' Heroes''. She is portrayed by Hayden Panettiere and first appeared on television in the pilot episode of the series, "Genesis", on September 25, ...
running into a burning train. The "dreamy" cue became a signature piece of the show. Melvoin and Coleman developed musical cues for each character.
Claude Claude may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People and fictional characters
* Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Claude (surname), a list of people
* Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...
's theme involved wind and voices to create the feeling of a ghost-like presence.
Sylar
Sylar (Gabriel Gray) is a fictional character and a primary antagonist of the NBC superhero drama series ''Heroes''. Portrayed by Zachary Quinto, he is a super-powered serial killer who targets other Superhumans in order to steal their powers. H ...
's involves
marimba
The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...
s and
bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
s with
staccato
Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...
to re-create the sound of clocks ticking in reference to the character's power.
Matt Parkman's theme involves voices being played backwards when he uses his power of
telepathy
Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...
.
Peter Petrelli
Peter Petrelli, portrayed by Milo Ventimiglia, is a fictional superhero on the NBC superhero drama series Heroes. He is a hospice nurse-turned-paramedic in his mid-20s with the power to absorb and mimic the powers of other people with special ab ...
's theme involves
marcato
Marcato (short form: Marc.; Italian for ''marked'') is a musical instruction indicating a note, chord, or passage is to be played louder or more forcefully than the surrounding music. The instruction may involve the word ''marcato'' itself writt ...
strings.
Niki Sanders
Nicole Sanders is a fictional character portrayed by Ali Larter in the television series '' Heroes''. Niki is the wife of D. L. Hawkins (Leonard Roberts) and mother of Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabey). Niki, a sufferer of dissociative identity d ...
's theme was based on her character's alter-ego Jessica and involved winds and Indian voices chanting in an underscore to give a feeling that she was possessed.
Mohinder Suresh's theme is the piano composition that plays at the end of some episodes.
In 2007, the
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...
gave Melvoin and Coleman the Top Television Series award for their work on ''Heroes''. In France, the
theme music
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...
of ''Heroes'' is composed by Victoria Petrosillo.
Her song, "Le Héros d'un autre", is used by television network
TF1 to replace the show's original incidental music. The network created a new opening credit sequence so they could play Petrosillo's theme.
The official
''Heroes'' soundtrack was released on March 18, 2008, by The NBCUniversal Television, DVD, Music & Consumer Products Group. On February 29, 2008, the Group released five music videos created by Heroes producer/director
Allan Arkush
Allan Arkush (born April 30, 1948) is an American director and producer of films, television and videos. He is a collaborator of Joe Dante.
Early life
Arkush grew up in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He graduated in 1966 from Fort Lee High School. His ...
, each combining show footage with songs from the soundtrack. In September 2008, Melvoin and Coleman announced that they would be releasing ''
Heroes: Original Score'', an album consisting entirely of the score from ''Heroes''. It was released on April 14, 2009, by La-La Land Records.
Filming and visual effects
Eric Grenaudier and John Han of
Stargate Digital
Stargate Studios is an American post-production studio founded in 1989 by cinematographer and special visual effects supervisor Sam Nicholson.
It is a production company offering visual effects and production services to the film and television i ...
are the
visual effects supervisor
In the context of film and television production, a visual effects supervisor is responsible for achieving the creative aims of the director or producers through the use of visual effects.
While it is a creative role, most supervisors possess a st ...
s and Mark Spatny is the visual effects producer for ''Heroes''. They work with visual effects animators Anthony Ocampo and
Ryan Wieber
Ryan Wieber (born May 24, 1984) is a visual effects compositor and former amateur filmmaker, best known for creating short ''Star Wars''-related fan films featuring lightsaber duels, '' Ryan vs. Dorkman'' and its sequels, which he co-created wit ...
, who are also from Stargate.
The series
visual effects
Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of
a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production.
The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...
consist of
blue screens and 2D and 3D animation. The visual effects for the series are created after the scene is shot in post-production, unlike special effects, which are incorporated into the scenes during filming. Notable visual effects include radioactive Ted in "
Company Man
A company man in the petroleum industry refers to a representative of an operating/exploration company. Other terms that may be used are company representative, foreman, drill site supervisor (DSV), company consultant, rigsite leader or "well sit ...
