I was supposed to be working today, and instead I caught up on all the back episodes of Heroes. People kept telling me it was wonderful and I kept saying, “I have no time, I must write,” and then my brains dribbled out my ears because all I did was write. So I thought, “Okay, I’ll watch the episode I have on my Direct TV Tivo which I am mentioning here because the damn thing is going out on me after only two years and now it sticks all the time, probably because it’s full of dog hair but I’m still mad at Direct TV.” Where was I? Right. I watched the first episode on NBC.com, but they didn’t have any more so I went to iTunes and downloaded the entire fifteen-episode season so far. It’s a damn good thing I don’t drink or do drugs because my ability to say, “No, really, that’s enough,” is non-existant.
Anyway, it takes time to watch fifteen forty-three minute TV shows (you do the math, i’m an English major) so all I got done today was one lousy table set up in Word with five of the major characters across the top, each with a plot or subplot and the nine plot points along the left–Beginning, Act One, First TP, Act Two, Second TP, Act Three, Third TP, Act Four, and Climax. Then I filled it in. And then I watched more Heroes. Extremely bummed about Charlie, but Hiro is the best. (Is it significant that there’s a Charlie and a Charles? I don’t think so.) Although that scene with Hiro’s father and sister . . . please. Lame. On the other hand, the scene where they’re lying under the van and the van drives away . . . . Keep that writer and fire the one who came up with “Really my sister is a better CEO than I am because I’m sensitive and she’s smart” which completely obliterates ten thousand years of patriarchy in Dad’s mind in one stunningly obvious and unrealistic move. I was praying Dad would say, “Are you insane? She’s a woman,” because I was not expecting that. Instead we got the expected. And the lame.
Where was I? Right. I filled out a table for You Again trying to get all the plots to mesh. And I worked on the plot for the Fun Book, too. But mostly, it was “We could be Heroes” all day. Jessica is turning out to be the Angelus of this show, so much more interesting than her good-two-shoes counterpart. Whining is not attractive, Niki. And then Dr. Who showed up and I was thrilled. Christopher Eccleston is just the best. Especially shoving Peter off a building even though I like Peter. Also I like Mohinder a lot, but could we lose the voiceovers? Voiceovers kill, people. And Adrian Pasdar owns this show whenever he’s onscreen. What a great face he has; when he smiles, he’s 95% teeth, terrifying everybody in sight range. Now there’s a character with some real ambiguity.
You know it’s amazing how well this show handles a HUGE cast of characters so that you really do know them all. I have a hell of a time with that, every one of my books always ends up with seventeen characters (oddly enough, not an exaggeration, I seem to bottom out at actual seventeen) and readers scream that they can’t keep them apart. You Again is no exception. Or it wasn’t until I cut two of them and knocked it back to fifteen. Maybe if I gave them super powers. Evil twins. Secret marks. White eyeballs.
Like I said, I watched Heroes all day today. So I am a sloth, but I’m a happy sloth with a new appreciation of action and a much better understanding of why Too Much Dialogue Is Bad, so it really has been good for the book. And tomorrow I’ll get back to work. Because there are no more episodes of Heroes to watch until Monday.
Although Mollie did say that the latest ep of Supernatural was terrific . . .
you deserve a break. i, on the otherhand, did not deserve one and i spent a good chunk of my day reading for fun instead of reading Mary Wollstonecraft for a history of psych presentation. i am very excited for Agnes and the Hitman and You Again (whenever we get it) and have already told everyone that for my 21st birthday i want money or giftcards to bookstores! thanks for sharing all of this with us, i don’t write – unless you count research papers, but i am enjoying reading about how it is done!
I have been bouncing up and down and telling everybody that Heroes had some of the best arc writing I’d seen since Buffy went off the air. Glad you got the bug.
And, yes, Claude pushing Peter off the building was *awesome*. As was his blithe comment that if Peter had died, he’d still have saved the world.
If I could wipe out one character, it would be Matt (the cop’s) wife. Those domestic arguments are just dull. No tension to them.
