User:El Sandifer/Heroes

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Heroes
The logo for the series featuring a solar eclipse.
GenreDrama
Science fiction
Serial (radio and television)
Created byTim Kring
Developed byTim Kring
StarringDavid Anders
Kristen Bell
Santiago Cabrera
Jack Coleman
Tawny Cypress
Dana Davis
Noah Gray-Cabey
Greg Grunberg
Ali Larter
James Kyson Lee
Masi Oka
Hayden Panettiere
Adrian Pasdar
Zachary Quinto
Sendhil Ramamurthy
Dania Ramírez
Leonard Roberts
Milo Ventimiglia
ComposersWendy Melvoin &
Lisa Coleman
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes34 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersTim Kring
Dennis Hammer
Allan Arkush
Greg Beeman
Production locationLos Angeles
Camera setupPanavision
Running timeApprox. 42 minutes
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 25, 2006 (2006-09-25) –
present

Heroes is an United States|American science fiction serial drama television series created by Tim Kring, which premiered on NBC on September 25, 2006.[1] The series tells the stories of ordinary individuals who discover that they have Superpower (ability)|superhuman abilities, and also explores how these people adapt to the changes these abilities bring, and their roles in preventing Disaster|catastrophes and saving humanity. The series emulates the aesthetic style and storytelling of American comic books, using short, multi-episode story arcs that build upon a larger, more encompassing arc. Kring and the writers have an idea of where the series is heading for the first five seasons.[2] The series is produced by Universal Media Studios in association with Tailwind Productions,[3] and it is filmed primarily in Los Angeles, California.[4] The executive producers are Allan Arkush, Dennis Hammer, Greg Beeman and Tim Kring. In addition to the main series, a number of alternate venues for advancing the story have been pursued, including comics and online episodes.

Plot[edit]

For more information, see Episodes.

The plot of Heroes is designed to be similar to the stories of comic books with small story arcs built into the series' overall large story arc plot. Each season of Heroes is designed to involve ordinary people who discover extraordinary powers, and how these abilities affect the character's day-to-day lives. The first season introduces the main characters, and deals with their efforts to prevent a nuclear explosion in New York City. The second deals with the legacy of a past generation of heroes, and witht he threat of a virus being unleashed that will decimate humanity. A third season premieres in the fall of 2008.

Mythology[edit]

For more information, see Mythology.

Heroes includes a number of mysterious fictional elements that have been ascribed to science fiction or supernatural phenomena. Tim Kring and the creators of the series refer to these fictional elements as part of the mythology of the series. Kring confirmed that although the show does have a unique mythology, he does not want to sink too deeply into it. Rather, Kring has used volumes to wrap-up ongoing plot lines, rather than carrying storylines over long periods of time, as in Lost (TV series)|Lost.[5] As far as the overall mythology of the series, Kring said, "we have talked about where the show goes up to five seasons."[2][6] As far as the show's ending date, Kring has commented that, "This show doesn't posit an ending…" The show does not have a designated ending point and is "open-ended."[7]

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.

Cast and characters[edit]

For more information, see: Characters

Originally, Kring designed the series to have an ever-shifting cast. However, his motivation changed when he realized how big the original cast hit with audiences; therefore he brought back most of the first season cast for the second season, with a few additions who received a star billing (film)|billing.[8] In its first season, the show featured an ensemble cast of twelve main characters making it the third largest cast in American primetime television behind Desperate Housewives and Lost (TV Series)|Lost.

Zachary Quinto and James Kyson Lee, who were recurring cast members in the first season, joined the main cast for the second season.[9][10] They were joined by new cast members David Anders,[11] Kristen Bell,[12] Dana Davis[13] and Dania Ramírez.[14] Anders was originally cast for a recurring role, and was upgraded to a series regular before the season began. He was listed as a guest star until the fifth episode of season two, when he was then listed as a main cast member.[11][15] At the start of season two Santiago Cabrera, Tawny Cypress, and Leonard Roberts were no longer listed as part of the main cast,[16] although Leonard Roberts' character appeared in season two as a guest starring role.[17] The series also features many guest and recurring characters, including friends and family of the main cast, criminals and villains, and other individuals with superhuman abilities.

