Touch premieres its first episode tonight, created by Heroes showrunner Tim Kring and starring Kiefer Sutherland in his first TV role since the end of FOX's mega-hit 24.  The hotly-anticipated series features Sutherland as a widowed father who finds himself realizing his son's unusual nature actually represents a gift that might allow them to see the future, and unlock deeper mysteries of the universe itself.

Earlier today Jon Lachonis posted a review with his own unique take on the new FOX series Touch, which shows a special preview of the pilot tonight and officially begins its run on March 19^th, but I thought I’d chime in with a few thoughts of my own.  Unlike Jon, I never paid much attention to 24 and therefore had a different experience looking past the omnipresent Jack Bauer comparisons to see what this new mystery series was all about.  Jon’s also a huge quantum physics buff, something Touch “touches” on extensively, so you’d do well to check out his more overall look at the pilot before you watch tonight.

That said, the other big name attached to the series should be one most people remember from Heroes, that of series creator Tim Kring.  We’re all familiar with how Heroes debuted a strongly conceptual and intriguing first season, before writing strikes and changes utterly destroyed anything remotely compelling about the superhero drama.  Those bitter memories might make a few viewers uneasy given how Touch shares something of a similar concept to Heroes, in that it follows multiple characters across the globe who find themselves connected to one another.  Fortunately, Touch has a stronger grounding in reality than Heroes, which despite some stumbling helps sell its core conceptual ideas of destiny, and the inter-connectedness of life.

By now you’ve likely read the premise of Touch, in that Kiefer Sutherland plays Martin Bohm, widowed father to a seemingly uncommunicative* child who sees complex patterns in numbers and the world around him that manifest as a type of future-vision.

(*) Both here and moving forward, I’m going to shy away from identifying Martin’s son Jake as Autistic, or exploring the implications it might have on the series.  Movies and TV have notoriously misrepresented Autism in the past, and even Touch’s pilot itself shies away from classifying Jake strictly as such.  Jon Lachonis’s Touch review has a much more personal take on the role of Autism in the series, which you should check out.

Also along for the ride is Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Undercovers) as a social worker assigned to Jake who comes to believe in his abilities, Danny Glover as a private researcher who understands the nature of Jake’s gifts, and even Titus Welliver (LOST) as a mysterious figure with a connection to Martin’s past.  There are also a host of supporting characters from around the world that the pilot follows, though I’m not certain if the series will continue to focus on said characters, or pick up new ones as Jake’s gift sends his father hurtling into a variety of new puzzles.

The good news is that conceptually, Touch offers up a movingly compelling narrative that culminates very well into its central thesis of inter-connectivity, and sets up a strong premise for moving forward with the series.  It takes a long time in building up to the climax, but once the plot threads from across the globe start intersecting all at once in a very moving intercut sequence, I found myself thoroughly on board with exploring Touch’s more philosophical nature.  That isn’t to say that the pilot doesn’t stumble quite a bit in getting to that point, but as long as you stick the landing, right?

The problem lies in that Touch seems to have worked backward from getting to that point, rushing its setup so that very few character actions resonate plausibly.  Not much effort is spent in establishing how, why or to what end Jake developed such an incredible gift, yet both Martin and Clea, two rational adults seem to buy so readily into the idea that Jake has explicitly mapped out the future in his complex writings.  Martin desperately wishes to connect with Jake, and understandably so, but I couldn’t quite bridge the gap between that desire and Martin hurtling toward a Grand Central payphone at 3:18, with no plausible idea of what, if anything might occur at that time.  By the same token, it seems entirely contrived that Simon Plimpton’s lost cell phone would travel around the world from character to character, touching lives for no other conceivable reason other than the writer wills it so.  Forgive my cynicism, but if a stranger on the other end of a cell phone across the world purports to be a suicide bomber having second thoughts, I’m not sure that “I love Chris Rock too!” or “I’ll buy you an oven!” would be among my conceivable reactions.  Heroes suffered from unreliable character motivations as well, so if Touch can reign in a few of its more extenuating reaches it’ll have far less trouble developing strong character dynamics over time.

Admittedly, I’m not entirely sold on Kiefer Sutherland in the role of Martin Bohm either.  I made mention earlier of unfamiliarity with 24 working to my advantage, even if some of Martin’s more tense moments do feel distinctly Jack Bauer-esque.  Rather, I found it difficult to see Kiefer’s Martin accessibly, almost too angry or intense of a portrayal to convey the sheer wonder at what his son Jake represents.  With time however, the character could soften a bit.  There’s a strong effort to paint Martin as an everyman having drifted from job to job, and humbled by his wife’s death in 9/11, but I can’t help wondering if someone a little gentler might have made Touch’s more fantastic elements more empathetic.

Overall, there’s a strong premise to Touch that will definitely evolve in time, given that the pilot doesn’t set up much to why Martin needs to follow his son’s machinations on a weekly basis.  I’m not sure what most people will make of Touch’s more complex philosophical questions, but the series definitely ranks among one of 2012’s more intriguing offerings.

