Michael Lee's Train of Thought

I'm very pleased with how Sen. Obama handles the issue that is really just underneath his whole campaign -- and it hits me as a direct, sophisticated, and honest approach to the issues of race in this country. I'm as hopeful as ever that he can make it through this campaign as we look towards making our country better.



(full text here)

Of course, in the less serious fashion, it is fun to know that the Obamas have been watching Heroes on the campaign trail as well. One of the things that I enjoy about Science Fiction fandom -- and why it is important to me that MISFITS takes its non profit status seriously is that while at times it's not *the most* diverse population around, it is also more diverse than many communities of choice that I've experienced -- we don't all share the same racial background, or religious background, or political background, or economic background -- but we can all work for common cause by choice. It may be "just for fun" -- but really, the pursuit of happiness is a good goal.

Labels: geek, heroes, politics

Here are the most read entries in 2007. It isn't, necessarily, just this years posts, though many are. You can tell that Heroes has gotten more popular this year.

1. Upcoming Heroes Casting


2. Activating Evolution


3. Eric Roberts on Heroes


4. Eric Roberts Heroes Character is Named


5. End of Shinders


6. Heroes Episode 2


7. Seeing Heroes


8. Hally Berry Gets Respect (and proves that my misspelling her name still gets more hits than if I hadn't!)


9. 10 Favorite Things About My Mac


10. Doctor Who Podcast

Labels: heroes, yearinreview

It looks like the potential writers strike may claim the Heroes spin-off. I'm not sure one way or the other on this -- but I think the nature of television now is that a strike can cause a lot more damage to shows than they did in the past. Since repeats aren't as valuable, they can't easily go to those, and for shows that have continuing storylines, a bunch of second-class scripts can kill a show.

We'll see what happens...I can understand why the media companies are struggling so much in what the proper way for people to get paid for what they do with all of the different changes in multimedia and distribution. And the competition is stronger than ever, really.

Labels: heroes, media, television

I'm glad to see that Heroes started its second season in a strong fashion. It was one of my favorite shows from last year, and instantly became one of my favorites.

Labels: heroes

Last year I had observed that Heroes was the Geekiest show on televison. And we now know that Heroes:Origins will absolutely follow in that geek supergroup tradition as well.

Labels: heroes, kevinsmith, scifi, tv

It's been confirmed in several locations now -- and I'm thrilled that retroactively Heroes can become even more the geekiest show ever, by not only having Sulu, a Doctor Who, a Master, and Malcolm McDowell but now a future (or is that a past) Spock in Zachary Quinto.

I'm very content with this casting -- Zachary Quinto proved to be a fantastic actor in Heroes, showing quite a wide range so he should be more than capable to play Spock. I'm a little concerned that including Leonard Nimoy as well in the film will make this a bit too backward looking -- making some of the same mistakes as the last Superman film made -- but we'll see.

Labels: heroes, movies, startrek

I think the last month or two of both Lost and Heroes have been excellent -- so this joint interview with the two creators is especially satisfying.

Labels: heroes, lost

Activating Evolution is a website put together by Mohinder Suresh for the book by Chandra Suresh.

It's another one of those Heroes sites -- and as it's going to be a very long month and a half until new episodes of Heroes, this might be something fun
to dig around as well.

Labels: heroes

I'm amazed to read that they handed over the writing duties for such an important (and awesome) episode of Heroes as Parasite to a brand new writer. It's a fascinating behind-the-scenes write up by Greg Beeman, one of the producers of Heroes.

Six weeks? It's going to be massive Heroes withdrawl..

Labels: heroes

I was watching the commentary for the awesome Heroes episode Company Man today, and besides being really impressed with how the NBC site has their on-site commentary tracks visualized, I realized who they need to cast at some point to absolutely prove that they're making this show for me. Mark Hamill. They've hired someone from Star Trek (George Takai). They've had both The Master (Eric Roberts) and The Doctor (Christopher Eccleston). Malcolm McDowell starts soon.

So all they need to do to win Geek Bingo is for them to cast someone from Star Wars, and Lost apparently has Billy Dee Williams coming up. [see Lost Spoilers if you want]. So Mark Hamill it is.

Labels: doctorwho, heroes, lost, startrek, starwars

Labels: heroes

One of the more interesting appearances at Gallifrey One this year was Eric Roberts. I was more interested in hearing about his upcoming appearance in Heroes than his brief appearance in Doctor Who a decade ago, and the one thing that I learned was that it sounds like it won't just be a one episode appearance, but that he'll be a recurring character. He commented that joining a series like Heroes has a lot more bodyguards on set just due to the popularity of the show.

It's sort of the Doctor Who handoff -- as Christopher Eccleston leaves to film The Dark Is Rising, we get someone from the previous part of the series joining the series.