",
Nathan
Nathan or Natan may refer to:
People
*Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name
*Nathan (surname)
*Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible
* Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David an ...
flying from
Mr. Bennet and
The Haitian
This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Heroes'', the ''Heroes'' graphic novels, and the ''Heroes'' webisodes.
Main characters
Character duration
In its inaugural season, ''Heroes'' featured an ensemble cast ...
in "
Hiros
HiROS (High Resolution Optical System) is a satellite system operating in the visible and near infra-red ( NIR) optical range with a 0.5 m ground resolution. It is developed by the German Aerospace Center and will allegedly be used for espionage pu ...
", and Hiro's time freezing encounter with the schoolgirl in the red bow in "
One Giant Leap
The NBC superhero serial drama series ''Heroes'' follows the lives of people across the globe who possess various superhuman powers as they struggle to cope with their everyday lives and prevent foreseen disasters from occurring. The series pre ...
".
The special effects were coordinated by Gary D'Amico. Stunts were coordinated by Ian Ouinn, who also used blue screens to accomplish some of the stunts in the series, such as Nathan Petrelli flying away from Heidi during the car accident scene in "
Six Months Ago
The NBC superhero serial drama series ''Heroes'' follows the lives of people across the globe who possess various superhuman powers as they struggle to cope with their everyday lives and prevent foreseen disasters from occurring. The series premi ...
". Principal filming for ''Heroes'' occurred in Los Angeles and
Santa Clarita, California
Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th ...
.
The Stargate Digital team were responsible for making Los Angeles look like international locations, such as India and
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, using blue screens and set designs by Ruth Ammon, production designer for the series. The series was recorded using a
single-camera setup
The single-camera setup, or single-camera mode of production, also known as portable single camera, is a method of filmmaking and video production.
The single-camera setup originally developed during the birth of the classical Hollywood cinema i ...
.
In keeping with the comic book thematic elements used on ''Heroes'', professional
comic book artists Tim Sale and
Alex Maleev
Alex Maleev (Bulgarian: Алекс Малеев) is a Bulgarian comic book illustrator, best known for the Marvel Comics' series '' Daredevil'' (vol. 2) with frequent collaborator Brian Michael Bendis.
Career
Coming from a fine arts background, M ...
were brought in to provide the artwork used within the series under the direction of Ruth Ammon, including the artwork of
Isaac Mendez
''Heroes'' is an American superhero drama television series created by Tim Kring that aired on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006, to February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover that they have supe ...
, and Mendez's
metafiction
Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...
al comic book series, ''9th Wonders!''. Additionally, the
font
In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design.
In mod ...
used in captions and credits for the show is reminiscent of
traditional hand-rendered comic book lettering. It was created by Sale and is based on his handwriting style. ''Heroes'' was designed by
production designer
In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...
Ruth Ammon. Ammon was nominated for her work on ''Heroes'' twice by the
Art Directors Guild
The Art Directors Guild (ADG; IATSE Local 800) is a trade union, labor union and local of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees, International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) representing 2,979 motion pic ...
and nominated for two Emmy Awards for excellence in art direction.
''Heroes: Origins''
On May 14, 2007, NBC announced that it would air a six-episode ''Heroes''
spin-off, ''Heroes: Origins'', during the 2007–08 season.
The show was to introduce a new character each week, and viewers were to select which one would stay for the following season of the regular series. The show was supposed to air after the completion of the second season of ''Heroes'' in April 2008;
however, on October 31, 2007, it was reported that ''Origins'' had been postponed because of the
Writers Guild of America strike. Kring stated in an interview that the first episode of ''Origins'' was to reveal the secrets and meanings behind the Helix symbol. However, because of the WGA Strike, Kring commented that the secret will have to be revealed down the line. Kring revealed that he was to write the first episode of ''Origins'', and that
John August
John August (born August 4, 1970) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is known for writing the films '' Go'' (1999), ''Charlie's Angels'' (2000), '' Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle'' (2003), '' Big Fish'' (2003), ' ...
had been hired to write another episode. Director
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film ''Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co ...