And Another Thing…

• Heroes fans will of course point out the similarity of Touch’s opening and closing narrations (spoken by the otherwise-mute Jake, no less) with Mohinder Suresh’s increasingly vague monologues.

• LOST fans will surely find a new target in Touch’s easter-egg like use of numbers.

• According to Social Services, on what grounds is Martin not a good guardian?  He provides for the boy, and would have had no control over his son sneaking out to climb a cell phone tower.

• “They say that God never gives you more than you can handle.”  Who says that?  That’s horrible advice!

• I’m going to assume for the moment (based on comic-book rules) that Martin’s wife didn’t conclusively die in 9/11, given the firefighter only says he thought she was dead when he left her.

What did YOU think?

Touch 1.01 "Pilot" Series Premiere Review - A Second Opinion

On Tuesday afternoon, the east coast suffered an earthquake. While earthquakes are usually caused by the shifting of the tectonic plates that make up the surface of the earth, some (me) have already begun to suspect that there might have been other causes for this earthquake. Television-related causes.

After all, on many small-screen shows, the ground seems to shake almost daily. With the frequency of tremors on television, it seems likely that at least one of these explanations actually caused the August 23 earthquake. Here are a few of our hypotheses.

#5: Peter Petrelli Goes Nuclear... Again

As seen on: Heroes

Why It's Plausible: The season one finale of Heroes saw Peter lose control of his nuclear abilities and almost destroy New York City, until he was flown up into the sky by his brother Nathan to safely detonate. That surprisingly killed neither Peter or Nathan (nor did it leave any nuclear fallout raining all over NYC), meaning that Peter could plausibly detonate again. Now that his brother Nathan has been killed by Sylar, it doesn't seem too likely that Peter would be able to get off the ground. His only hope would be to use the superheroic ability to walk into walls to walk into the ground, where he would be able to explode amongst the tectonic plates, causing, you guessed it, an earthquake.

Why It Isn't: Heroes was cancelled last year. With its flagging ratings and vapid storyline (toward the end, at least), this show wasn't powerful enough to cause any sort of major movement.

Verdict: Not the cause.

#4: Our Universes Are Breaking Down

As seen on: Fringe

Why It's Plausible: You know what happens when things start to go haywire between this universe and the other ones. Things start to look particularly rapturesque whenever Walternate tries to manipulate his machine into destroying this universe. There are major lightning storms, vortices wipe out entire flocks of sheep, and things just get downright scary. An earthquake might just be one of those symptoms of impending universal breakdown.

Why It Isn't: The earthquake didn't happen at 6:02 A.M. EST, the widely known time that Walternate activated the machine. This is pretty damning for this hypothesis's case.

Verdict: Wrong timing to be the cause.

#3: Jack Bauer Doing Something

As seen on: 24

Why It's Plausible: How many explosions were on 24 during its eight seasons? Scientists estimate that number is somewhere in the millions. Jack Bauer was present for a lot of them, or at least nearby. It seems like it would be a scientific anomaly if any sort of tectonic movement was not the work of Jack Bauer, or at least related vaguely to Jack Bauer's activities.

Why It Isn't: In the 24 universe, nobody really notices these explosions. Take, for instance, the fourth episode of the show's sixth season, when a suitcase nuke went off in Los Angeles. Thousands died, but by the end of the day, everyone at least seemed to forget about it.

Verdict: Possibly the cause, though strangely people are noticing.

#2: The Silurians Are Restless

As seen on: Doctor Who

Why It's Plausible: Last year in the Doctor Who serial "The Hungry Earth," we learned that there are entire civilizations of Silurians under the surface of the earth. And whenever they get angry, they decide to come up to the surface and take their revenge. But what if they found a new way to take revenge? Using their massive underground catacombs to create earthquakes would certainly be one way to catch humanity's attention.

Why It Isn't: Most Silurians are still hibernating, to wake up in a thousand years. While there are some pretty resourceful Silurians who aren't hibernating, it doesn't seem likely that they could muster the force to shake the whole east coast.

Verdict: Maybe the cause, but would require some resourceful Silurians.

#1: The Island Moved

As seen on: LOST

Why It's Plausible: We've seen what happens when the Island moves. It goes globe-hopping so much that Eloise Hawking has to have a special machine just to predict where it's going to be. We know that Ben Linus wasn't the first to turn the frozen donkey wheel, and he probably wasn't the last. While Hurley's enjoying his reign as protector of the Island currently, somebody might have gotten the big idea to give it a turn again, leaving it to land off the east coast and create the shockwaves that we all felt on Tuesday.

And will you look at the date of the earthquake? It's August 23 -- 8/23. Irrefutable evidence. Believe me now?

Why It Isn't: I can't think of any.

Verdict: Without a shadow of a doubt the cause.

Tuesday's Earthquake Explained by TV Shows

Tonight is the season 2 finale of The Vampire Diaries and what better way to celebrate it (and commiserate the super long summer hiatus) than to look at the relationship between the Salvatore brothers and other fraternal relationships that have featured both physical and emotional conflict.

