TV Write Now » Heroes

Exclusive Preview 4: The Write Environment with Tim Kring (Heroes)

JOpinionated — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:32:00 +0000

In my fourth preview of the DVD series The Write Environment, I have to admit that I was enthralled by the interview with Heroes creator/executive producer/writer Tim Kring. The DVD, which was released today and is available on the official site and Amazon for only $11.99, would make a fantastic stocking stuffer for any aspiring writer and Heroes fan.

I have seen every episode of Heroes thus far, and while I enjoyed the first episode of this third season – I’m not in love with the current story lines. That being said, I stand by my initial assessment of the first season…that it was one of the most stellar and compelling debuts in recent television history.

Before creating the fan favorite series Heroes, the Emmy-nominated Kring (Outstanding Drama Series; Heroes in 2007, Chicago Hope in 1997) created, produced and wrote for Crossing Jordan. Prior to that, Kring wrote and produced episodes of Providence and Chicago Hope. Kring’s first foray into writing for series television, however, was an episode of the original Knight Rider in 1982, followed by several made-for-TV movies. Entertaining career note: in 1987, he and former Heroes/Lost producer Jeph Loeb co-wrote the film Teen Wolf Too (the sequel with Jason Bateman replacing Michael J. Fox).

When the interview begins, we are introduced to Kring’s office space on the studio lot. In addition to a smattering of awards statues around the room, there is original art from Heroes artist Tim Sale framed along the walls. [Personal aside: I had the opportunity to meet Sale earlier this year in person, and he sketched a custom print of cheerleader Claire for me in 10 minutes; it was a very cool pop culture moment, and he was quietly polite and charming while I secretly geeked out.]

Kring discusses both his film influences and film school experience, as well as his work behind the scenes in TV production before becoming a writer. He elaborates about the development of plot vs. characters, and the collaboration in the writers room that is essential in serialized television.

I was particularly interested to hear Kring’s response to interviewer Jeff Berman’s question about whether or not Heroes has an ‘end game.’ And, of course, his thoughts about how Lost paved the way for a show like Heroes to achieve success (large ensemble cast, more questions than answers, etc.).

For all of the recent controversy surrounding Kring’s statements about the Heroes audience (followed by his published apology), I will say this for the man…he genuinely cares about the relationship between the show and those who are dedicated to watching and writing about it. Kring really seems to appreciate the cross-pollination that occurs between the series and the fans. While the audience may not dictate the final direction of the show, I truly believe that Kring listens to the voices of both discord and delight.

I still have great faith in Heroes, even though I remain puzzled by the dismissal of Loeb and Jesse Alexander. Why, you might ask? Because of the passion displayed at the Heroes panel at Comic-Con a few months ago and also during Kring’s interview on this DVD, and because I look forward to being baffled and entertained every Monday night by a cast of characters that I’ve grown attached to. Not convinced? Get a copy of this DVD for yourself, and let me know what you think.

I hope you all enjoyed a nice holiday and weekend. Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for my previews of The Write Environment interviews with Doug Ellin (Entourage) and Sam Simon (The Simpsons)!

What I Didn’t Do This Week: A Recap

JOpinionated — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 09:04:00 +0000

By now, most of you know that I had surgery last week and am recuperating at home for a few weeks. I had huge plans; fun, lazy, dreamy ideas about days consisting of naps, multiple film viewings and blog posts.

I can’t drive until later next week, so I should be taking more advantage of this ‘free’ time. I am failing miserably. Except for the nap part.

Here is what I wanted to do instead, in no particular order:

Watch Casino Royale again, to get in the Bond/Daniel Craig mindset
See Quantum of Solace
Catch up on entire current season of both Desperate Housewives & Survivor online
Share angry open letter here to ABC re: the firing of Brooke Smith
Finish reading New Moon, the 2nd in the Twilight series
Write/review, post, repeat…every single day

So what have I been doing, besides sleeping? Time-sucking activities like perusing new people to follow on Twitter, responding to status updates on Facebook and watching bonus features on DVDs.