, a fan of ''Heroes'', was set to write and direct an episode for the spin-off, as were
Eli Roth
Eli Raphael Roth (born April 18, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. As a director and producer, he is most closely associated with the horror genre, having directed the films '' Cabin Fever'' (2003) and ''Hoste ...
and
Michael Dougherty
Michael Patrick Dougherty (born October 28, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and animator, best known for the cult horror film ''Trick 'r Treat'' (2007), and the monster film '' Godzilla: King of the Monsters'' (2019) ...
. On April 3, 2008, a day after NBC announced its 2008–2009 primetime schedule, Ben Silverman confirmed ''Origins''s cancellation.
Mythology
''Heroes'' includes some mysterious fictional recurring elements that have been ascribed to science fiction or
supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
phenomena. Kring and the creators of the series referred to these fictional elements as part of the
mythology
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
of the series. Kring confirmed that although the show has a unique mythology, he did not want to sink too deeply into it. Rather, Kring used volumes to wrap up ongoing plot lines instead of carrying storylines over long periods of time as in ''Lost''. Among the show's mythological elements are the Company, the legend of Takezo Kensei, paintings of the future, superpowers and their origins, the Shanti virus, ''9th Wonders!'' comic book, and numerous other elements and mythological themes.
Response
Critical reception
Season one received highly positive reviews. During the season, the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Leade ...
named ''Heroes'' one of the ten "best television programs of the year." Doug Elfman of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' stated, "the show's super strengths are its well-developed filmmaking, smooth pacing and a perfect cast. It views like the first hour of a fun, thoughtful movie." Barry Garron at ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' also stated, "''Heroes'' is one of TV's most imaginative creations and might, with luck, become this year's ''Lost''." Less favorable reviews included ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
'', who commented that although the show had lots of "cool effects," it "lands, splat, in a pile of nonsense and dim dialogue." In response to the first pod of season one episodes, The ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' went as far as saying, "you could watch the first few episodes of ''Heroes'', or you could repeatedly hit yourself on the head with a brick. The effect is surprisingly similar." At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the ''Heroes'' pilot received a 67/100, with generally favorable reviews from critics.
The show was declared the fourth highest rated show for the first ten years of
IMDbPro
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
(2002–2012).
Season two received generally positive reviews, but was criticized by commentators and fans for a much slower pace, less engaging storyline and lack of focus compared to the first season.
Milo Ventimiglia
Milo Anthony Ventimiglia (, ; born July 8, 1977) is an American actor. Making his screen acting debut on ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' in 1995, he portrayed the lead role on the short-lived series '' Opposite Sex'' in 2000 before landing his br ...
stated that "when there's a little bit of a delay, there's not that instant, rewarding scene or moment or episode... people get impatient, so it has been extremely important for them to strike a balance between giving and getting." In an interview with ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'', ''Heroes'' creator Tim Kring commented on criticisms of season two, and the series' 15% decline in ratings.
Kring said that he felt he had made mistakes with the direction of season two. He had thought that the audience was looking for a "build-up of characters and the discovery of their powers", when viewers were instead looking for "adrenaline." Kring also outlined what he felt were problems with plot development, stating that season two "took too long to get to the big-picture story", explaining that
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
's vision of the viral
armageddon
According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
should have occurred in the first episode instead of the seventh. He feels that it would have been better to introduce new characters within the context of the main storyline, as with
Elle
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...
, rather than in unattached arcs such as that of
Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...
and Alejandro. Kring also admitted that he should have resolved the "Hiro in Japan" storyline much more quickly, and that the romantic stories were not working well. With regard to
Claire
Clair or Claire may refer to:
*Claire (given name), a list of people with the name Claire
* Clair (surname)
Places
Canada
* Clair, New Brunswick, a former village, now part of Haut-Madawaska
* Clair Parish, New Brunswick
* Pointe-Claire, Q ...
and West, and Hiro and Yaeko, he said, "I've seen more convincing romances on TV. In retrospect, I don't think romance is a natural fit for us."
For season 3, ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' said "Even just a half-hour in, it's difficult not to wish everyone would just lighten the heck up. The graphic novel noir feel is becoming increasingly oppressive, and everyone is just so grim."
''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' wrote "This show, which was once so thrilling and fun, has become full of itself, its characters spouting crazy nonsense."