As we go in to tonight's finale of The Vampire Diaries it looks like Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder) will have to put aside their differences and recent confrontations to try and find a cure for the deadly wolf bite that Damon received in "The Last Day". Stefan's reaction to the news that his brother was likely to die was one of anguish, despite the fact that Damon had only recently shoved a giant stake in Stefan's gut and is openly in love with his girlfriend Elena (Nina Dobrev). When it comes down to it he will do anything to save his brother even after all the bad stuff they have done to each other. Stefan also still feels an enormous amount of guilt in his role of seeing that Damon completed his transition back in 1864 in becoming a vampire. It is this event that has led to the bitter rivalry for the past 150 years as well as being in love with the same woman on two separate occasions. One minute Stefan and Damon will be fighting, the next helping each other, either to help Elena or to save each other and if one thing is for certain the only person killing Stefan or Damon is the other brother and they will stop any one else who tries to do it to the other.

This slideshow looks at brothers on TV who have had their fair share of conflicts, some have injured each other, some have merely fought through words and non violent actions, and in the most extreme cases one brother has killed the other. What they do have in common is that there is a bond between brothers that produces compelling television particularly when there is conflict in these relationships. The brothers that I have chosen come from drama, comedy and sci-fi and offer a spectrum of different warring behaviour, but are there any warring brothers on TV that we might have missed? Let us know in the comments below.

Also for more on tonight's finale of The Vampire Diaries check out the promo pictures here, the promo video here and a sneak peak here. Be sure to join us tomorrow where we will be reacting to "As I Lay Dying".

Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Stefan Salvatore (Paul Wesley), The Vampire Diaries

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 12

Hating each other since 1864, stopping every so often to save the others' lives

From The Vampire Diaries to The O.C.: Warring Brothers on TV

It's that time of year again. The ghouls and goblins are roaming the streets again, and porches are littered with pumpkins carved into the horrific visages of--

Dwight Shrute? The Doctor?

Not every pumpkin you carve for Halloween has to have triangular eyes and jagged teeth. People have been carving their pumpkins into totems of pop culture for years; with the advent of the Internet, talented carvers have begun to show off their gourdish creativity. For those who aren't as good with freehand, they've even offered up stencils of their fantastic carvings, which have delved into the realm of television. Ever wondered what Greg House would look like carved into a pumpkin? Hurley Reyes? Dexter Morgan? How about that lead trio from The Vampire Diaries?

The gallery below has twenty terrific pumpkins for you to ooh and ahh over, and cringe with jealousy. Some of the images below are actual pumpkins, while others are just patters for you to try out yourself.

Are you feeling the Halloween spirit? Well, keep your television sensibilities alive with the wonderful selections below.

Special thanks to Mark O. Estes, who contributed to this article, as well as to PinkRayGun.com, who created many of these fantastic designs.

Dexter Morgan

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 20

This creepy serial killer from Showtime's 'Dexter' is perfect pumpkin material, and will scare off your neighbors.

20 Pumpkin Carvings for the TV Fanatic

News of renewals (for Chuck), cancellations (for Heroes and Law & Order) and new shows (such as Undercovers and The Cape) have been filtering in over the past week for NBC, but the network has finally released its full fall schedule, along with a whole slew of sneak peeks for its new shows.  We've gathered all the information for you in one place, so enjoy this peek into NBC's fall 2010 line-up.

The fall schedule is full of new shows, but a lot of the new scripted NBC series will be held off until midseason.  Returning show Parks and Recreation will also be held off until midseason.

MONDAY
8:00 - 9:00 p.m.: Chuck
9:00 - 10:00 p.m.: The Event (new series)
10:00 - 11:00 p.m.: Chase (new series)

TUESDAY
8:00 - 10:00 p.m.: The Biggest Loser
10:00 - 11:00 p.m.: Parenthood

WEDNESDAY
8:00 - 9:00 p.m.: Undercovers (new series)
9:00 - 10:00 p.m.: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
10:00 - 11:00 p.m.: Law & Order: Los Angeles (new series)

THURSDAY
8:00 - 8:30 p.m.: Community
8:30 - 9:00 p.m.: 30 Rock
9:00 - 9:30 p.m.: The Office
9:30 - 10:00 p.m.: Outsourced (new series)
10:00 - 11:00 p.m.: Love Bites (new series)

FRIDAY
8:00 - 9:00 p.m.: Who Do You Think You Are?/School Pride (new series)
9:00 - 10:00 p.m.: Dateline NBC
10:00 - 11:00 p.m.: Outlaw (new series)

SATURDAY
Repeats

SUNDAY
7:00 - 8:15 p.m.: Football Night in America
8:15 - 11:30 p.m.: NBC Sunday Night Football

SUNDAY (beginning March 2011)
7:00 - 8:00 p.m.: Dateline NBC
8:00 - 9:00 p.m.: Minute to Win It
9:00 - 11:00 p.m.: The Celebrity Apprentice

Returning Midseason Shows: Parks and Recreation, The Marriage Ref

New Midseason Shows: The Cape, Friends With Benefits, Perfect Couples, Harry's Law, The Paul Reiser Show (formerly "Next"), and America's Next Great Restaurant.