Movie-wise…I tried to get through In Bruges but could not, endured 30 Days of Night even though Josh Hartnett is painfully miscast as a leading man once again, enjoyed the highly recommended/cheesy awesome Boondock Saints, gave M. Night’s Unbreakable another look and loved Iron Man even more upon a second viewing.

TV-wise…I attempted to watch The View but wanted to flick Hasselbeck in the head, finally had time to watch and appreciate Rachel Maddow, painfully giggled at Ellen on a daily basis, sat through my first ever episode of Dancing with the Stars with and on behalf of my parents, was pleasantly surprised by Heroes, rediscovered It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia online, and loved Life, Dexter, Brothers & Sisters, Bones, Eli Stone, and 30 Rock (except for Jennifer Aniston). The Office was a bit stale but I really liked Andy and Oscar’s banter. I am secretly disappointed that Lipstick Jungle was canceled, and am anxiously awaiting word on the future of Pushing Daisies. I also decided to stick with Grey’s Anatomy, but only because of my affection and respect for Sandra Oh and Sara Ramirez (who, I admit, made me tear up this week during that ER scene).

On second thought, I did do more than just nap. Sweet.

And on tap for next week:

Dual interview w/the authors of Lost Ate My Life (Jon ‘DocArzt’ Lachonis & Amy ‘hijinx’ Johnston)
Advance review of new television writers series on DVD
Belated review of Clint Eastwood’s Changeling
Kung Fu Panda & Son of Rambow from Netflix, followed by Wall E & Tropic Thunder
TiVO 1997′s Lost Highway (recommended by DocArzt) on cable, as well as Across the Universe and The Diving Bell & The Butterfly

Apparently the key to inspiration is to nap too much, then stay up and write at this hour. We’ll see if that continues.

Thanks for reading an absolutely rambling mess of an entry. Good times, and good night!

Red Flag! NBC Removes Creative HEROES Power

JOpinionated — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 03:12:00 +0000

I don’t usually report on industry news like this, but when it affects a pop culture phenomenon and fan favorite show like Heroes, I think it merits a mention.

According to Variety, co-executive producers Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb were let go from the series. Both have been involved with the show from day one, and regardless of lower ratings this season, I believe that NBC’s decision will play a significant role in the future of Heroes (to be frank, I would now be very surprised to see it renewed for a fourth season).

I’m not sure we’ll ever find out what transpired at the network, but I will say this…regardless of the ratings and my opinion about Season 3, I have never questioned the passion of the creative team behind Heroes. That was never more obvious than at Comic-Con earlier this summer; Loeb’s enthusiasm at the Heroes panel was incredibly infectious and I was sold.

Alexander and Loeb were also producers on Lost a few years ago. And Loeb is a frequent comic book collaborator with Heroes artist Tim Sale; together they have created some fantastic graphic novels such as Batman: Haunted Knight. I will continue to follow both of these very talented producers wherever they land, and have faith that there will be more than a few interested parties who would love to have either on their staff.

Early Report Card: Fall TV Thus Far

JOpinionated — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:42:00 +0000

Even though a few of my favorite shows have yet to return (30 Rock, Samantha Who) and a new series debuts tonight (Life on Mars), I have been pretty underwhelmed with Fall Television thus far…with a few exceptions.