Labels: doctorwho, heroes

One of the more interesting facts in Greg Beeman's most recent blog entry about Heroes is that the villainous character Christopher Eccleston was up for was the Sylar character. There had been some conjecture when Eccleston was originally rumored to be joining the Heroes cast that he was playing Sylar. And Eccleston had mentioned that he wasn't really interested in playing a villain on American television.

I think it definitely worked out for the best this way -- I think Eccleston works really well in the role that he's playing, and Zach Quinto is very very creepy as Sylar.

Labels: heroes

Samantha seems to know a bit more about Primatech Paper.

I wasn't terribly surprised by most of the events of tonight's Heroes -- but it was a solid episode, and it's great to see both Christopher Eccleston and George Takai in the same episode. It'll be interesting to see where things go from here.

Labels: heroes

Ausiello thinks that Malcolm McDowell will be Linderman on Heroes. I'd be shocked if it wasn't either Eric Roberts or Malcolm McDowell -- and I've seen people guess at both. Of course, at this point almost any new male actor old enough to be Linderman would have that sort of rumour.

But in any case, Heroes continues to have some really, really good casting.

Labels: heroes

I'm interested to see that Malcom McDowell has also been cast on Heroes. I've been wondering about the casting of Linderman, and I was wondering if it was Eric Roberts. And that's what Kristin from E thinks. But it could be Malcolm McDowell's character as well.
I'll be very interested to see where things go over the next few weeks.

Labels: heroes

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Eric Roberts's Heroes character is called Thompson. So maybe he's not Linderman, or there's some press deception going on (which is always possible). It'll be interesting to see where it goes. (I still think we'll see Linderman before the end of the season.)

Labels: heroes

I'm amused that following Christopher Eccleston to Heroes is the last actor to play the Master on Television: Eric Roberts.

I wonder -- is Eric Roberts going to play the mysterious Mr. Linderman? Of course, I wondered when the first Christopher Eccleston rumors were running around if that was a character he was playing. (Or Sylar, for that matter.)

Given some of Eccleston's comments in this interview I wouldn't be at all surprised to discover that the role Eric Roberts is taking on is one that they had discussions with Eccleston about as well.

And I have a hunch that it'll be Linderman. Heroes appears to be a show that doesn't leave a lot of strongly hinted mysteries around for too long. And discovering more about Linderman -- who certainly seems to have connections with pretty much every character -- definitely looks like it is on the agenda.

Labels: heroes

If you're a hero in search of a paper company, Primatech Paper Company might be a place to check out...

It's interesting to see how more and more genre television shows are adding that additional piece of detail. I'm curious to find out what the invitation code is...

And it was good to see Christopher Eccleston show up on Heroes tonight as well -- obviously his appearance is something that I've been looking forward to since it was first rumored.

Sometimes you lose interest in a television series when it's off the air for a number of weeks -- but if anything, I'm more excited by Heroes now than I was when the last episodes ended.

Labels: heroes

I'm amused by this Heroes vs Lost article.

I enjoy both series a great deal -- and I think the compare and contrast between the two series is very interesting.

I enjoy both series -- and like the Babylon 5 vs Deep Space Nine battles of a decade ago, two good genre series are better than one. And it's especially nice to see two good genre series on major broadcast networks instead of syndication. That both of these series can be successes is a something that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.

I'd say we're looking at the comparisons a little early -- but then it looks like we'll get our UK accented person with knowledge about the backstory that joins the series later in Christopher Eccleston's Claude on Heroes (as opposed to Lost's Desmond). So maybe not.

Labels: heroes, lost

It's great to read interviews like this one with Masi Oka from Heroes. It's great because just like the character he plays, he is One Of Us. Even though his character originates from Japan, he's not a foreign character -- he's much more someone I would know that just about any other character in the series.

And what makes Masi so interesting is that he's not just an actor -- his original "day job" is as a CG special effects day job. And so I imagine that his character comes by his geekiness honestly -- and that's refreshing, because it's much better when it is genuine, and not just a simplistic outsider parody. And as such, I think Hiro Nakamura is one of the best "geeks" to appear on television.

Labels: geek, heroes

If you haven't watched Heroes yet, NBC streams almost every episode on line. And it looks like that the ones that aren't up there yet will be.

The episodes are also available for purchase on iTunes.

I think this is great and a sign of things to come -- the changing nature of television -- and the ability for serialized dramas like Heroes and Lost to take advantage of the modern internet is one of the really interesting stories parts of our current entertainment culture.

Labels: heroes

In the half-dozen or so episodes since Heroes started this fall, it has established itself as my favorite new series of the year, and the potential of the series keeps growing. I'm really impressed with how they can keep the serial-treadmill going -- they do enough to move the story forward and to pay off old mysteries and questions, but also set up new additional items. I don't want to spoil things for those of you who haven't started watching it yet -- I think the DVDs for this series will sell like hotcakes when they come out. I know that one already has my name on it.

