Heroes

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Promo for Heroes, Episode 4.03, “Acceptance”

Nathan just hasn’t been himself lately. Watch a sneak peek of the next episode of “Heroes,” which airs next Monday, October 5.

“Heroes” Season 4 Press Release and Preview Clips

I’ve got tons of Heroes updates for you. Some of this has been out for a couple of weeks (I’m still catching up), but I’ve also got a few new clips from our friends at NBC.

From creator/writer Tim Kring (“Crossing Jordan”) comes the award-winning “Heroes,” an epic drama that chronicles the lives of ordinary people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities.

On September 21, “Heroes” returns with its fourth season and a brand-new volume – “Redemption.” As the dust settles from last season, our heroes attempt to settle back into their ordinary lives. But, as they will quickly discover, it’s not easy to go home again. They will face one pressing question: how do extraordinary people lead ordinary lives?

Previously, in “Volume 4: Fugitives,” our heroes made an attempt to return to their normal lives – but that attempt was cut short when Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) uncovered a deadly plot orchestrated by one of their own – Senator Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar). After revealing to the government that there were people with special abilities, Nathan spearheaded an initiative to capture and imprison those people and used Noah Bennet a.k.a. H.R.G. (Jack Coleman). Lives were torn apart. H.R.G.’s own marriage was destroyed. Tracy Strauss (Ali Larter) was killed — literally shattered into frozen pieces.

Ultimately, it was Nathan who paid the price for his misdeeds – murdered at the hands of Sylar (Zachary Quinto). Angela Petrelli (Cristine Rose), devastated at the loss of her son, and H.R.G., in need of an ally within the government, convinced Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg) to use his ability to repair the damage. Matt used mind control and forced Sylar to shapeshift into Nathan, while erasing Sylar’s own memories so he truly believed he was Nathan. Now, as far as everyone else knows, Nathan is alive and well. And Sylar is gone. But all of that is about to change…

This season, “Volume 5: Redemption” begins with our heroes putting their lives back together.

Claire is finding that her biggest challenges are forgetting her old life and starting college. How does someone who has led such an extraordinary life assimilate back into everyday college life? Any semblance of normalcy is shortly overturned when Claire’s roommate commits suicide and Claire discovers her new friend, Gretchen (guest star Madeline Zima), is hiding a secret herself.

Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) goes back to his old life in Japan, but discovers that he has a terminal illness. When Hiro can no longer keep his illness hidden, he sets out to fulfill his own personal bucket-list – righting the mistakes of his past. But will Hiro be able to correct the errors of his ways without severely altering the past and present?

Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) returns to work as an ordinary New York City EMT, but he uses his abilities to save lives. Peter has become obsessed, looking for redemption and shutting out the rest of the world he once knew. How can he forget the past and begin anew? Peter’s life will quickly change when a hearing impaired woman, Emma (guest star Deanne Bray), enters his life. Emma has used her disability as an excuse to shut herself off from the world. But as a new and unique ability manifests, the shell she’s built around herself will begin to crack apart – as will Peter’s.

H.R.G. is adjusting to life as a single man. Charged with creating a new company, he is rapidly discovering that he needs more from his life. But how does a company man become ordinary? And, when Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) returns and offers H.R.G. compelling evidence of a new danger, it makes H.R.G. wonder if he should get back in the game.
Tracy Strauss, having risen from the dead, is consumed with seeking vengeance, but soon realizes that she has a real opportunity to reinvent herself. The question is: who should she be?

Nathan Petrelli, not realizing who he really is, returns to the Senate and begins to notice strange changes in himself. Most alarming, Nathan discovers that he has new abilities. These changes are not lost on Angela, who recognizes them for what they truly are – the emergence of Sylar.
Meanwhile, racked by the guilt of what he did to Sylar and Nathan, Matt Parkman returns to life as an ordinary family man. All he wants to do is to raise his son, love his wife and return to a fulfilling career as an LAPD detective. But what Matt doesn’t know is that something unfamiliar is buried deep within his psyche – Matt can see and hear Sylar. And this specter will haunt him until Sylar is returned to his body.