Admittedly, it’s early; I’ve only seen an episode or two of each. But here is how I would grade each right now:

Bones: B (Zach’s return as a Hannibal Lecter type consultant works for me)

Brothers & Sisters: A- (love the cast & chemistry)

Chuck: C (I gave up on it last season & tried again to no avail)

Desperate Housewives: C (flash forwards work…on Lost)

Dexter: A (characters, script, cast – all consistently compelling)

Dirty Sexy Money: B (so far, so good)

Entourage: C (forward movement for Vince would be nice)

The Ex List: B (charming & worth a look, even though CBS blew it w/timeslot)

Fringe: A (saving grace of the season)

Grey’s Anatomy: B (wish: less Meredith, more Yang)

Heroes: C (yikes; really disappointed with each ep since premiere)

House: B+ (more Thirteen please)

Life: B (like the addition of Donal Logue)

Lipstick Jungle: B (new to my TV radar, pleasant surprise)

The Office: B+ (thank you Amy Ryan and the gas station surprise)

Private Practice: B (more serious tone & medical cases = great improvement)

Pushing Daisies: B+ (a rare gem of positive energy)

Saturday Night Live: C- (if it weren’t for Tina Fey, I’d stop watching altogether)

Sons of Anarchy: B- (lost interest for now, will catch marathon in the future)

True Blood: B (getting better & more intriguing each work)

Ugly Betty: B (Mark & Amanda are my Jack & Karen)

Reality Shows
I still haven’t watched the entire 2 hour season premiere of Survivor, but I think that setting will prove to be an interesting challenge and I’ll tune in online at some point. I catch every other episode of The Amazing Race but it just doesn’t hold my interest week after week any longer. Even Project Runway has been less than stellar this season; none of the contestants has truly stood out with a great personality or as the most talented. Thank goodness for the return of Top Chef; Season 5 debuts next month on Bravo.

Am I alone here, or do you also feel a little let down by some returning shows?

Fall TV 2008 Schedule: New & Existing Shows

JOpinionated — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:10:00 +0000

This has been a long hot summer with a seriously dry television spell. Thank goodness we’re fast approaching the debut of brand new programming and unveiling of several new series’. The shows which I will be setting a TiVO Season Pass for and writing about are starred with an asterisk.

By date….

August 26
Greek
ABC Family

September 1
Prison Break
FOX

September 1
Raising the Bar
TNT
Drama

September 1
One Tree Hill
CW

September 1
Gossip Girl
CW

September 2
The Shield
FX

September 2
90210
CW
Drama

September 3 *
Bones
FOX

September 3 *
Sons of Anarchy
FX
Drama
For the cast alone: Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Katey Sagal (Helen on Lost), Mitch Pileggi (AD Skinner on The X-Files), Drea De Matteo (Adrianna on The Sopranos), Sprague Grayden (Heather on Jericho), Dayton Callie (Charlie Utter on Deadwood)

September 7 *
True Blood
HBO
Drama
From Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball. Need I say more?

September 7 *
Entourage
HBO

September 8
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
FOX

September 9 *
Fringe
FOX
Drama
I saw a 90 minute unedited version of the pilot at Comic-Con and fell in love immediately. From the mind of J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost), featuring stellar new discovery Anna Torv and Lance Reddick (The Wire, Lost) and Joshua Jackson (whom you will no longer refer to as Pacey from Dawson’s Creek after episode 1).

