Heroes (TV series)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Editing of this article by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled.
Such users may discuss changes, request unprotection, or create an account.

Heroes
Image:Heroes title card.png Heroes title card </small>
Genre	Drama
Running time	44 minutes approx.
Creator(s)	Tim Kring
Starring	see below
Country of origin	Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Original channel	NBC
Original run	September 25, 2006–present
No. of episodes	10 (List of episodes)
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Heroes is an American drama television series, created by Tim Kring, which premiered on NBC on September 25, 2006. The series tells the story of several people who "thought they were like everyone else... until they woke with incredible abilities" such as telepathy, time travel and flight. These people soon realize they have a role in preventing a catastrophe and saving mankind.<ref name="NBC">NBC.com. Heroes first look. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.</ref>

The series loosely follows the writing style of American comics by doing short, multi-episode story arcs that build upon a larger, more encompassing arc. Even with small story arcs that move the story forward, Kring said he mapped out where he intends the show to go for the next five seasons.<ref>NBC Universal Heroes Live Blog. How many seasons/scripts are plotted out? (2006-09-25). Retrieved on 2006-10-31.</ref>

New episodes currently air Mondays at 9 p.m. EST. On October 6, 2006, NBC President Kevin Reilly announced Heroes had been picked up for a full season.<ref>NBC Universal Media Village. NBC Rewards Hit Fall Drama 'Heroes' With Full-Season Order For 2006-07. Retrieved on 2006-10-13.</ref>

1 Characters
2 Plot
3 Symbols
4 Production notes
5 U.S. television ratings
6 International broadcasters
7 Emerson lawsuit
8 U.S. Broadcast History
9 References
10 External links

Characters

Image:Heroes.png

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Main article: List of characters in Heroes

Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) is a cheerleader who lives in Odessa, Texas, with the ability of Spontaneous Regeneration.
Mr. Bennet (Jack Coleman) is Claire's adoptive father. Unbeknownst to Claire, he is aware of her superhuman abilities as well as those of several other characters, and attempts to kidnap them for unknown reasons. He has no known superhuman abilities.
Isaac Mendez (Santiago Cabrera) is a heroin-addicted artist living in New York who can paint future events during precognitive trances induced by his heroin use. Many of his works involve the other characters in the series.
Simone Deveaux (Tawny Cypress) is an art dealer who sells paintings created by her former boyfriend, Isaac. She has no known superhuman abilities.
Niki Sanders (Ali Larter) is a webcam stripper who lives in Las Vegas with an unrestrained alternate personality. When this other personality, which identifies herself as being Niki's dead sister, Jessica, takes over, she exhibits superhuman strength.
D.L. Hawkins (Leonard Roberts) is Niki's estranged husband, who recently escaped from prison, with the power to phase through solid objects, including people.
Micah Sanders (Noah Gray-Cabey) is the son of D.L. and Niki. He is a child prodigy and has an unspecified power that, so far, he has only used to temporarily repair an out-of-order pay phone.
Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) is a programmer<ref>http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/novels/novel_002.shtml</ref> from Tokyo with the ability to manipulate the space-time continuum.
Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) is a Los Angeles police officer with the power of telepathy.
Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar) is a New York congressional candidate with the ability to fly.
Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) is a former nurse and Nathan's younger brother. He has the ability to mimic the powers of others.
Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is a genetics professor from India who travels to New York to investigate the death of his father, Chandra. Through his investigations, he comes in contact with people having superhuman abilities, although he has no known superhuman abilities himself.

Plot

See also: List of Heroes episodes and List of Heroes graphic novels

The first four episodes were advertised with the tagline "Ordinary people discovering extraordinary abilities". At the end of the fourth episode, an event occurs that kicks off the current arc, where the slogan "Save the cheerleader, save the world" has appeared many times. Several characters presume this phrase to refer to Texas high school cheerleader Claire Bennet, who has the ability to rapidly heal from injury, and the apocalyptic visions of New York artist Isaac Mendez. As the characters slowly discover their abilities and the existence of others like them, they begin to realize the need to come together to prevent a catastrophe and save mankind.

According to NBC's official Web site, not only do the characters discover their superpowers, but they also uncover a larger picture concerning their superpowers' origins. The characters become involved in each other's lives as they attempt to evade the series' antagonist, Sylar, who is tracking and killing super-powered humans.