Canceled Shows: Heroes, Law & Order, Trauma and Mercy.

NBC has released two to three sneak peeks for most of its new scripted series, including short descriptions of the shows.  Use the page numbers below to navigate through the sneak peeks.

Next: J.J. Abrams' new series "Undercovers"

NBC Upfronts 2010 - Full Fall Schedule & Sneak Peeks for New Shows

The big news sweeping the online world today is that Heroes is likely to be canceled.  This is not a new rumor.  People have been proclaiming the death of Heroes for quite some time.  The fact of the matter is that I absolutely adored the show when it premiered and watched it religiously throughout its first season.  Like many fans, however, I felt that the show lost its way.  And I'm talking many, many fans here - 17 million people tuned in for the season 2 premiere and, after several years, only 5 million tuned in for this past season's finale.

It's really a shame because it's a show that had a great deal of potential, some terrific actors, and was something fun and new at the time of the series premiere.  But we could debate the quality and the direction of the show forever.  After all of the hoopla that's been happening with NBC this year - including declining ratings for the network overall - a lot of people thought that Heroes might get a chance for one final season beginning in the fall of 2010.  Then there was talk that maybe it would get a 13 episode run and the chance to wrap up some storylines.

Vulture, however, has a different take on it.  NBC has already picked up almost five or six new pilots.  It appears that the network is serious about bringing on some new shows (including a new series about undercover married spies by J.J. Abrams) and there's even talk about Chuck getting another half-season.  This leaves little room for the return of Heroes.  Vulture doesn't even hold out hope that Heroes will get a 13 episode order.  Instead, apparently, there is talk of putting together a three or four hour TV movie and wrapping up the series.

Of course, all of this is purely speculation at this point, but if you look at the ratings alone, it makes sense.  We'll know the final answer when NBC presents its 2010 Upfront on Monday, May 17.

The End of Heroes - Conjecture or Sound Guess?

Addiction to any substance, is of course, a terrible thing. But the internal struggle and conflict it creates usually results in deeply developed characters and enjoyable television. Recent television has brought these tortured people to the limelight, and highlights their struggle with addiction. Sometimes they are main characters and the addiction takes the forefront, while other times the characters are peripheral and their addiction makes the background of the series much more layered.

With two shows returning this month featuring troubled addicts in the main cast, it's time to take a look back at the best characters from recent television who have been addicts, and whose journey we have followed along with, whether it led to their redemption or demise. Because without these characters, quite a few characters on television wouldn't contain the same level of realism that we have come to expect.

Next: A nurse with a penchant for deception>>

Junkies: Five Television Addicts We Root For

The Hollywood Reporter recently put out an article that predicted chances of renewal for almost all of network television's endangered shows. And while some of this news was absolute music to my ears, some of it was rather sad.

Of course, the positives outweighed the negatives by a huge margin. As you could probably have guessed, I was most anxious to see how they ranked Fringe on its survival chances. As it turns out, it was on the top end of the list, with a 90% chance of a third season. "Boy, this show took a beating on Thursdays this fall," the Reporter stated, "yet along with Bones has given Fox a foothold on TV’s most competitive night and recently shown improvement." They gave Fringe a 90% chance of survival, meaning that they feel it's an almost certainty that we'll see Olivia, Peter, and Walter back for a third year. I'm elated, obviously.

Other great news came for Chuck fans: "This time, fans might not have to gobble Subway sandwiches to get the show a renewal.  has recently been NBC’s highest-rated show on Monday nights." Let's hope THR isn't overestimating NBC Chuck too much when they gave the show a 75% chance of renewal for a fourth season.

Heroes, surprisingly, was given 60%: "The expensive NBC series has always performed well overseas, but the network needs “Heroes” to pull decent numbers in its own backyard too. This season, “Heroes” continued its decline and is now at a level — around a 2.0 adults 18-49 rating — that would warrant cancellation under most circumstances. The deciding factor here is NBC’s internal balance sheet for the production. Don’t be surprised if NBC announces a 12-hour “final chapter” for next fall." Oh, please, please, please, no. Don't put us through more, NBC!

ABC, however, is on the fence about its attempts to replace departing drama LOST. There's a 40% chance that FlashForward gets one more year, while a higher 60% for V. "Expect ABC to keep one of these," THR stated, but which one do you think should survive? Personally, for all its unsteadiness, I've enjoyed FlashForward more than I've enjoyed V. What about you?

FOX's 24, which has long been rumored to be approaching an end, garnered a 40%. Why? "Fox’s action-drama continues to perform well, with its eighth season generating numbers in the low-to-mid 3s. Yet 24 is pricey to produce and has little syndication value. Producer Twentieth is exploring the option of spinning off 24 into a theatrical movie, signaling that this might be the Bauer’s final, real-time day-long adventure. Another long-shot option would be shopping 24 to another network." Could you picture Bauer on anywhere but FOX? I certainly couldn't.