Casting[edit]

Tim Kring describes the casting process as an "incredibly simple and easy process."[18] Every actor and actress that production wanted to cast for the show came in and read for their respective parts.[18] When List of Heroes production crew|Jason La Padura, the casting director for Heroes, is casting for a new character for the show, major or minor, his company puts out a script breakdown, which is an analysis of a screenplay or script, which includes several production elements for the potential actors. Padura's company then receives resumes and photos and looks for potential actors to cast. When it comes to guest stars, Padura states, "we need to really be able to see what the people have done, what they're about, we pay a lot of attention to people's training, their previous credits.[19] La Padura says that casting co-stars is an easier process, and can be done through an online service used by casting directors. When it comes to well-known actors, Padura submits their names, and if production are interested, they may offer a role that was already planned or write-in a new role for that actor.[19]

Production[edit]

Conception[edit]

Heroes began development during television pilot|pilot season in 2006, when Tim Kring, then creator of NBC's Crossing Jordan, came up with the show's concept. Kring wanted to create a "large ensemble cast|ensemble 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, medical, or Lost (TV series)|Lost-type drama did not have characters that were big enough to save the world. He came up with the thought of superheroes; ordinary people who would discover extraordinary abilities, while still rooted in the real world and in reality. Milo Ventimiglia described the pilot as a "character drama about everyday people with a heightened reality." Kring wanted the series to have touchstones that involved the characters and the world they lived in.[18][20]

Before he began putting his ideas together, he spoke with Lost executive producer Damon Lindelof, with whom he had worked with 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 Serial (radio and television)|serialized drama. The two still speak and support each other's projects.[21][22][23] When Kring pitched the idea for Heroes to the NBC network, he described the network's reaction as "excited...very supportive."[24] He comments that he has been partners with NBC for some time based on his six year run as showrunner for Crossing Jordan.[24] When he pitched the pilot, he described every detail, including the cliffhanger|cliffhanger ending. When NBC executives asked him what was going to happen next, Kring responded, "Well, you’ll just have to wait and find out."[25] After the project was greenlight|greenlit, a special 73-minute version of the pilot was first screened to a large audience at the 2006 Comic Con in San Diego.[26] It was initially reported that this unaired pilot would not be released, however it was included on the first season DVD set.[27]

Writing and episode format[edit]

When the writing team works on an episode, each writer takes a character and writes the individual scenes surrounding them. These stories are then combined and given to the episode writer. This system allows every writer to contribute to every episode.[28] and enables the writing team to finish scripts sooner, so the filming crew can shoot more scenes at a location.[25] Tim Kring describes the writing process as a collaborative one and states that the collaboration process is important because production needs to shoot several scenes at a single location. In order to do this, several scripts have to be ready. Jesse Alexander, co-producer and writer, explains that this process is important in a serialized drama because one has to know where each character's development is heading.[25]

Episodes have a distinct structure: following a recap of relevant events, each show begins with a cold open, which is sometimes the beginning of a scene that was introduced in the previous week's episode. At a dramatic juncture, the screen cuts to the title graphic, which is an eclipse of the sun by the earth, with the Heroes logo and a musical interlude. The opening credits generally appear alphabetically by last name over the scenes that immediately follow. Several characters' stories are shown throughout the episode. Sometimes these stories are stand alone events, while at other times character stories intertwine and cross over. Most episodes end with a suspenseful twist ending|twist or cliffhanger,[29] revealed just seconds before a smash cut to a "to be continued" graphic.

Music[edit]

Music from the first season is composed by Wendy and Lisa| Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, with music engineer Michael Perfitt[30] and vocals provided by Shenkar. Each episode averages thirty to thirty-five minutes of music, played entirely by Melvoin and Coleman themselves and is produced on three Intel Macs and a hard raid system.[31] Melvoin and Coleman became involved with Heroes from their previous work with executive producer Allan Arkush.[31] Tim Kring, gave general instructions to the pair, including the emotion and direction for each character. Kring wanted incredibly unusual music and gave Wendy and Lisa a lot of freedom and permission to experiment. In Genesis (Heroes)|the pilot episode, Kring suggested that a dreamy cue be used in the scene involving Claire Bennet running into a burning train. The dreamy cue has since become "a signature piece of the show."

