Heroes (American TV series)
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 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 books, using multi-episode story arcs that build upon a larger, more encompassing narrative.[1] It was produced by Tailwind Productions in association with Universal Media Studios.[2] It was filmed primarily in Los Angeles, California.[3]
This article is about the American TV series Heroes. For other uses of "Heroes", see Heroes (disambiguation).Heroes
United States
English
4
77 (list of episodes)
- Tim Kring
- Dennis Hammer
- Allan Arkush
- Greg Beeman
- Matt Shakman
- Peter Elkoff
- James Middleton
- Lori Moyter
- Kevin Lafferty
- Nate Goodman
- Charlie Lieberman
- Edward J. Pei
- Annette Haellmigk
- Alan Caso
- Lori Motyer
- Mike Ketelsen
- Michael S. Murphy
- Donn Aron
- Scott Boyd
- Kristopher Lease
- Louis Cioffi
- Martin Nicholson
- Tom Costantino
42 minutes
- Tailwind Productions
- NBC Universal Television Studio
(2006-2007)
(seasons 1-2) - Universal Media Studios
(2007–2010)
(seasons 2–4)
September 25, 2006 –
February 8, 2010
Four complete seasons aired, ending on February 8, 2010.[4] 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.[5] The second season of Heroes attracted an average of 13.1 million viewers in the U.S.[6] and marked NBC's sole series among the top 20 ranked programs in total viewership for the 2007–2008 season.[7] Heroes earned a number of awards and nominations, including Primetime Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, People's Choice Awards, and British Academy Television Awards.[2]
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.[8] 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.[9]
A 13-episode follow-up miniseries, Heroes Reborn, premiered on NBC on September 24, 2015.[10][11]
Deadline reported in April 2024 that a new series is in development, reportedly titled Heroes: Eclipse.[12][13]
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.[14] In its first season, the show features an ensemble cast of twelve main characters making it the third largest cast in American primetime television behind Desperate Housewives and Lost. Although NBC's first-season cast page listed only ten characters,[15] Leonard Roberts, 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", Jack Coleman, who portrays Noah Bennet, was upgraded from a recurring role to become the twelfth full-time cast member.[16]
The following remained major characters during all four seasons:
Although Niki Sanders, played by Ali Larter, was written out in the third season, Larter remained on the show throughout all four seasons, playing Sanders' sister, Tracy Strauss for the final season.
During the first two seasons, some characters were written out to make room for new characters with new stories. In season one, Claude, portrayed by Christopher Eccleston, 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 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, 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, played by Dania Ramirez, a fugitive with the ability to emit a deadly poison; Adam Monroe, a 400-year-old Englishman also known as Takezo Kensei with the ability to regenerate, portrayed by David Anders; Monica Dawson, portrayed by Dana Davis, a restaurant worker with the ability to mimic physical movements she sees; and Elle Bishop, a sadistic sociopath with the ability to generate electricity, portrayed by Kristen Bell. Two recurring characters from season one, Sylar, portrayed by Zachary Quinto, and Ando Masahashi, portrayed by James Kyson Lee, were upgraded to main characters in season two.
Starting in season three, recurring character Angela Petrelli, portrayed by Cristine Rose, was promoted to a main character.[17] 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 remained on the show portraying a new character Tracy Strauss, Niki's triplet sister with the power to freeze objects with a touch.[18] For season four, a new character Samuel Sullivan, portrayed by Robert Knepper, was added. Cast as a recurring part, the part was changed to a starring role.[19] Deanne Bray was also added as Emma Coolidge, the deaf woman who had enhanced synesthesia (seeing colors for music) including the ability to create a siren song.