Symbols

Image:HeroesSymbol.jpg

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Appearing frequently throughout the series is a symbol that strongly resembles an RNA molecule. Said appearances include:

In a crime scene's swimming pool. Several flotation devices float in this shape.
Frequently on a computer screen, scrolling across a genetic profiling program created by Chandra Suresh.
On a drawing done by Peter Petrelli.
On paintings Isaac Mendez frequently makes.
On a post-it note on the map in Mohinder Suresh's apartment.
Written on a geometry textbook owned by Claire Bennet.
Written on pictures in Sylar's apartment.
On Niki's back whenever her alternate personality surfaces.
Engraved on the hilt of future Hiro's sword.
Printed on the front of Chandra Suresh's book, Activating Evolution.
Printed on the upper-left corner of the 14th issue of 9th Wonders! comic book, written by Isaac Mendez.
On a necklace worn by the Haitian.
On a picture of Niki painted by Isaac. The symbol was hidden under an extra layer of paint.
Drawn on a Greyhound bus sign, seen right before D.L. spots the runaway Micah in the episode Homecoming.

A second symbol, consisting of two parallel lines, has appeared on the necks of two super-powered characters immediately after being abducted by the Haitian:

Matt Parkman, the telepathic policeman from Los Angeles.
Ted Sprague, a character who possesses the abilities to emit radiation from his hands.

Production notes

When the writing team works on an episode, each writer takes a character and writes the individual scenes surrounding that character. These stories are then combined and given to the episode writer, allowing every writer to contribute to every episode.<ref name="FullerCBRInterview">Taylor, Robert (October 26, 2006). Reflections: Talking with Bryan Fuller. Comic Book Resources. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.</ref>

A special 72-minute version of the pilot was first screened to a large audience at the 2006 Comic Con in San Diego.<ref>NBC Universal Media Village. Comic-Con 2006: Heroes Pilot Premiere (2006-06-22). Retrieved on 2006-11-01.</ref>

The series is filmed in Los Angeles and Santa Clarita, California.

U.S. television ratings

When the series premiered in the United States, it was the night's most-watched program among adults 18-49, attracting 14.3 million viewers overall and receiving the highest rating for any NBC drama premiere in five years.<ref>NBC Universal Media Village. Heroes debut paces NBC's second Monday win of the new season. Retrieved on 2006-09-29.</ref>

International broadcasters

Heroes is broadcast on the following stations around the world (sorted in alphabetical order of country, except USA and Canada).

Country	Network(s)	Series premiere	Weekly schedule
Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States	NBC	September 25, 2006	Mondays 9:00pm EST
Image:Flag of Canada.svg Canada	Global Television Network	September 25, 2006	Mondays 9:00pm EST
Image:Flag of Australia.svg Australia	Seven Network
Image:Flag of France.svg France	TF1		Saturdays 8:50pm
Asia	Star World	January 31, 2007	Wednesdays 9:00pm
Image:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil	Rede Record
Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom	BBC Two,<ref name="bbc2">BBC Two puts its faith in Heroes. BBC Press Office (2006-11-23). Retrieved on 2006-11-23.</ref> Sci Fi Channel

Emerson lawsuit

On October 2, 2006, Emerson Electric Company, an appliance market competitor of NBC's owner General Electric, filed suit in federal court against NBC. The suit was in regards to a scene that appeared in "Genesis," the pilot episode, which depicts Claire Bennet reaching into an active garbage disposal unit—apparently Emerson's In-Sink-Erator—to retrieve a ring, and severely injuring her hand in the process. Emerson claims the scene "casts the disposer in an unsavory light, irreparably tarnishing the product" by suggesting serious injuries will result "in the event consumers were to accidentally insert their hand into one."

Emerson is asking for a ruling barring future broadcasts of the pilot, which was previously available on NBC's Web site and has already aired on NBC Universal-owned cable networks USA and Sci Fi. It also seeks to block NBC from using any Emerson trademarks in the future.<ref name="Zap2It">Zap2It.com. Garbage Disposal Maker Sues NBC Over 'Heroes' Scene. Retrieved on 2006-10-03.</ref>

The episode in question was briefly unavailable in the iTunes Store, but an edited version was shortly made available for download.