The biggest challenge for our heroes is a strange and dangerous carnival comprised of a traveling band of outsiders with powerful abilities, led by a charismatic and powerful leader, Samuel (Robert Knepper). Alongside Samuel is his right hand man, Edgar (guest star Ray Park), a deadly Speedster with a talent for knives, and Lydia (guest star Dawn Olivieri) the Tattooed Lady.

Samuel leads his flock to intersect with the lives of all of our heroes. He will find them, and he will entice them to join him. And together, they will ask the same basic questions: Who are we? What does having powers mean to the world? How should we live our lives – shameful or proud? Should we hide or live out in the open? And if the world of powers is revealed, how will the world ever recover?

In 2009, “Heroes” has been honored with: a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show, a Teen Choice Award for Choice Action-Adventure Television Show, and a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series. Among its honors in past seasons, “Heroes” has garnered a People’s Choice Award, an AFI Award, a Multicultural Prism Award, a TV Land Future Classic Award, the Television Critics Association Awards’ Outstanding Program of the Year, the International Prize at the BAFTA Television Awards, and Choice TV Show Action Adventure at the Teen Choice Awards. It has also garnered nominations at the Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, NAACP Image, WGA and Satellite Awards.

“Heroes” is produced by Universal Media Studios in association with Tailwind Productions. Kring, Dennis Hammer, Adam Armus, Kay Foster and Jim Chory serve as executive producers.

-NBC

More clips behind the cut! (more…)

NBC 2009-2010 Fall Season Premiere Dates

Monday, September 14
10-11 P.M. – "The Jay Leno Show" (Runs Nightly M-F In 10pm Slot)

Tuesday, September 15
8-10 P.M. – "The Biggest Loser"

Thursday, September 17
8-8:30 P.M. – "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday"
8:30-9 P.M. – "Parks And Recreation"
9-9:30 P.M. – "The Office"
9:30-10 P.M. – "Community"

Monday, September 21
8-10 P.M. – "Heroes"

Wednesday, September 23
8-9 P.M. – "Parenthood"
9-10 P.M. – "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

Friday, September 25
8-9 P.M. – "Law & Order"
9-10 P.M. – "Southland"

Monday, September 28
8-9 P.M. – "Heroes"
9-10 P.M. – "Trauma"

Thursday, October 8
8 P.M. – "Community"

Thursday, October 15
9:30 P.M. – "30 Rock"

NBC Announces Preliminary Fall Schedule

Following is the press release announcing the renewals and new series for which decisions have been made so far. Additional series pickups will be announced on May 19, so don’t fret if you don’t see ~~your favorite~~ CHUCK! here. It still has a chance for survival.

NEW YORK CITY – May 4, 2009 – NBC unveiled today a strong lineup of broad and diverse quality programming for the 2009-2010 television season announcing the pickups of six new series featuring four new dramas including "Trauma," "Parenthood," "Mercy" and the event series "Day One," as well as two new comedies including "Community" and "100 Questions." Four returning series pickups were also announced today including "Heroes," "Southland," "Parks and Recreation" and the addition of six new episodes of "Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday" skewering today’s top stories in live half-hour primetime shows.

The new and returning series will launch next season and the epic event series "Day One" is slated to premiere out of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

"The Jay Leno Show" will be broadcast Monday-Fridays, 10-11 p.m. ET beginning in the fall. Previously announced series pickups include "The Office," "30 Rock," "The Biggest Loser," "The Celebrity Apprentice," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Friday Night Lights," and new alternative series "The Marriage Ref," "Breakthrough With Tony Robbins" and "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Additional series pickups will be announced May 19, when NBC announces its 2009-2010 schedule.

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Adrian Pasdar and Greg Grunberg Talk About Heroes Season 4

heroes-wrap5 TV Guide spoke with Adrian Pasdar and Greg Grunberg on what the season 3 finale means to the show.

Pasdar reassured fans that Zachary Quinto will be back. "Zach’s not done…There’s Nathan, there’s Sylar, and there’s the point of view that you have to factor in. If I look up into the mirror, who would I see?" "Who’s going to be able to control the actions of the body?” he teases. “Like one of those computers that self-teaches, the longer he stays in my body and the longer he assimilates my physical structure and DNA, the more control I get. So it becomes a battle of who’s in charge."