September 9
Privileged
CW
Comedy Drama

September 10
Do Not Disturb
FOX
Comedy

September 10
‘Til Death
FOX

September 13
Saturday Night Live
NBC

September 16 *
House
FOX

September 18
Survivor: Gabon
CBS

September 18
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
FX

September 18
Smallville
CW

September 18
Supernatural
CW

September 22 *
Heroes
NBC

September 22
CSI: Miami
CBS

September 22
How I Met Your Mother
CBS

September 22
Boston Legal
ABC

September 22
The Big Bang Theory
CBS

September 22
Worst Week
CBS
Comedy

September 22
Two and a Half Men
CBS

September 23
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
NBC

September 23
NCIS
CBS

September 23
Without a Trace
CBS

September 23
The Mentalist
CBS
Drama

September 24
Lipstick Jungle
NBC

September 24
Knight Rider
NBC
Drama

September 24
The New Adventures of Old Christine
CBS

September 24
CSI: NY
CBS

September 24
Criminal Minds
CBS

September 24
Gary Unmarried
CBS
Comedy

September 25 *
The Office
NBC

September 25 *
Ugly Betty
ABC

September 25 *
Grey’s Anatomy
ABC

September 25
My Name is Earl
NBC

September 25
ER
NBC

September 28
Desperate Housewives
ABC

September 28 *
Brothers & Sisters
ABC

September 28 *
Dexter
Showtime

September 28 *
Amazing Race
CBS

September 28
Californication
Showtime

September 28
Cold Case
CBS

September 28
The Unit
CBS

September 28
American Dad
FOX

September 28
The Simpsons
FOX

September 29
Chuck
NBC

October 1 *
Pushing Daisies
ABC

October 1 *
Dirty Sexy Money
ABC
I’ve seen the first two episodes and really like the direction and tone…

October 1 *
Private Practice
ABC

October 1
Friday Night Lights
DirecTV
Sadly, I will not be able to catch these new episodes until they air on NBC in the future

October 3 *
The Ex List
CBS
Comedy
Only because I love love love Elizabeth Reaser (Ava/Rebecca on Grey’s Anatomy), and it’s about time she got her own show

October 3 *
Life
NBC

October 3
Numb3rs
CBS

October 3
Everybody Hates Chris
CW

October 3
Ghost Whisperer
CBS

October 3
The Game
CW

October 6 *
Samantha Who
ABC

October 9
CSI
CBS

October 9
Kath and Kim
NBC
Comedy

October 9
Eleventh Hour
CBS
Drama

October 9
Life on Mars
ABC
Drama

October 10
The Starter Wife
USA

October 13
My Own Worst Enemy
NBC
Drama

October 14
Eli Stone
ABC

October 17
Crusoe
NBC
Drama

October 30 *
30 Rock
NBC

Comic-Con 08: The Heroes Panel (with Photos)

JOpinionated — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:29:00 +0000

Although my first love is Lost, I am a huge Heroes fan as well. Fortunately, the Heroes panel at Comic-Con took place immediately prior to the Lost panel, in the same venue. And because I arrived before dawn to secure a seat, I had a great view of the panel and screens for both.

The entire cast was on hand, and we were treated to the debut of the first episode of Season 3. In a word? Stellar. A vast improvement from last season, and quite possibly the best episode of Heroes since the pilot. There were essential ‘wow’ moments, as well as some comic relief. They have really kicked it up a notch with regard to advancing the story and growth of certain characters.

It was obvious that Zachary Quinto (Sylar) and Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli) were fan favorites, as well as James Kyson Lee (Ando).

I’m not comfortable posting spoilers, but I definitely encourage all new and current Heroes fans to have faith and tune in when it comes back in September. It looks like the journey and ride will be more than worth your time and TiVO.

I also picked up this exclusive Heroes comic (created just for Comic-Con), which I haven’t had time to read. I may put it up for grabs in a future blog contest…

And here is my a cool new toy for my desk, the Future/Present double-sided Hiro bobblehead!

Webisodes: A Brief Reprieve from Summer TV Boredom (updated: Heroes, The Office, Rescue Me)

JOpinionated — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:46:00 +0000

If you are as bored with summer television programming as I am, you have probably also been seeking other mediums for entertainment.

A Wii Fit, perhaps? Hello, no. Don’t you know me?

I’m referring to the fun little web episodes of Heroes and The Office, and the ‘minisodes’ of Rescue Me. For the uninitiated, be forewarned that even the online versions of Tommy and the boys are quite foul-mouthed and dirty minded.

Other than that, here is my current weekly TiVO lineup:

The Next Food Network Star
Weeds
The Middleman
Burn Notice
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List

Kind of sad.

Save the Cheerleader: Tim Sale, HEROES Artist

JOpinionated — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:05:00 +0000

I am still blown away by this custom print, which Heroes artist Tim Sale sketched for me on Saturday night.