Production[edit]
Conception[edit]
Heroes began development early in 2006, when Tim Kring, creator of NBC's Crossing Jordan, came up with the show's concept. Kring wanted to create a "large 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 or medical 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. Each episode of the series cost $4 million to produce.[21]
Casting directors Jason La Padura and Natalie Hart brought forth a cast of new faces such as Milo Ventimiglia, 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.[22][23]
Before he began putting his ideas together, he spoke with Lost executive producer Damon Lindelof, 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.[24][25][26] When Kring pitched the idea for Heroes to the NBC network, he described the network's reaction as "excited...very supportive."[27] He comments that he has been partners with NBC for some time based on his six-year run as showrunner for Crossing Jordan.[27] When he pitched the pilot, he described every detail, including the 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."[28] After the project was greenlit, a special 73-minute version of the pilot was first screened to a large audience at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con International.[29] It was initially reported that this unaired pilot would not be released, but it was included on the season one DVD set.[30]
Mythology[edit]
Heroes includes some mysterious fictional recurring elements that have been ascribed to science fiction or supernatural phenomena. Kring and the creators of the series referred to these fictional elements as part of the mythology 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.[66] 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[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
Season one received highly positive reviews. During the season, the American Film Institute named Heroes one of the ten "best television programs of the year."[67] 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 Hollywood Reporter also stated, "Heroes is one of TV's most imaginative creations and might, with luck, become this year's Lost."[68] 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."[69] At Metacritic, the Heroes pilot received a 67/100, with generally favorable reviews from critics.[70] The show was declared the fourth highest rated show for the first ten years of IMDbPro (2002–2012).[71]
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 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."[72] In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Heroes creator Tim Kring commented on criticisms of season two, and the series' 15% decline in ratings.[73] 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'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, 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 were not working well. With regard 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."[73]
For season 3, Los Angeles Times 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."[74] New York Post wrote "This show, which was once so thrilling and fun, has become full of itself, its characters spouting crazy nonsense."[74]
Awards and nominations[edit]
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.[75] 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.[76] On January 9, 2007, Heroes won the award for Favorite New TV Drama at the 33rd People's Choice Awards.[77] 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.[78] 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 and Masi Oka, and "Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series" for Hayden Panettiere and Ali Larter.[79] 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, 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.[79]
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", 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.[80] 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.[81] The cast of Heroes was named in the 2006 Time magazine's Person of the Year issue under "People Who Mattered".[82]
Distribution[edit]
Home media[edit]
The first DVD release of Heroes was a sampler disc, containing only the first episode, and was released in Ireland and the UK on September 3, 2007.[101] 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.[102][103] 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[104] 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.[105] 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."[79] The complete first season was released in USA and Canada on August 28, 2007.[106] It was released in Australia and New Zealand on September 17, 2007.[105]
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.[107] The complete second season was released on July 28, 2008, in the UK.[108] Season 2 was released on October 1, 2008, in New Zealand and Australia.[109]
The Season 3 DVD Box set was released in North America on September 1, 2009,[110] and in Australia on September 2, 2009, with an alternative cover,[111] and in the UK on October 12, 2009.[112]
The Season 4 DVD Box set was released on August 3, 2010, in the US[113] and on October 4, 2010, in the UK.[114]
The Complete Series DVD Box set was released on November 16, 2010, in the US.[115]
International[edit]
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, Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. and two episodes of season two on Mystère (addikTV), Mondays at 8:00 p.m.[116]
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.[117] The third season began airing on October 9, 2008, and Volume 4 began airing on April 23, 2009.[118] Because of low ratings, it was pushed back half-an-hour to 11:00 p.m. after Scrubs and the season concluded July 9, 2009. The 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.[119][120] 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 channel Sci Fi UK.[121] The series averaged 450,000 viewers, which is almost four times more viewers than those of other programs on Sci Fi UK.[122] The series was then picked up by the BBC, which gave season one its terrestrial premiere from July 25 to December 5, 2007, on BBC Two.[123] 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,[124] but viewership as of February 8 had declined to just 0.74 million.[125]
In Indonesia, Season 1 aired on Trans TV on weeknights starting from January 31, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. WIB. All subsequent seasons aired on Trans7 on Wednesdays starting from August 6, 2007, at 8:00 p.m. WIB.
Merchandise[edit]
Ubisoft announced that they had licensed the rights to produce a Heroes video game;[126] however, the company later chose to give the rights back to NBCUniversal.[127] Gameloft released the first Heroes mobile game on October 5, 2007. It consists of 8 levels and playable characters include Hiro Nakamura, Niki Sanders and Peter Petrelli.[128][129]
Each week, NBC released a 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.[130] 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 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 only Heroes novel was published, titled 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 Charlie Andrews, when Hiro went back in time six months to attempt to save her.[131]
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.[132] 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.[133][134] 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.[135][136] The first series, Series I, includes Peter Petrelli, Claire Bennet, Hiro Nakamura, Sylar and Mohinder Suresh.[137][138] The second series, Series II, includes Niki Sanders/Jessica Sanders, Noah Bennet, Daniel Linderman, Matt Parkman (with Molly Walker) and Claude.[139]
Legal issues[edit]
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.[156][157]