Pasdar is fabulous, but so’s Claire’s dad. And I’m quite fond of Syler, who is a smart villain.
I hear Heroes is a good show, but I’m not that interested. I DO however watch Bones! The snarky comments and character dialogue are the best.
Isn’t Hiro the greatest? “I have a sword.” He just kills me. I’ve always loved Pasdar. HRG (Claire’s dad) is fabulous, too.
A Japanese friend tells me that the actor who plays Ando is actually Chinese and she laughs whenever she hears his Chinese accented Japanese. That just makes my head hurt.
That happened to me over Christmas holidays, except it was Veronica Mars when Netflix sent me season 1 by mistake instead of the 2nd season of Medium. I was steamed but watched it anyway and was hooked. I proceeded to watch 2 1/2 seasons (54 episodes) back to back… talk about a happy walking zombie! 🙂
I must try to catch up with Hero since it’s getting good reviews! If Christopher Eccleston is in it, I’ll have to watch it. He’s the greatest. Could have lived without “Jude” though.
If you think Christopher Ecclestone is fantastic as Doctor Who, you’re gonna love David Tennat. Yum yum yum.
Jenny I love the 17 characters and all the dialogue. I love the synergy that comes from the characters reacting to and playing off of one another. Love it. Don’t change a thing.
Have never watched Heroes. Don’t know why, something else must be on.
Heroes, Doctor Who, and Jennifer Crusie in one blog entry? Is this my late Christmas present?
Glad I’m not alone. I have a proposal due and still spent the entire (yes, I swear the ENTIRE) weekend watching Charmed season seven on DVD. I need serious help. ps Heroes rocks.
LOL at Save the Cheerleader line. It brings up the interesting question of how many hit show phrases (both movie and TV) make their way into the Pop Culture lexicon. Who doesn’t recognize:
1. Beam me up, Scotty
2. Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn
3. There can be only one
4. She saved the world, a lot
5. The power of three
6, Save the cheerleader, save the world
The list is endless…
Breaks are good. Battlestar Galactica is my new time waster. Check it out when you need another break. 🙂
Adrian Pasdar!!!! He has the best voice in the entire world! Has anyone seen Profit- it was a short lived (less than one season) tv show in the mid 90s- very intense- very dark- very compelling- and one of the few shows I’ve ever seen where they do voiceovers that aren’t in the way or cheating/info dump
I’m assuming the save the cheerleader comment is a buffy thing- passed me by- also don’t get Heroes or the good Dr.- but I love Bones and how Brennan jumped Sully’s bones- the show is totally different from the books- as long as I tell myself the only thing the two have in common is a name and a profession then I’m good and not frustrated and beating my head against the wall
i was so determined not to get caught up on TV when i went to college. the only one i was keeping was Grey’s Anatomy, and i would catch repeats of others (though after watching a Medium i remembered how good they were, may start that up again). people kept telling me i would love Heroes, so i was going to start watching it, and then (Jill, there’s someone worse out there than you) instead of spending finals week, oh, i don’t know, studying, i found a TV show called Naruto. nice people download episodes on YouTube for others to watch. i watched about forty of them that week.
it’s a sickness.
Jenny: my dad has DVR. not exactly Tivo but close to it. except for last week, when it deleted everything saved and all the programming, for the last year it’s been nice. (ringing endorsement, that).
For a SHORT time waster, go to YouTube and watch the God, Inc episodes. There are six of them and they’re about five minutes each. I love them.
“Save the cheerleader, save the world” is from Heroes. It is now my favorite catchphrase, just because it’s so much fun to say. And it’s snarky.
Oh, I know this problem. I had it. Only I watched ten (?) episodes in two days (plus homework plus schooling plus theatre). So basically I slept Heroes. And then I caught up in just enough time for them to take their Christmas break and leave me hanging for a month. But it’s all good.
Because there is so much good in this show!
Ten hours and 45 minutes not counting biology breaks. From your comments, I assume that was all in one day.
I’m impressed and appalled.
A friend is trying to get me hooked on Heroes and got a DVR with that (and other things) in mind. (I don’t watch TV).