[
]
Awards and nominations
By the time ''Heroes'' completed the first half of the first season, the show had already collected an assortment of honors and accolades. On December 13, 2006, the Writers Guild of America nominated the program for "best new series" of 2007. On December 14, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated the program for a Golden Globe Award for "best television drama", and nominated Masi Oka
is a Japanese actor, producer, and digital effects artist who became widely known for starring in NBC's ''Heroes'' as Hiro Nakamura and in CBS's ''Hawaii Five-0'' as Doctor Max Bergman.
Early life
Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Setsuko Oka. Hi ...
(Hiro Nakamura
is a fictional superhero on the NBC superhero drama '' Heroes'' who possesses the ability of space-time manipulation. This means that Hiro is able to alter the flow of time, teleport and time travel. In the show, he is played by Japanese actor M ...
) for Best Supporting Actor on a TV Series. On January 9, 2007, ''Heroes'' won the award for Favorite New TV Drama at the 33rd People's Choice Awards. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People nominated ''Heroes'' on January 9, 2007, for an Image Award in the "Outstanding Drama Series" category. On February 21, 2007, ''Heroes'' was nominated for five Saturn Awards. The nominations included "Best Network Television Series", "Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series" for both Greg Grunberg
Gregory Phillip Grunberg (born July 11, 1966) is an American film and television actor best known for starring as Eric Weiss in the ABC series ''Alias'', Matt Parkman in the NBC series ''Heroes'', Temmin "Snap" Wexley in '' Star Wars: The Forc ...
and Masi Oka
is a Japanese actor, producer, and digital effects artist who became widely known for starring in NBC's ''Heroes'' as Hiro Nakamura and in CBS's ''Hawaii Five-0'' as Doctor Max Bergman.
Early life
Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Setsuko Oka. Hi ...
, and "Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series" for Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Lesley Panettiere (; born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, model, and singer. She is best known for her lead roles as Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' and Juliette Barnes in the Am ...
and Ali Larter
Alison Elizabeth Larter (born February 28, 1976) is an American actress and model. She portrayed fictional model Allegra Coleman in a 1996 ''Esquire'' magazine hoax and took on guest roles on several television shows in the 1990s. She made her ...
. On February 22, 2008, it was announced that ''Heroes'' was again nominated for five Saturn Awards. The nominations for 2008 include "Best Network Television Series," "Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series" for both Greg Grunberg and Masi Oka, "Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series" for Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Lesley Panettiere (; born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, model, and singer. She is best known for her lead roles as Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' and Juliette Barnes in the Am ...
, and "Best Television Series on DVD." The 2008 nominations are similar to the 2007 nominations, except Ali Larter was not nominated this year; instead the ''Heroes'' Season one DVD was nominated, in a different category.
On July 19, 2007, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced their nominations for the 2007 Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Heroes'' was nominated in eight categories, including Outstanding Drama Series. The first episode, "Genesis (Heroes), Genesis", earned six nominations: Outstanding Directing (David Semel), Outstanding Art Direction for a Single-Camera Series, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series, and Outstanding Stunt Coordination. The episode "Five Years Gone" also received a nomination for Outstanding Visual Effects for a Series. Masi Oka
is a Japanese actor, producer, and digital effects artist who became widely known for starring in NBC's ''Heroes'' as Hiro Nakamura and in CBS's ''Hawaii Five-0'' as Doctor Max Bergman.
Early life
Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Setsuko Oka. Hi ...
was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. On September 16, 2007, the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards were held and ''Heroes'' failed to win a single Emmy award despite the eight nominations. On July 21, 2007, the Television Critics Association awarded ''Heroes'' with the prestigious Outstanding Program of the Year title during their 23rd Annual TCA Awards ceremony. The cast of ''Heroes'' was named in the 2006 ''Time'' magazine's Time Magazine Person of the Year, Person of the Year issue under "People Who Mattered".
Ratings
The pilot episode generated 14.3 million viewers, with the season high topping out at 16.03 million viewers for Homecoming (Heroes), episode 9. When the series returned from hiatus on January 22, 2007, the ratings averaged about the same as the pilot with 14.9 million viewers. When the show went on a second hiatus during the first season, from March 4, 2007, to April 23, 2007 (7 weeks), ratings hit a new low; the lowest being 11.14 million viewers during part one of the three part finale, "The Hard Part." In season two, the opener gained the highest rating of the entire series, however, week-by-week, the ratings declined, reaching another new low for the series on episode seven, "Out of Time (Heroes), Out of Time", with only 9.87 million viewers. Although the ratings were lower than average, this episode was considered to be a turning point for the declining season, as a major plot twist was introduced and the volume's "big picture storyline" was presented. The season two/volume 2 finale generated 11.06 million viewers in the ratings, down more than 3 million viewers from the season opener and series pilot.
