Here's another television series that started with a good idea but seems to be lacking.  NBC started Heroes off with some interesting characters and situations.  The idea behind the show isn't all that different from the X-Men of Marvel Comics: Seemingly normal people develop new and extraordinary abilities. The comparison doesn't stop there, since just about every super-power ever conceived has been incorporated into a comic book character. You can't hold that against the writers of the show since they have incorporated those powers into some unique personalities.

Sticking with the X-Men for comparisons, Wolverine's healing power resides in a high school cheerleader. She's definitely angsty enough for a TV teen and, at the end of the third episode, has started using her powers for questionable purposes.

The two brothers with the ability to fly are interesting since Nathan Petrelli is running for congress and his younger brother Peter is somewhat adrift.  Nathan wants to ignore his abilities while Peter sees new purpose for his life.

There are several other characters as well with their own abilities. Heroes has so far shown snippets of how each one has been spending the same moments in time with very little overlap. Characters pass each other in a crowded area sometimes, for example. The show promises to bring these different people together over time to stop the destruction of New York City - and perhaps more.

The show appears fairly popular and successful in it's attempt to snare viewers into watching and waiting for the next episode. Heroes follows the comfortable pattern of Lost and other serials where the time line of the show passes fairly slowly and strange intrigues abound.

Where I think the show has failed so far is that the basic plot is too formula driven for the Person-of-Power* storyline.  We're only in week three and we already have the Secret Para-Government Agency and the Super-Powered Villain serial killer. While these subplots are not entirely hazardous to the show, they could indicate a lack of depth in the understanding of the culture surrounding comic book heroes. It's still early and these items may not make appearances every week. If they appear now just to set the stage for future events, then it's a good idea. Overusing either will turn off a large portion of the audience who will say, "Been there, done that" and go back to reading Spider-Man.

I wasn't going to mention the attempted rape, premarital and extramarital hanky-panky scenes but eh, why not? Perhaps nighttime television requires such things in an hour long drama. Part of my complaint in this area is: Why bother? If you really want to see skin, either log onto the Internet or get a premium cable channel. Broadcast stations can't show much but they certainly try to show as much as possible.  The other part is my continued questioning of the value of shock and titillating scenes in entertainment. I'm not going to say these scenes are completely unnecessary since they further the plot as written but it is fair game to question the quantity of gratuitous material.  That's a judgment call for each viewer, of course, but no one should mistake Heroes as suitable for children.

Overall I'd say Heroes deserves continued watching. The story should settle down a bit once the viewer numbers come in and the NBC execs decide to keep it going.  That's probably the biggest reason so much has been packed into the first few shows: Grab as many early viewers as possible to impress the Big Boss.  The makings of a really good show are all in place. The Marvel Comics formulas have worked for decades, the X-Men and Spider-Man movies have shown a large audience is waiting for more, and Heroes could continue the momentum to the small screen.  It's the type of show I'd want to succeed. I'll just have to wait and see.


* Since the term Superhero is copyrighted, I figure I'd better get my own (and make it all politically correct, too)!