Pasdar says that he was thrilled when he first learned that Nathan was going to "die." "I wanted to try something new with Nathan, with the idea of the character," he says. "And I think they’ve found a much more interesting way to engage. It’s much more interesting for me to play what’s coming up than anything I could have imagined without dying."

He’s also hoping that Nathan and Tracy will cross paths as she takes on her mission to avenge her Building 26 captors.

Greg Grunberg also weighed in about the secret between HRG, Angela Petrelli and Parkman. "You’ve got an alliance right now with the three of us, but Angela Petrelli is not to be trusted. And you don’t want to get on her bad side," Grunberg says. "I did what they asked me to do, and now they’re going to ask me to do more and get in deeper. It’s going to be a spiral that is going to tear my character up. It leads me to believe that next season is just going to be awesome."

"Only Parkman knows truly how to control [Sylar], so it would be cool if I could unleash him," he says. "I could tell HRG and Angela everything is OK, meanwhile I unleash the monster. I don’t know why I would do it, but maybe if I get pushed to the point where I just can’t take it any more, I let the monster out."

Will you still be watching to see how season 4 plays out?

Episode 2 of Heroes Web Series – Nowhere Man

Doyle is trying so hard to be good…but that jerk of a boss isn’t making it easy on him.

Star Trek Meets LOST in Latest Fine Bros Parody

If you’re a fan of LOST, then you may have seen this series of parodies by the Fine Brothers. They take the LOST action figures and put them into situations which parallel things that actually happened on the island, only with a slightly different cast of characters. Some of their guest stars have included included Darth Vader, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and the cast of Heroes. See what I mean?

They are back with another installment, this time in a Star Trek crossover. When the Enterprise approaches a mystery planet shaped like an Island, they see a bright light…which can only mean time travel! Can Spock survive on the LOST Island where logic does not seem to exist?

Check out “Star Trek: The Lost Generation”:

You can find all of their LOST parody videos at JustForLaughs.com or on their YouTube page.

Review: Heroes Episode 3.25 – An Invisible Thread

Maybe it was the high from the outstanding Chuck season finale (which I’ll have some thoughts on a bit later), but I came away disappointed in the Season 3 wrap we saw from Heroes last night.

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a die-hard Heroes fan. I love the concept of the show and I have stuck by it through all of the bad reviews from this season and last. I always expected this less-than-stellar season to pay off big in the end. But last night, for the first time, I felt really disappointed in the show.

Everything, with the exception of Zachary Quinto’s Sylar, seemed forced and as unnatural as Claire’s horrible wig. Things that should have worked didn’t and things that should have been shocking just weren’t.

What was wrong:

So much was wrong, but here are a few things that stand out in my mind…

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Greg Beeman Announces He is Leaving Heroes

As usual, Greg Beeman followed up tonight’s Heroes episode with a blog about the show. But instead of blogging about the episode, he made the following announcement:

Dearest readers, this is a sad moment for me, as it will be, not only my final blog for Season 3, but also my final blog for HEROES.

You see, I will not be returning to HEROES for Season 4. Ultimately this was a financially motivated decision made by NBC. They no longer want to have a Producer/Director position on the show. But it coincides well with my own innate wanderlust, and so, while sad to leave so many friends and comrades, I am excited for the future.

Having said that, while this will be my final blog respective to HEROES, it is not necessarily my final Beeman’s Blog ever. Over the years I have been careful to keep this blog separate from NBC.com or any other entity that specifically ties it to HEROES. It certainly seems reasonable that I will continue to write on about whatever my next adventures are. It is a bit too early to say, but I have a strong feeling I will be involved in very exciting projects in the very near future. I hope that the many of you who have followed me up to now will continue to follow with me as I move forward. I have been amazed that the blog frequently gets thirty or forty thousand hits a week. If I have been able to give any enjoyment or insight to you fans then that is certainly enough to me. As I hope you know, I am well aware that our fans are everything and I am very happy to have been able to serve you. Moving forward, well… I will keep you posted.

How do you feel about this decision? Will Heroes be the same, better, worse without Greg Beeman? I, for one, will miss his wonderful episode blogs. His pictures were sometimes the best part of an episode.

Read more from Greg at The Beaming Beeman.