FOX's newer, younger action show (and possibly 24 replacement) Human Target, got a stronger-but-not-much-stronger 55%. "Fox’s male-targeted action drama stumbled out of the gate and its ratings were falling precariously until this week. Remember, this is the network that gave a second chance toDollhouse, so if the Mark Valley series can stabilize there’s a fair chance Fox will give Target another shot."

Some other shows that did well were NBC's Community (90%), CBS's Medium(65%) and Cold Case (50%), The CW's Life Unexpected (55%), and the WB's Smallville and Supernatural (85%).

On the flipside of that coin, some shows aren't looking so good, like ABC's Scrubs and Better Off Ted, which were doing so poorly in the ratings they were quickly packaged together to finish out their seasons as quickly as possible. They both have a 5% chance of returning, so don't bet on another year for them. Another show with 5% is the CW's Melrose Place, quite easily the weakest of its still-alive freshman shows. Compared to The Vampire Diaries, Melrose Place is looking quite pale. NBC's nurse drama Mercy is holding on for dear life with a 25% chance, as is ABC's new lawyer drama The Deep End, which at 5%, doesn't look like it'll be trying any more cases come next year.

See the complete list here. What do you think? Are THR on the right track, or are they barking up the wrong tree? How did your favorite shows fare in this lineup? Sound off below -- let's get a discussion going.

THR Renewal Predictions: 'Fringe' 90%, 'Ted' 5%

The forth season of Heroes is coming to an end on February 8.  The decision whether to renew the show for a fifth season is still, as far as I know, up in the air.  In the meantime, NBC has released seven sneak peeks for the finale, which we have for you below.

SAMUEL’S ULTIMATE PLAN SPELLS DISASTER FOR THOUSANDS

RAY PARK, DEANNE BRAY AND ELIZABETH ROHM GUEST STAR

In the climactic season finale, everyone bands together in an effort to stop Samuel (Robert Knepper) from taking the lives of thousands. Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) joins forces with his most unexpected ally to save Emma (guest star Deanne Bray). Meanwhile, H.R.G.’s (Jack Coleman) life hangs in the balance as he and Claire (Hayden Panettiere) find themselves trapped underground with oxygen quickly running out.

Elsewhere, Hiro (Masi Oka) starts to come to grips with the decisions he has made and is called into action to help stop a disaster. Greg Grunberg, Ali Larter, Zachary Quinto and James Kyson Lee also star. David H. Lawrence XVII, Harry Perry, Todd Stashwick also guest star.

Email: clarissa @ tvovermind.com

Follow: twitter.com/clarissa373

Sneak Peeks - Heroes 4.19 "Brave New World"

Damn, Nathan Petrelli, what happened to you?!??!

ET Online has a police report from the California Highway Patrol that details Adrian Pasdar's arrest for DUI early this morning at 2:59 a.m. The Heroes star's bail was set at $15,000 with the police report also stating that Pasdar was being charged with a misdemeanor.

I hope we don't get a Nick Nolte-ish mug shot of Pasdar. The man has been through enough as it is...

So anyone got any "a hero has fallen" jokes they want to pop off in the comments section?

Source: ET Online

'Heroes' Star Adrian Pasdar Busted For DUI

It looks like the January 18th episode of Heroes will feature a lot of old characters related to Hiro, including his parents and Adam. NBC has released several promo photos for the episode (again focusing mainly on Hiro), as well as a synopsis.  Check them out below.

THE VERDICT OF AN UNEXPECTED TRIAL COULD MEAN THE END OF HIRO

GEORGE TAKEI, TAMLYN TOMITA, MADELINE ZIMA, DAWN OLIVIERI AND DAVID ANDERS GUEST STAR

Hiro’s (Masi Oka) life hangs in the balance as his brain tumor worsens, prompting him to subconsciously deal with some of his past decisions. Meanwhile, Sylar (Zachary Quinto) pays Claire (Hayden Panettiere) an unexpected visit to get answers as to why he isn’t quite himself.

Elsewhere, Samuel’s (Robert Knepper) plan to impress his long-lost love, Vanessa (guest star Kate Vernon), takes a terrifying turn. Jack Coleman, James Kyson Lee and Sendhil Ramamurthy) also star. Lisa Lackey, Danielle Savre, Sally Champlin, Satomi Okuno and Jordan Dang also guest stars.

NUP_137848_0003

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 10

HEROES -- "Pass/Fail" Episode 416 -- Pictured: (l-r) David Anders as Adam Monroe, George Takei as Kaito Nakamura, James Kyson Lee as Ando Masahashi -- NBC Photo: Chris Haston

Email: clarissa @ tvovermind.com

Follow: twitter.com/clarissa373

Photos - Heroes 4.16 "Pass/Fail"

I had intended the title of this article to be a bit facetious.  And then I rethought that, because I feel like Grunberg is threatening me.  Look, here's the God-honest truth.  I like Heroes.  Well, I did.  In fact, I loved Heroes.  Back when it knew what to do with its characters (well, at least 95% of them), when it had coherent storylines, when it wasn't using time travel as a convenient (and often forgetable) plot device, when Nathan Petrelli was alive, and when it had a convincing villian who was actually scary and wasn't just sticking around because the guy who played him happens to be a good actor.