While the show premiered with high ratings, ratings slowly diminished throughout its run. The first episode of season two was the highest viewed, whereas each successive season had fewer viewers than the one preceding it.
Season three of ''Heroes'' started with strong ratings that dropped steadily throughout the season. The season's finale placed last in its timeslot.
The season four premiere of ''Heroes'' was the lowest rated episode of the series to that point, averaging 5.9 million viewers. Despite the season's low ratings, executive producer Tim Kring was "fully expecting" a fifth season. However, while creator Kring was hopeful over the show's future, many media insiders were not so confident. There was growing speculation on some news sites that NBC would cancel the series at the conclusion of its fourth season or that it might renew the show for a fifth and final season by ordering either 6 or 13 episodes and possibly airing them as a backup or mid-season replacement. On May 14, 2010, NBC made it official that ''Heroes'' was indeed cancelled.
Promotions and fandom
Following the debut of ''Heroes'' in 2006, the tagline ''Save the Cheerleader, Save the World'' was recognized within the television industry as an effective marketing device. In 2006, NBC also created a ''Heroes'' parody titled ''Zeroes''. ''Zeroes'', which was released as a viral video on sites including YouTube, features parodies including four chapters and an open audition. Development and production of the project was kept secret from Kring. NBC hosted panels at the 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International, Comic-Cons in San Diego to promote the series. Major announcements have been made during the panel, along with sneak peeks of forthcoming seasons. In 2006, the ''Heroes'' panel presented the entire season one 72-minute pilot. In 2008 the first half of the season three premiere was shown. Comic-Con also allows the cast and crew to answer questions from the press and from fans. On July 21, 2007, Kring announced that cast and crew members of ''Heroes'' would travel the world for the ''Heroes World Tour'' to promote the season one DVD release and the forthcoming season two. The tour took place in North America (New York and Toronto), Asia (Singapore, Tokyo, and Hong Kong) and Europe (Munich, Paris and London). The tour began on August 26, and ended on September 1, 2007. The post-hardcore bands Alesana and I See Stars have both respectively named songs after the show, "This Is Usually the Part Where People Scream" and "Save the Cheerleader".
Distribution
Home media
The first DVD release of ''Heroes'' was a sampler disc, containing only the first episode, and was released in Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the UK on September 3, 2007. UK Region 2 split ''Heroes'' into two-halves on its initial release; part one being released on October 1, 2007, and part two on December 10, 2007. When the second part was released, a complete first season boxset was also released on the same day on both DVD and HD DVD formats The complete first season DVD includes nearly 3 hours of bonus features including: an extended 73-minute version of the pilot episode with audio commentary; 50 deleted and extended scenes; behind the scenes featurettes, including the making of Heroes, stunts, a profile of artist Tim Sale, and the score; and audio commentaries with cast, crew and Kring. On February 22, 2008, the ''Heroes'' Season One DVD was nominated for a 2008 Saturn Award, in the category of "Best Television Series on DVD." The complete first season was released in USA and Canada on August 28, 2007. It was released in Australia and New Zealand on September 17, 2007.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that the first and second seasons would be released on Blu-ray on August 26, 2008, the same date as the DVD release of the second season. Specifications and bonus features include: Generations Alternate Ending; Inside the Alternate Ending: What if Peter didn't catch the virus?; untold stories that didn't make it on air; Season three sneak peek; deleted scenes; a documentary on Takezo Kensei; behind the scenes featurettes; NBC.com featurettes; and audio commentaries with cast, crew and show creator Tim Kring. The complete second season was released on July 28, 2008, in the UK. Season 2 was released on October 1, 2008, in New Zealand and Australia.
The Season 3 DVD Box set was released in North America on September 1, 2009, and in Australia on September 2, 2009, with an alternative cover, and in the UK on October 12, 2009.
The Season 4 DVD Box set was released on August 3, 2010, in the US and on October 4, 2010, in the UK.