UPDATE: Whitney posted new photos and details about the event in today’s Pop Candy, including a link here! I heart her.

Watching him at work certainly gave me a renewed appreciation for all of the graphic art on Heroes. Hopefully I will see Tim at ComicCon in July as well.

I am getting this framed as we speak, my new pop culture treasure.

Teaser: Pop Candy, Pop Culture & Heroes

JOpinionated — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 08:42:00 +0000

It is 2am and I am exhausted, but I had to take note of the evening I just experienced while it’s still fresh.

Tonight we went to SF and met up with Whitney Matheson, who writes USA Today’s Pop Candy blog. She was there to chat with her readers and share her enthusiasm for comics and graphic novels. The event took place at Isotope, which is a very cool comic book store/lounge hybrid.

Whitney was so sweet and very accessible, and it was so great to talk with her about Lost!

On top of that, artist Tim Sale was there (he is the very talented man behind all of the art featured on Heroes). Long story short…I watched as Tim sketched and then painted an original portrait of Claire Bennett from Heroes, just for me. It was an incredible pop culture experience, watching him create that piece in only ten minutes. Tim was very nice and patient with all of the fans lined up for autographs and custom sketches (only 10 were allotted; I was first in line).

We even received custom pint glasses designed by Tim Sale himself, each with a portrait of Whitney! They also created a Pop Candy cocktail just for the occasion (see photo above).

I will post a photo of Tim’s sketch on Monday before taking it to get matted and framed.

Unbelievable.

Happy Easter!

THE BEST & WORST OF 2007…IN MY (J)OPINION

JOpinionated — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 07:15:00 +0000

I will be the first to admit that I did not see very many quality films this year, and because of my back, I will not be able to actually go out to the movies again until early 2008. However, I watched more than my share of television, so here are my selections for the best and worst of the big and small screen in ’07.

MOVIES

BEST FILMS/PERFORMANCES
American Gangster
Into the Wild
Knocked Up
Michael Clayton
A Mighty Heart
Once
The Simpsons Movie
Waitress

MUST-SEE A.S.A.P.
Atonement
Charlie Wilson’s War
Juno
No Country For Old Men
Sweeney Todd

OVERHYPED and/or DISAPPOINTING
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Eastern Promises
Superbad
Transformers
Year of the Dog

TV

BEST NEW SHOWS
Damages (FX)
Flight of the Conchords (HBO)
Life (NBC)
Mad Men (AMC)
Private Practice (ABC)
Pushing Daisies (ABC)
The Riches (FX)

BEST RETURNING SHOWS
30 Rock (NBC)
Bones (FOX)
Brothers and Sisters (ABC)
Dexter (Showtime)
Entourage (HBO)
Friday Night Lights (NBC)
Lost (ABC)
The Office (NBC)
Top Chef (Bravo)
Ugly Betty (ABC)
Weeds (Showtime)

GUILTY PLEASURES BUT NO SEASON PASS
Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Dirt (FX)
Men in Trees (ABC)
My Name is Earl (NBC)

ON THE FENCE
Chuck (NBC)
Samantha Who (ABC)

MOST DISAPPOINTING NEW SERIES
Back to You (FOX)
Big Shots (ABC)
Cane (CBS)
Bionic Woman (NBC)
John From Cincinnati (HBO)
Tell Me You Love Me (HBO)

MOST DISAPPOINTING RETURNING SERIES
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
Heroes (NBC)
The L Word (Showtime)
Rescue Me (FX)

R.I.P.
Six Degrees (ABC)
The Sopranos (HBO)
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC)

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2008

Films (all of which make me seem like SUCH a guy and giant nerd)
Cloverfield
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Speed Racer
Star Trek
The X-Files 2

Television
Cashmere Mafia (ABC)
Eli Stone (ABC)
Lost, Season 4 (ABC)
The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX)
Swingtown (CBS)

So, fellow couch critics, let me know what you loved in 2007 and look forward to next year…