Now?  Allow me to use a story to illustrate: this week I forgot that both Heroes and The Good Wife returned (because I am an idiot - despite having written up an entire post about when shows return).  Both were automatically recoded by my DVR.  When I realized I had forgotten about The Good Wife, I raced home after work to watch.  Heroes?  It's still sitting there.  Waiting.  Always waiting.

This frustrates me.  But I barely have the energy to care anymore.  Because the characters are lost and so far from their original personalities (and not in a good way that characters should grow and change) that I can barely stand to watch.  There are some very talented people in that cast and now I feel like they're just wasting their time.  And mine.  With so many other good shows on television these days, I just don't have the patience anymore (for example, I've recently fallen in looooove with Supernatural, which is late coming, but more on that in another post). 

The ratings for the show have dipped.  There is absolutely no denying this.  The audience is not responding to Heroes like it used to, and hasn't been for a very long time.  There were rumors floating around that this would be the final season.  And then there were whispers that maybe it would be renewed after all, because, let's face it, NBC needs everything it can get right now - even if the show is ratings-challenged.

The next chapter in the "back-and-forth/will they or won't they?" story comes straight from the mouth of Greg Grunberg.  He recently told EW that the cast has wrapped up filming this year's shortened season (only 19 episodes in total), but that the "...the [final episode] is nowhere near a series finale,” he told us at last night’s People’s Choice Awards. “It is cliffhanger-y and exciting, but it is nowhere near an end to a series that people are so invested in. It does not tie everything up in a neat bow… I don’t have any doubt that the show will be back.”

Oh, really, Greg?  *sigh*  Why do you do this to me?  I like you.  You're funny.  You're good friends with J.J. Abrams and he finds fun ways to put you in his TV shows and movies.  But I cannot abide by this.  I don't want another season of Heroes.  I don't want more ludicrous plots that make no sense and drag on.  Grunberg thinks that perhaps Heroes should pull a LOST and set an end date (as in, have next season be their last).  Yeah, ok, that worked for LOST, but it's not going to work here.  Because that still leaves Kring & Co with the dilemma of having to come up with at least another 19 episodes that people want to watch.  And, I'm sorry, I don't see that happening.

Maybe I'm being harsh.  But you know what?  I'm tired.  We need to let Heroes go.  Maybe the best way to wrap it up is to end with a two-hour TV movie that could air in the summer or in the Fall (like the Prison Break two-hour TV special that filled in the blanks in the series finale).  If they don't do this, then my DVR is going to fill up pretty fast with unwatched Heroes episodes and I'm just going to have to take my Season 1 DVD and go rock in a corner somewhere.

Is Grunberg Threatening Me With Another Season of Heroes?

Each year, website TorrentFreak ranks the most downloaded shows of the last 365 days. Certain shows rank consistently in the top ten, while others make surprising appearances one year, and may drop off the next. Read on to take a look at the top ten most downloaded shows of the year.

First let’s take a look at the list for 2008:

In 2008, Lost reigned supreme. You’ll notice that just because a show tops the most downloaded list, this doesn’t mean no one’s watching. Four shows in 2008’s list manage to top over 10 million viewers.

2009’s list:

While Lost still came in near the top, 2009 saw a new champion in Heroes. If you’re really paying attention, you’ll notice that more people downloaded episodes of Heroes than those who actually watched on NBC. What does this all mean? Well, chances are more likely than not that it’s all nothing more than a nice little graph to look at. Throughout the Fall of 2009, there were constant rumors that NBC would not be renewing its superhero drama for a fifth season. Could the fact that so many people are downloading the show entice NBC to keep the show running?

The answer is no, probably not. As TorrentFreak points out, in a lot of these cases, a high number of downloads can come from overseas, while the viewers are only tracked for the US. Internationally, many shows are delayed by weeks, sometimes months in most markets. In order to get a jumpstart on seeing their favorite shows in a timely manner, many people will download the episode after it airs in the US. This should also allow us to keep in mind the fact that downloads are not the reason a show like Heroes may suffer in the ratings. A download does not necessarily equal a lost viewer. Many people may download in order to rewatch what they’ve seen on TV (often the case in markets where online streaming, such as Hulu is not an option.)

Other notable changes to the lists include Smallville and Stargate Atlantis dropping off in 2009, while 24 and True Blood took their places.

And before fans of Dexter get to thinking that their show is in the same boat as NBC’s suffering Heroes, keep in mind that Dexter airs on Showtime, a premium-cable channel that not many people may subscribe to. Those who don’t have the option to watch Dexter on Showtime resort to downloading. Your thoughts on the 2009 list? Are you included in any of the millions who’ve downloaded Heroes, or Lost, or even Dexter? If so, tell us in the comments why you download instead of watching on TV.

Arrrgh: Most Pirated Shows of 2009

Unless you follow him on Twitter, you probably don't know about Greg Grunberg's second job. His first job is acting on NBC's Heroes, on which he portrays mind-reading detective Matt Parkman. But Grunberg's second job is much more interesting -- he develops mobile web applications.