The Complete Series DVD Box set was released on November 16, 2010, in the US.
International
In Canada, ''Heroes'' episodes run concurrently with the NBC first-run on the Global Television Network, Mondays at 10 p.m. ET. A Canadian French-dubbed version of season one also airs on TVA (Canadian TV network), TVA, Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. and two episodes of season two on Mystère (addikTV), Mondays at 8:00 p.m.
The first season aired in Australia on the Seven Network Wednesday nights at 8:30 p.m. The series debuted strongly, attracting more than 2 million viewers in five of the capital cities. To keep viewer numbers high the Seven Network began showing the second season on Thursday nights at 9:30 p.m. across all areas, a week after the US screening. The third season began airing on October 9, 2008, and Volume 4 began airing on April 23, 2009. Because of low ratings, it was pushed back half-an-hour to 11:00 p.m. after ''Scrubs (TV series), Scrubs'' and the season concluded July 9, 2009. The Sci Fi Channel (Australia), Sci-Fi (available through Foxtel, Optus TV and Austar) screened season two re-runs in late 2009. From June 2010, season three is screening on the Sci-Fi Channel in Australia. Season four aired, approximately one month behind the US, on Seven's new digital channel 7Two, on November 4, 2009, at the new time of Wednesdays 8:30 p.m. It started with the double premiere and had double episode runs instead of one episode a week, until it caught up to the US, after that it began to air episodes once a week at 8:30 p.m. It currently airs on Thursdays 9:30 p.m. on 7Two.
In the United Kingdom, the series first aired on February 19, 2007, on digital television, digital channel Syfy (UK and Ireland), Sci Fi UK. The series averaged 450,000 viewers, which is almost four times more viewers than those of other programs on Sci Fi UK. The series was then picked up by the BBC, which gave season one its terrestrial television, terrestrial premiere from July 25 to December 5, 2007, on BBC Two. Season two of Heroes first aired from April 24 to July 3, 2008, on BBC Two, attracting around 3.7 million viewers. Season three began on October 1, 2008, and gained 3.81 million viewers. Season four began on January 9, 2010, but viewership as of February 8 had declined to just 0.74 million.
In Indonesia, Season 1 aired on Trans TV on weeknights starting from January 31, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. Western Indonesian Time, WIB. All subsequent seasons aired on Trans7 on Wednesdays starting from August 6, 2007, at 8:00 p.m. WIB.
Merchandise
Ubisoft announced that they had licensed the rights to produce a ''Heroes'' video game; however, the company later chose to give the rights back to NBCUniversal. Gameloft released the first ''Heroes'' mobile game on October 5, 2007. It consists of 8 levels and playable characters include Hiro Nakamura
is a fictional superhero on the NBC superhero drama '' Heroes'' who possesses the ability of space-time manipulation. This means that Hiro is able to alter the flow of time, teleport and time travel. In the show, he is played by Japanese actor M ...
, Niki Sanders
Nicole Sanders is a fictional character portrayed by Ali Larter in the television series '' Heroes''. Niki is the wife of D. L. Hawkins (Leonard Roberts) and mother of Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabey). Niki, a sufferer of dissociative identity d ...
and Peter Petrelli
Peter Petrelli, portrayed by Milo Ventimiglia, is a fictional superhero on the NBC superhero drama series Heroes. He is a hospice nurse-turned-paramedic in his mid-20s with the power to absorb and mimic the powers of other people with special ab ...
.
Each week, NBC released a List of Heroes graphic novels, ''Heroes'' webcomic. The comics gave additional character background and plot information not shown in the television episodes. The graphic novels continued on a weekly basis during the show's 2007 summer hiatus. Wildstorm, a subsidiary of DC Comics, released them in published form on November 7, 2007. The first collected volume included novels 1–34, and featured two different covers by Alex Ross and Jim Lee as well as an introduction by Masi Oka
is a Japanese actor, producer, and digital effects artist who became widely known for starring in NBC's ''Heroes'' as Hiro Nakamura and in CBS's ''Hawaii Five-0'' as Doctor Max Bergman.
Early life
Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Setsuko Oka. Hi ...
and artwork by Tim Sale. The second volume included 35–80. It has an advertisement for a third volume, that would at least have 81–103, and more, and it was scheduled for fall 2009. For unknown reasons, it missed this deadline and has not been released.