Melvoin and Coleman developed specific musical cues for each character. Claude (Heroes)|Claude's theme involved wind and voices to create the feeling of a ghost-like presence. Hiro Nakamura's involves marimbas and bassoons with staccato 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. Peter Petrelli's theme involves marcato strings. Niki Sanders' theme was based on her character's alter-ego named 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, and Sylar's theme is the sound of a clock.[31]

In 2007, the ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards gave Wendy and Lisa the "Top Television Series" award for their work on Heroes.[32] In France, the theme music 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 in order to play Petrosillo's theme song.[33] The Rogue Wave (band)| Rogue Wave song "Eyes" from the Just Friends soundtrack|Just Friends soundtrack is featured in the first season episodes "Genesis" and "Collision".[34]

Soundtrack[edit]

For more information, see Soundtrack

The official soundtrack was released on March 18, 2008 by The NBC Universal|NBC Universal Television, DVD, Music & Consumer Products Group.

Filming and visual effects[edit]

Hiro Nakamura reads the 9th Wonders! comic he picks up in the future.

Mark Kolpack of Stargate designs, is the visual effects supervisor and Mark Spatny[35] is the visual effects producer for Heroes. They work with visual effects animators Anthony Ocampo and Ryan Wieber, who are also from Stargate.[18][36] The series visual effects 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.[37] Notable visual effects that Kolpack has pointed out include radioactive Claire Bennet|Claire in "Company Man", Nathan Petrelli|Nathan flying from Noah Bennet|Mr. Bennet and The Haitian in "Hiros", and Hiro's time freezing encounter with the schoolgirl in the red bow in "One Giant Leap".[18] The special effects are coordinated by Gary D'Amico. Stunts are coordinated by Ian Ouinn, who also uses 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". Principal filming for Heroes take place in Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles and Santa Clarita, California|Santa Clarita, California.[4] Kolpack and his team are also responsible for making Los Angeles look like international locations, such as India and Ukraine, using blue screens and set designs by Ruth Ammon, production designer for the series.[38] The series is filmed using a single-camera setup.

In keeping with the comic book thematic elements used on Heroes, professional Comics artist|comic book artist Tim Sale (artist)|Tim Sale was brought in to provide the artwork used within the series, including the Artwork of Isaac Mendez|artwork of Isaac Mendez, and Mendez metafictional comic book series, the 9th Wonders!.[39] Additionally, the font used in captions and credits for the show is reminiscent of Letterer|traditional hand-rendered comic book lettering. It was created by Sale and is based on his handwriting style.[40]

Critical reception[edit]

The first season of Heroes was widely praised, and garnered numerous awards nominations from various organizations, as well as substantial critical acclaim. Reactions to the second season were more mixed.

Awards and nominations[edit]

When Heroes completed the first half of the first season, the show had already collected an assortment of honors and accolades. On December 10, 2006, the American Film Institute named Heroes one of the ten "best television programs of the year."[41] On December 13, 2006, the Writers Guild of America nominated the program for "best new series" of 2007.[42] On December 14, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated the program for a Golden Globe Award for "best television drama", and nominated Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura) for Best Supporting Actor on a TV Series.[43] On January 9, 2007, Heroes won the award for Favorite New TV Drama at the 33rd People's Choice Awards.[44] 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.[45] On February 21, 2007, it was announced that 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 and Masi Oka, and "Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series" for Hayden Panettiere and Ali Larter.[46] 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 Penettiere, and "Best Television Series on DVD." The 2008 nomination are almost similar to the 2007 nomination, except Ali Larter was not nominated this year; instead the Heroes Season one DVD was nominated, in a different category.[46]

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 was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.[47] 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.[48] The cast of Heroes was named in the 2006 Time (magazine)|Time Magazine's Person of the Year issue under "People Who Mattered".[49]

Comments from critics[edit]

Doug Elfman of the Chicago Sun-Times 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 The Hollywood Reporter also stated, ""Heroes" is one of TV's most imaginative creations and might, with luck, become this year's Lost."[50] Less favorable reviews included the Philadelphia Inquirer, 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 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."[51] At Metacritic, the Heroes pilot received a 67/100, with generally favorable reviews from critics.[52]

Season 2[edit]

The second season of Heroes was criticized by commentators and fans for a much slower pace, less engaging storyline and lack of focus compared to the first season.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Heroes creator Tim Kring commented on criticisms of season two, and the series' 15% decline in ratings.[53] 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", in contrast to season one, when viewers were instead looking for "adrenaline."