With Christopher Eccleston and George Takai joining in the new year they've made some casting choices that should work both as event casting as well as getting some very solid actors.

I think they keep on promising bigger and bigger things -- and if Heroes follows the pattern of many series, the next batch should be especially impressive as now they should have even more confidence now that they know that they're doing something that is working with an audience and they have the luxury of knowing that they have at least a full season to work with, and probably more.

Labels: heroes

I wasn't completely sure about the rumored casting of Christopher Eccleston and George Takai on Heroes but the following Comic Book Resources Interview has a bit more information direct from some of the producers involved in the series. As I've had a lot of hits about it both here and on my Doctor Who blog I know that there is a whole lot of interest about this two high profile casting decisions...

Labels: heroes

My favorite new television series of the year is Heroes. And they've managed, so far, to keep things moving at a good pace but still having a lot of mysteries. They manage to keep enough mysteries going to keep it fresh and interesting -- but also reveal enough that you feel that you're making some progress with the story.

And they've got the best way to introduce episode titles I've ever seen.

And while the episodes are on iTunes -- and looking at the rankings on iTunes earlier today they're doing quite well there -- you might want to take advantage of the marathon on Sci Fi this Wednesday, November 29th. They're showing the first six episodes -- so something to fill your TiVo up with.

So time to get on the bandwagon before Christopher Eccleston and George Takai show up.

Labels: heroes

Ok. Considering Christopher Eccleston's rumored casting on Heroes is listed as a rumor on the "official" unofficial Heroes site. maybe there is some truth to it. There's a lot of interesting speculation out there as far as what sort of character he could be playing. Is he a good guy? A bad guy? A character that we've already heard about? Sylar?, or Mr. Linderman?

In other amusing news on the 9th Wonders site, they're reporting that George Takai is going to appear as Hiro's father. I'm more than a bit amused if the we're getting casting from a primary actor from both Doctor Who and Star Trek announced during days of each other.

While digging around for more information and gossip about these casting I've also discovered a Heroes Wiki -- I think the Wiki format works really well for shows like Heroes or Lost.

Labels: doctorwho, heroes, startrek

Perhaps it's my wasted youth on Doctor Who, comic books, and The Empire Strikes Back, but one of my favorite things about the new series Heroes is that they've really mastered the cliffhanger very well.

I think the big thing is that they've set up a lot of mysteries and hooks -- but there is always the risk where the payoff isn't that good. I've got a reasonable about of faith that any series with Jeph Loeb's involvement understands the type of storytelling that Heroes is trying to do.

I think one of the interesting questions is how far along are they setting things up -- are they looking ahead to the (thankfully now confirmed) whole season, or even longer than that?

And I suspect that this is one series that will do very, very well on DVD when it comes out. Like Lost, 24, or Battlestar Galactica, I believe that many people will watch the entire season when it comes out even if they missed it on original broadcast.

I know that I've already seen enough that I'll certainly get the DVD...

Labels: galactica, heroes

Following on my post about NBC's Heroes from last week, I'm happy to say that the second week ended with a twist that I didn't expect at all.

Of course, I was thrilled to see Tadao Tomomatsu at the end of the episode -- I've run in to him at conventions both here in Minnesota and in LA over the years. But as he was part of a scene that really raised the level of the series in my mind, it's especially a good touch.

Definitely recommended at this point. You can get caught up real quickly on NBC.com, or, well, make it a part of your Sci Fi Friday and watch it before Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica.

Labels: heroes

I watched the first episode of Heroes on NBC tonight. As a life long superhero comic fan, it was almost obligatory. And the first episode was enough to have me hooked. Of course, with its shout out (and obvious creative debt) to Claremont/Byrne X-Men and Star Trek it had more geek bait than having an internet stripper in the first five minutes.

If you haven't had a chance to see it, you can catch it online on NBC's site, or it'll be repeated several times over the next couple of days, including on Friday before Doctor Who on Sci Fi.

And perhaps more than the various attempts at Lost like series in the last season, this is clearly a show that proves that the future of television is Lost. There's a clear Lost influence -- and not just because J.J. Abrams regular Greg Grunberg will be showing up in later episodes. All of the characters appear to have linked pasts, there are some underlying mysteries, and a few multinational characters that speak in subtitles.

It's not perfect -- and there are a few flaws that if they continue, this show could fail. The time lines didn't seem to always make sense -- and this wouldn't have bothered me much if it wasn't for the Solar Eclipse. And one of the mysteries for me is why a bunch of people would all of a sudden (to use an old Tommorrow People term) "Break Out" on the same day -- and I worry that they aren't going to have any specific explanation for that.

I'll definitely keep watching for a couple of more weeks. It's not quite as good of a pilot as Lost's was -- but the potential is certainly there, and while this isn't an unusual type of story for comic books, it's a little more unusual for network television.

Labels: heroes