On December 26, 2007, the first ''Heroes'' novel was published, titled ''Heroes: Saving Charlie, Saving Charlie''. Written by Aury Wallington, who wrote the book with the full cooperation of the ''Heroes'' writing staff, the novel revolves around the relationship of Hiro Nakamura
is a fictional superhero on the NBC superhero drama '' Heroes'' who possesses the ability of space-time manipulation. This means that Hiro is able to alter the flow of time, teleport and time travel. In the show, he is played by Japanese actor M ...
and Charlie Andrews (Heroes), Charlie Andrews, when Hiro went back in time six months to attempt to save her.
Titan Magazines released the first issue of ''Heroes Magazine'' on November 20, 2007. It is the first of a series of six, slated to be released bi-monthly. The first issue is a 100-page premiere issue. Feature articles include a cast group interview, a secret origins featurette, and a season one episode guide. Greg Beeman
Greg Beeman (born 1962 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American film and television director and producer and winner of the Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.
He is well known for his work on the television ser ...
, executive producer of ''Heroes'' has confirmed that this is an official ''Heroes'' release, with the full support and cooperation of Tim Kring
Richard Timothy Kring (born July 9, 1957) is an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his creation of the drama series '' Strange World'', ''Crossing Jordan'', '' Heroes'', and ''Touch''.
Early life
Kring was born in El D ...
and the rest of the ''Heroes'' production team. The magazine ceased publication with the twelfth issue.
Mezco announced at Toy Fair 2007 that they would be producing a line of action figures based on the television show ''Heroes''. The first series, ''Series I'', includes Peter Petrelli
Peter Petrelli, portrayed by Milo Ventimiglia, is a fictional superhero on the NBC superhero drama series Heroes. He is a hospice nurse-turned-paramedic in his mid-20s with the power to absorb and mimic the powers of other people with special ab ...
, Claire Bennet
Claire Bennet is a fictional character in the NBC psychological thriller superhero drama series '' Heroes''. She is portrayed by Hayden Panettiere and first appeared on television in the pilot episode of the series, "Genesis", on September 25, ...
, Hiro Nakamura
is a fictional superhero on the NBC superhero drama '' Heroes'' who possesses the ability of space-time manipulation. This means that Hiro is able to alter the flow of time, teleport and time travel. In the show, he is played by Japanese actor M ...
, Sylar
Sylar (Gabriel Gray) is a fictional character and a primary antagonist of the NBC superhero drama series ''Heroes''. Portrayed by Zachary Quinto, he is a super-powered serial killer who targets other Superhumans in order to steal their powers. H ...
and Mohinder Suresh. The second series, ''Series II'', includes Niki Sanders
Nicole Sanders is a fictional character portrayed by Ali Larter in the television series '' Heroes''. Niki is the wife of D. L. Hawkins (Leonard Roberts) and mother of Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabey). Niki, a sufferer of dissociative identity d ...
/Jessica Sanders, Noah Bennet
This is a list of fictional characters in the television series ''Heroes'', the ''Heroes'' graphic novels, and the ''Heroes'' webisodes.
Main characters
Character duration
In its inaugural season, ''Heroes'' featured an ensemble cast ...
, Daniel Linderman, Matt Parkman (with Molly Walker) and Claude Claude may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People and fictional characters
* Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Claude (surname), a list of people
* Claude Lorrain (c. 1600–1682), French landscape painter, draughtsman and etcher ...
.
Multimedia
Television and radio
''Heroes Unmasked'' is a series on BBC that goes behind-the-scenes of the production of ''Heroes''. Many details of ''Heroes'' are revealed. Among them are props, set design, blue and green screen animation, and special effects and costuming. The first two series of this show were narrated by Anthony Head, the third by Santiago Cabrera. U.S. network G4 (U.S. TV channel), G4 began airing ''Heroes'' episodes on November 3, 2007, along with an American version of ''Heroes Unmasked'' titled ''The Post Show''. The series, which will air following ''Heroes'', includes interviews, live viewer commentary, interactive polls, behind-the-scenes footage and other ''Heroes'' content. U.S. Network MOJO HD also aired ''Heroes'' episodes in High Definition. However, that network left the air at the start of December 2008, and on the day and date of MOJO's discontinuation G4 launched their HD simulcast feed, thus now carrying the show in both regular and high definition forms.