Kring also outlined what he felt were problems with plot development, stating that the second season "took too long to get to the big-picture story", explaining that Peter's vision of the viral armageddon 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 (Heroes)|Elle, rather than in unattached arcs such as that of Maya and Alejandro. Kring also admitted that he should have resolved the "Hiro in Japan" storyline much more quickly, and that the romantic stories are not working well. With regards to Claire 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."[53]

Ratings[edit]

Seasonal USA rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Heroes on NBC:

Season Timeslot (EDT) Premiere Finale TV season Rank Viewers

(in millions)

Adults

18-49

List of Heroes episodes|1 Monday 9:00PM

September 25, 2006 May 21, 2007 2006–2007 #21 14.3 8.0
List of Heroes episodes|2 Monday 9:00PM

September 24, 2007 December 3, 2007 2007 #21 13.0[54] TBA
3 Monday 9:00PM

September 22, 2008 2008-2009

The pilot episode generated 14.3 million viewers,[55] with the season high topping out at 16.03 million viewers for Homecoming (Heroes)|episode 9.[56] When the series returned from hiatus on January 22, 2007, the ratings averaged about the same as the pilot with 14.9 million viewers.[57] When the show went on a second hiatus during the first season, from March 4, 2007 to April 23, 2007 (7 weeks), ratings hit an all time low; the lowest being 11.14 million viewers during part one of the three part finale, "The Hard Part."[58] In season two, the opener was consistent in the ratings, however, week-by-week, the ratings continued to dive, reaching an all time 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 volumes "big picture storyline" was presented.[59][53] 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.[60]

Heroes also airs in other countries; ratings and rankings for some of these markets include:

  • Australia: The first season aired on the Seven Network Wednesday nights at 8:30 pm. The series debuted strongly, attracting more than 2 million viewers in the five capital cities. Viewership settled closer to 1 million nearing the end of the first season and the show was moved to Thursdays at 8:30 pm in New South Wales and Queensland but remained in the 8:30pm Wednesday timeslot in other states, the move of the timeslot in the northern states successfully attracted more viewers in those areas. In an effort to keep viewer numbers high the Seven Network began showing the second season on Thursday nights at 9:30pm across all areas, a week after the US screening.[61] The network has aired only nine of the eleven episodes released from the second season, the ninth being incorrectly described as the season finale.[62] It is unknown when the remaining episodes will be aired.
  • France: The first season aired over the summer of 2007 on TF1, with three episodes each Saturday night beginning at 8:50 pm. The series debuted strongly, with the premiere attracting just over 6 million viewers in France.[63] Over the summer viewership fell to under 4 million, disappointing TF1.[64] Nonetheless, TF1 will be presenting season 2 as VOD only, one day after the US broadcast each week.[65] A Canadian French-dubbed version also airs on Canada's TVA network, Thursdays at 9:00 PM.[66]
  • Germany: The series currently airs on RTL 2. It premiered on October 10, 2007, attracting 2.90 million viewers (17.3% of share in the 18-49 years old target) on its first showing, making it a huge success. After 24 (TV series)|24, this is the most successful premiere on RTL 2 ever.[67]
  • Hong Kong: The series airs on TVB Pearl.[68] The first three episodes of the first season became three of the top 100 rating programs on English channels in Hong Kong in 2007, each attracting 309,000 to 346,000 viewers.[69]The series was also voted as the second most popular drama series on TVB Pearl.[70]
  • Netherlands: The series currently airs on RTL5.[1] The series premiere had low ratings (405,000 viewers), though a replay drew 572,000 viewers (8.6% market share).[71] Currently the series draws some 350,000 viewers each episode.
  • South Africa: The series first aired on May 23, 2007 on SABC3; with the premiere attracting 733,300 viewers and a 10% audience share. Ratings dropped as the season progressed as other shows in the same timeslot increased in popularity.[72]
  • United Kingdom: The series first aired on February 19, 2007 on Sci Fi Channel (United Kingdom)|Sci Fi UK.[1] The premiere attracted 579,000 viewers on its first showing; with three repeat showings averaging 150,000. The series averaged 450,000 viewers, almost four times more than any other viewership for a program on this channel.[73] Terrestrial television|Terrestrial airing began on BBC Two on July 25, 2007, and in High definition|HD in the UK on BBC HD. It attracted an audience of 4.3 million viewers. After the airing of the show on BBC2, a behind-the-scenes show, titled Heroes Unmasked is shown, and then the next episode is shown on BBC Three.[74] Series 2 of Heroes first aired on April 24|24th April 2008 at 9pm on BBC Two with the finale shown on July 3rd 2008 at 9pm also on BBC Two. It was confirmed on the Official Heroes Radio Show on BBC7 that Heroes Season 3 will be airing simultaneously with the US.[75]