Namely, one application. Yowza!!, as it's called, is a money saving application co-created by Grunberg. When accessed on their phone by users, the application will use a GPS signal to locate nearby stores and find savings deals from them. Deals are available for retailers such as Toys R Us, Pier 1 Imports, Sears, and many more locations, making Yowza!! a formidable repository of coupons.

And now, Grunberg intends to be a spokesperson for all applications when he hosts CNBC's documentary Planet of the Apps: A Hand-held Revolution. The documentary, which will premiere on January 7 (that's a Friday), will feature Grunberg as he navigates the audience through application development and various application stores such as iTunes' app store, which has grown exponentially in the past year, and currently generates $200 million a month.

That won't be all that it focuses on, though. Lesser-known app stores are going to get spotlighted as well, in addition to a focus on app developers and their struggle to make their app successful (including Texthog, a money management application). The show will also cover MEDL Media, which has vowed to release a thousand applications in the next two years.

I hardly ever watch CNBC, a channel which mostly focuses on business. However, this little documentary is definitely a reason to tune in to the channel, even if only to count the number of times Grunberg says Yowza!! during the show (his Twitter account is rife with the word).

And, as Grunberg commanded on his Twitter account just a few moments ago, I will set my DVR "NOW!!"

Greg Grunberg To Host 'Planet of the Apps'

Okay, I'm confused.  I thought this guy named Samuel was the big baddie this season on Heroes.  Remember him?  Robert Knepper played him.  Yeah, so now he is reduced to sharing a floating puzzle piece with the implication that it is really Sylar who is the big bad... again.

As much as we all love Zachary Quinto - it is commonly known that he DOES walk on water from time to time - isn't Heroes a bit Sylar'd out at this point?  I mean, it used to be that Sylar was the one aspect of the show that never failed.  Used to be, that is.  Then there was that belly-laugh inducing sequence of Sylar turning into his own mother. Embarrassing.  Followed by this seasons schizo Nathan routine, and all of the continuity flaws that ensued.  Add to the fact that there is now a discernible pattern to the Sylar arc:

A) Begin the season with everyone thinking he's 'dealt with.'
B) Sylar considers a face turn, nearly becoming a good guy.
C) Succombs to the monster within and concocts plot to rule/destroy the world and make everybody pay.

Sadly, Sylar was most interesting during season one - without steps A, and B.  But any who, can someone explain to me why this promo seems to be jettisoning most of what has passed for this season's 'story' in favor of what will certainly be another trip around the aforementioned cliche?  Is there hope?  Anyone?

Heroes Mid-Season Promo - Hide The Villain?

Please, NBC, I can't handle this emotional roller-coaster you have me on.  One week Heroes is great, the next week it sucks, then one of my favorite under-utilized Heroes actors Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder) is cast on Doctor Who's David Tennant's new show (David Tennant doing a show for US prime-time?!  For. The. Win), now he's off because - apparently -  he'll be needed for the next season of Heroes.  And here I thought NBC had finally had enough abuse and had removed the feeding tube.  If Heroes is not in the television equivalent of a persistent vegetative state, I don't know of a better example.

So here is what is going on.  Kristin from E! is hinting at some inside info from the Heroes camp that Sendhil was yanked back to Heroes because the show is going to continue for another season.  The only way this could possibly be translated into good news is if NBC plans on announcing that a proven genre heavyweight will be taking the reigns of the show from Tim Kring - who is an otherwise perfectly good writer/show-runner who obviously knows truck-all about this kind of story telling.  I mean, giving the under appreciated Sendhil a chance to bask in the afterglow of the genius that is David Tennant is apt penance for three seasons of schizophrenic character development.

Taking Sendhil's place is going to be Jerry O'Connell.  Oh. Boy.  Loved O'Connell on Sliders, have yet to see any evidence that he possesses marketable comedy chops.  Need I remind you of... Carpoolers?  I'm sorry - it had to be done.

Time will tell whether Kristin's source is jumping to conclusions or not, but in the now - I fear for Tennant.  O'Connell could very well suck the funny out of that show.  And yes, I am aware he has a hot wife - still not funny.

Source: E!Online

Heroes Being Renewed After All?

Halfway into a new season (or, in some cases, the first season of a brand new show), I think it’s time to step back and figure out what we’re enjoying about certain shows.  But this isn’t that kind of article.  This is the kind of article where we discuss what we do not like about certain shows.  We’ll save the praising for another time.

Some shows right now have a lot of problems, while others just need certain storylines to disappear or be made more interesting in order to continue to draw my attention.

So now, in no particular order, I’m going to present a list of shows that need some fine-tuning or some major surgery. 

Shows that Need to be Tinkered With...Or Overhauled

Heroes is new on November 30th and the fight between Nathan and Sylar is heating up (and between Peter and Sylar).  NBC has released a sneak peek, and we also have a promo for you.  Check them out below.

Note: there's a bit of black screen at the beginning of the video...just let it play.

SAMUEL STARTS TO SEE HIS VISION TAKE SHAPE

H.R.G. (Jack Coleman) is greeted by some unexpected visitors and Samuel’s (Robert Knepper) grand plan begins to come to fruition. Meanwhile, Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) struggles to accept the truth and takes extreme measures to get what he wants.