In November 2007, the BBC made four short '2 Dimensional' films where actors from the series look through a '2' shaped hole into a room that reflects the character they play in ''Heroes''. A new short was revealed just before episode one of season three aired on BBC2, featuring Masi Oka
is a Japanese actor, producer, and digital effects artist who became widely known for starring in NBC's ''Heroes'' as Hiro Nakamura and in CBS's ''Hawaii Five-0'' as Doctor Max Bergman.
Early life
Oka was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Setsuko Oka. Hi ...
staring into an anime-styled montage of Hiro.
BBC7 radio broadcast "Heroes—The Official Radio Show" with Jon Holmes, every Saturday at 7:30 on BBC7 DAB digital radio. The program was also available as a podcast.
Internet and digital extensions
The ''Heroes'' production team also has official series content on the internet. Writers Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite hold a "Question and Answer" column hosted by Comic Book Resources titled "Behind the Eclipse". Show producer and director Greg Beeman
Greg Beeman (born 1962 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American film and television director and producer and winner of the Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.
He is well known for his work on the television ser ...
also posts weekly on his blog where he discusses how the episode is filmed and gives spoilers for the upcoming episode.
'' Heroes Evolutions'', released on January 19, 2007, is a digital extension of the series that explores the ''Heroes'' universe and provides clues to the show's mythology. It was titled ''Heroes 360 Experience'' throughout the first season and rebranded for the second season. ''Heroes Interactive'' is an interactive web page that began operation on January 29, 2007, during the airing of "The Fix (Heroes), The Fix". Hosted at NBC.com, it offers behind the scenes information, polls, trivia, and quizzes, as well as recent posts by Hana Gitelman. The features air once a week, and are designed to be viewed concurrently with that week's episode.
Complete episodes of ''Heroes'' are available online, to US residents only, along with downloads through the "NBC Direct" service. Episodes are also available on iTunes in 720p High Definition, although they were unavailable for a few months when NBC and Apple Inc. were unable to come to a renewal deal. Seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4 are currently available for streaming via subscription on Netflix, Amazon Video, and Hulu Plus.
NBC Universal announced on April 2, 2008, that NBC Digital Entertainment would release a series on online content for the summer and fall of 2008, including more original web content and webisodes
A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available as either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or c ...
. ''Heroes'' webisodes are expected to air through an extension of the ''Heroes Evolutions'' in July. Other media and digital extensions announced include an online manhunts for the villains, the addition of more micro sites that allow the users to uncover more of the ''Heroes'' universe, wireless iTV interactivity and the ability to view the graphic novel on mobile platforms.
''Create Your Hero'' is a fan-based, interactive promotion on NBC.com, which calls upon Heroes fans to vote on various personalities and physical attributes for the creation of a new hero. The new hero "[comes] to life" in an original, live-action series run exclusively on NBC.com. The promotion is sponsored by Sprint Nextel, Sprint. The first hero created by this process, Santiago, has the dual powers of enhanced probability and superhuman speed. He began appearing in the live-action web series, ''Heroes: Destiny'', on November 10, 2008 (sweeps week). On October 18, 2008, Heroes Wiki announced that it had officially partnered with NBC. NBC now directs those interested in a wiki on ''Heroes'' to Heroes Wiki, and directly funds the site in exchange for the site running advertisements for the network.
Legal issues
On March 19, 2007, Clifton Mallery and Amnau Karam Eele filed suit against NBC and Tim Kring claiming that the idea for Isaac Mendez, who can paint the future was stolen from a short story, painting and short film that they had produced. The suit was dismissed. On December 11, 2007, the ''New York Law Journal'' reported on ''Mallery v. NBC Universal'', quoting from Southern District Judge Denise Cote's opinion that "the line between mere 'ideas' and protected 'expression' is 'famously difficult to fix precisely'", and stating that ''Heroes'' was not close to infringing.Smack Talk: Heroes Accused of Thievery
/ref>
See also
* 2006 in American television
References
External links
*
''9th Wonders!''
nbsp;– Semi-official site from ''Heroes'' creator Tim Kring
*
{{Authority control
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