Promotion and references in popular culture[edit]

Following the debut of Heroes in 2006, the tagline Save the Cheerleader, Save the World, used to promote a plot arc from the first season, was recognized within the television industry as an effective marketing device.[76]

NBC hosted panels at the 2006 and 2007 Comic-Cons in San Diego to promote the series. Major announcements have been made during the panel, along with sneak peaks of forthcoming seasons. In 2006, the Heroes panel presented the entire season one 72-minute pilot. In 2007, major announcements were made about the aborted spinoff /Episodes#Heroes: Orgins|Heroes: Origins. Comic-Con also allows the cast and crew to answer questions from the press and from fans.[77][78]

NBC has also cross promoted the show on several of its series, including 30 Rock, Bionic Woman, Chuck (TV series)|Chuck,[79] ER (TV series)|ER, My Name Is Earl, The Office (U.S. TV series)|The Office, Scrubs (TV series)|Scrubs,[80] and Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip.

Billboard for Heroes World Tour, Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore.

On July 21, 2007, Tim 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. Most principal cast members attended in three groups; one group for each country. Tim Sale, Jeph Loeb, and Dennis Hammer attended from the production crew. Principal cast members who did not attend were David Anders, Kristen Bell, Dana Davis, Leonard Roberts and Tawny Cypress.[81]

The series has since been referenced and parodied in several other series and movies including Ugly Betty,[82] Shaq's Big Challenge, Family Guy,[76][82] The Simpsons, The Batman (TV series)|The Batman, One Tree Hill (TV series)|One Tree Hill, Kyle XY, Meet the Spartans and on MadTV.

In 2006, NBC also created a Heroes parody entitled 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 Heroes creator Tim Kring.[83]

DVD releases and digital dowloads[edit]

The first DVD release of Heroes was a sampler disc, containing only the first episode, and was released in the UK and the Republic of Ireland on September 3, 2007.[84] 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.[85][86] 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[87] The complete first season was released in USA and Canada on August 28, 2007.[88] It was released in Australia and New Zealand on September 17, 2007.[89]

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 show creator Tim Kring.[89] 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."[46]

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has announced that the first and second seasons will be released on Blu-Ray on August 26, 2008, the same date as the DVD release of the second season. Specifications and bonus features have not yet been confirmed.[90] The complete second season will be released on July 28, 2008 in the UK.[91]

Complete episodes of Heroes are available online, to US residents only, along with downloads through the "NBC Direct" service.[92] Episodes were also available on iTunes, although this arrangement ceased in December 2007 as NBC and Apple Inc. were unable to come to a renewal deal.[93] Series 1 and 2 are currently available for streaming on Netflix, which requires a paid subscription.[94]

Multimedia presence[edit]

Heroes is known in part for its multimedia approach to its story, releasing content online and in comic book form that is considered canon within the show.

Internet and digital extensions[edit]

For more information, see Heroes Evolutions.

A digital-internet extension of the series, Heroes 360 Experience, was created to explore the Heroes universe and provides insight into the show's Mythology of Heroes|mythology. It was rebranded as Heroes Evolutions at the beginning of the second season.[95]

Graphic novel[edit]

For more information, see Graphic Novel.