Elsewhere, Claire’s (Hayden Panettiere) journey leads her to an unexpected destination.

Adrian Pasdar, Zachary Quinto and Cristine Rose also star. Jimmy Jean-Louis, David H. Lawrence XVII, Madeline Zima, Dawn Olivieri, Todd Stashwick and Elisabeth Rohm guest star.

Email: clarissa @ tvovermind.com

Follow: twitter.com/clarissa373

Sneak Peek & Promo - Heroes 4.12 "The Fifth Stage"

Well, Sylar is indeed getting his body back -- but he's not being gentle with it. A behind-the-scenes photo of actor Zachary Quinto, who plays Sylar, revealed something very interesting that is apparently going to happen in episode 4x14 or 4x15: Sylar's going to lose an eye.

That's right -- the man had what looks like a drill bit sticking right out of his eyelid. It certainly didn't look the most pleasant, and you can't help but wonder how that little piece of shrapnel got caught in his eye.

Of course, Sylar should be able to take care of the problem using his healing ability, so it's no big deal (but the shrapnel has got to be removed first). However, this is almost a throwback to the Heroes of old, with wince-worthy gore scenes that seem to be a thing of the past (Claire's brain, anyone? Sylar's craniectomies?).

Thanks to TheODI for the picture.

Heroes -- One-Eye Sylar

Things just aren't looking good for Heroes. The show has been floundering in the ratings for quite a long time, and Monday night's episode, "Brother's Keeper," was no exception. With that episode, viewership for the series hit an all-time low, with only 5.1 million viewers. That's an even lower number than the same night's episode of Trauma, which gathered up 5.2 million viewers. And Trauma's already been canceled.

NBC followed up those two shows with The Jay Leno Show, which got 4.5 million viewers, perhaps pushed up by the guest appearance of New Moon star Taylor Lautner.

FOX was the real winner of Monday night, with House, their sure-shot show amassing 12.9 viewers, making it the most-watched show of the night for the network. It's follow-up, Lie to Me, gathered about 5 million less viewers, but was still a success for the network.

CBS was also on top of their game, with How I Met Your Mother reaching 8.4 million viewers and Accidentally on Purpose reaching 7.8, tying with Lie to Me. Big Bang Theory and CSI:Miami, both on CBS, both reached 13.5 million viewers. However, they weren't the most watched shows of the night.

That honor went to ABC's Dancing With the Stars, which got 18.8 million viewers. It was followed by Castle, which amassed 10.9 million viewers.

The CW's Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill both managed to get in roughly 2.5 million viewers.

What do you think this means for Heroes? The shows been in a steady decline throughout its fourth season, and things aren't looking any better now that they've once again hit a series low for ratings (and that wasn't the first time that's happened this season). I think it'd be a miracle if it gets a fifth season. Compared to the rest of the shows of the night (save for the CW's niche shows), it's just not holding up. You can crank up your "Save Heroes" campaigns now, if there are any to be had.

'Heroes' Hits All-Time Viewership Low

I guess the Heroes writers were going for the obvious with this episode title, instead of trying to come up with something more subtle.  The November 23rd episode is Thanksgiving-centric and our two main families (the Bennetts and the Petrellis) come together with some big confrontations (for example, the fact that Nathan and Peter now know what their mother did with Nathan's body and Sylar).  We've got 5 sneak peeks for you, along with a promo.

THANKSGIVING UNITES FAMILIES TOGETHER AND BRINGS NEW REVELATIONS

H.R.G. (Jack Coleman) hosts an untraditional Thanksgiving dinner. Elsewhere, the Petrelli family gets a surprise guest at their table. Meanwhile, Samuel (Robert Knepper) continues to hold Hiro (Masi Oka) hostage, as Lydia (guest star Dawn Olivieri) goes in search for the truth.

Greg Grunberg, Hayden Panettiere, Adrian Pasdar, Zachary Quinto, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Cristine Rose and Milo Ventimiglia also star. Ashley Crow, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Madeline Zima, Ray Park, Harry Perry, Elisabeth Rohm, Andrew Connolly also guest star.

Email: clarissa @ tvovermind.com

Follow: twitter.com/clarissa373

5 Sneak Peeks & Promo - Heroes 4.11 "Thanksgiving"

Recently, it seems like every other show is a remake. The most successful new show of the season, ABC's V, is a remake of an older series from the 1980's. And The Prisoner, which premieres tonight, is a remake of an old science fiction series from the 1960's, considered by most to be a watershed of the genre. Of course, both shows are classics, and it's almost a no-brainer why they were remade -- because they were so good.

It sort of makes you think what shows we watch today could be remade in twenty years. Which shows will be iconic enough to warrant exposure to another generation?

I'm sure that most of you, having read that question, have already decided on a few you would like to see -- or at least could see -- being remade in the future. When you've finished reading my list, compare it to yours. I want to know what you readers think about these shows, or remakes in general (that's what the comments section is for, people).

First up: A Heroic Remake