Each week, NBC releases a Heroes webcomic. The comics give 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.[96] The 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 and artwork by Tim Sale.[97]

Novel[edit]

On December 26, 2007, the first Heroes novel was published, entitled 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 and List of minor Heroes characters with special abilities#Charlie Andrews|Charlie Andrews, when Hiro went back in time six months to attempt to save her.[98]

Other ancillary merchandise and productions[edit]

Behind the scenes[edit]

For more information, see Heroes Unmasked and The Post Show.

As they do for their own productions Doctor Who and Torchwood, the BBC has created a series called Heroes Unmasked going behind the scenes of Heroes with interviews and production details. When the show aired on the US network G4 a similar show, entitled The Post Show, was created for American audiences.

The Heroes production team also has official series content on the internet. Writers Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite hold a weekly "Question and Answer" column hosted by Comicbookresources.com entitled "Behind the Eclipse".[99] Every week, since October 23, 2006, Joe Pokaski and Aron Coleite have answered questions regarding the previous weeks episodes, before the airing of the Monday night episode. Questions are submitted by fans and CBR editors. Show producer and director Greg Beeman also posts weekly on his blog where he discusses how the episode is filmed and gives spoilers for the upcoming episode. This is usually posted on Mondays, prior to the airing of Heroes on NBC. The Beeman blog began on August 4, 2006.[100]

Video and mobile games[edit]

Ubisoft has announced that they have licensed the rights to produce an as yet untitled Heroes video game. The game is expected to be offered for PCs and console gaming platforms.[101] Gameloft released the first Heroes mobile game on October 5, 2007. It consists of 8 levels and playable characters includes Hiro Nakamura, Niki Sanders and Peter Petrelli. All three characters are played in their present and future forms as shown in "Five Years Gone". The mobile game has released the names of several members of The Company (Heroes)|the Company founders, including List of Heroes characters#Arthur Petrelli|Arthur Petrelli and List of Heroes characters with special abilities#Maury Parkman|Maury Parkman.[102][103]

Magazine[edit]

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.[104] Greg Beeman, executive producer of Heroes has confirmed that this is an official Heroes release, with the full support and cooperation of Tim Kring and the rest of the Heroes production team.[105][106]

Action figures[edit]

Mezco announced at Toy Fair 2007 that they will be producing a line of action figures based on the television show Heroes. The figures will have at least 8 points of articulation, and feature central accessories. Along with action figures, Mezco announced a collection of screen grabs, non-articulated 3 3/4" figures on a display recreating a pivotal scene of the series.[107][108] The action figures are featured on the cover of the March 2008 (issue #127) of ToyFare magazine.[109] The first series, Series I, includes Peter Petrelli, Claire Bennet, Hiro Nakamura, Gabriel "Sylar" Gray and Mohinder Suresh, with exclusive figures of "fire-rescue" Claire Bennet, "Times Square teleportation" Hiro Nakamura,[110] and future Hiro Nakamura.[111] The second series, Series II, includes Niki Sanders/Jessica Sanders, Mr. Bennet, Daniel Linderman, Matt Parkman (with Molly Walker) and Claude, to be released in September 2008.[112]

Other series will feature the following characters if approved: Hiro Nakamura in Feudal armor, The Haitian, Nathan Petrelli, Future Peter Petrelli, Elle Bishop and Adam Monroe, and would reach the shelves in either late 2008 or early 2009. Pictures of the prototypes can be viewed as well.[113]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Company credits for Heroes". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-12-26.
  2. ^ a b Kring, Tim (2006-09-24). "How many seasons/scripts are plotted out?". NBC Universal Heroes Live Blog. Retrieved 2006-10-31. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "Heroes TV Show on NBC". NBC.com. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
  4. ^ a b "Real locations or movie magic?". NBC.com. 2005-09-25. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
  5. ^ Kushner, David (2007-04-23). "Santiago Cabera: Heroes Artistic Hero". Wired News. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
  6. ^ "www.9thwonders.com/interviews/tim.php".
  7. ^ "www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=11412".
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  33. ^ Bienvenue chez Victoria !
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