ABC has Lost, CBS has... well... they've got something, but there's nothing quite like NBC and Universal's Heroes. 

Finally, comic books are getting attention

While certainly not a surprise to many, at least in the geek community (where I live and breath), comics have hit home in the Hollywood fashion, hard.   With the emergence of Blade in the early 90's, than Spider-man and X-men, Hollywood finally opened its eyes and found new ways to tell stories to a new audience.  Reality television only lasted so long before it got boring, so the theatrical successes from comic book adaptions sprang one of the greatest shows in the last decade, that's Heroes. 

To be honest, I saved myself for this show on Blu-ray.  I am always working and never having much time to sit and enjoy television (are the Olympics over yet? Email me if they are), so when Universal sent down Heroes, I finally got a chance to experience what I heard so many people describe as true creativity on television.  I can say without a doubt that Heroes: Season One is quite an experience.  It completely leaves every show, yes even Lost (though Steven Schardein would disagree), in the dust. Now, you might say, "Well, what do you know about television? You're not only a comic book geek, but you don't even get to watch it."  Both are true, I loved comics as a kid (hell, my middle brother writes them), but I do have a television background and I know two very good things.  First, it's quite difficult to stuff a competent story into literally a 44-45 minute show (that's including commercials).  Second, if you can stuff a competent story in that amount of time, than it's nearly impossible to create memorable characters that last.  The second is the toughest, as most shows tend to fail miserably.  Now, sitcoms are different so don't feel free to mention the likes of Friends or Seinfeld.  I'm referring to deep characters that follow a continuous storyline.  If you want a good example of this type of storytelling and characters, please see Twin Peaks. That show managed to introduce almost all the main characters in the pilot and construct their personalities by the end of the pilot.  You knew them before you knew the beef of the story, which is a fantastic way of constructing a story. Heroes: Season One is certainly on that epic/Twin Peaks level, where you are caught right from the beginning.  

If you're not familiar with the story, it's quite easy to follow.  You have a group of individuals with unique powers, some of who know of these powers, some who don't.  Regardless of their individual lives and special powers, they are suppose to come together to avoid one terrible event... the destruction of New York City.  Most of the season revolves around a young man named Peter Petrelli, who is the younger/weaker brother to a congressman-to-be Nathan Petrelli.  Peter finds out halfway through the season that he is the cause of the city's destruction and has a limited amount of time to figure out why and how.  In the mix of all this is Sylar, a deranged villain who gains powers by killing heroes and removing their brains.  It's very nasty, but very effective.  He's the subplot to the New York story and certainly makes things complicated in the first season.  I won't go into anymore of the show, as it is very well put together and I don't want to give anything away. 

So what's so great about the first season of Heroes? Well, the most impressive element of the show is that they can send out multiple storylines and bring them all together perfectly.  For a lot of shows this is an impossibility.  Right now Lost is finding that out, though I think they're going to be okay.  A good example of a show failing to keep it together is Desperate Housewives, which had a fantastic first season, but pretty much killed the great premise at the end.  You can't conclude your driving premise, you must wrap a piece of it up and then tell the other parts.  Again, this is what made Twin Peaks such a spectacular show, it stretched out the premise and made it work.  Regretfully, at the time and it's still rumored, the show did this too well and the studio pressed them to finish it, which they did... in the theaters (see Fire Walk with Me for confusing details).  Anyway,  I digress, Heroes creates these very different characters with extremely different talents and forges them into one big storyline.  That's what makes it so damn good.  The setups are always easy when you're introducing characters, it's how you put them altogether without messing up, that is the tricky part.  Heroes executes the storyline nearly flawlessly, though I think the only true weak-link comes from the Niki Sanders character (played by the very lovely Ali Larter, who is mean as spit in the series).  Again, I don't want to go too much into it, but if there is a weak portion of the show that storyline certainly does carry a little less weight than the others.  Not useless mind you, but not as strong as the others.  In the end, it does play its part. 

So this reviewer, simply put, fell in deep love with the show! It truly is the first show I wouldn't mind going through again and again, as most television shows don't do that for me.  I can see this show lasting for a long time as well, though the following season does have some issues (which are explained in the next Heroes review.... to be continued). 

Please put a blue cape on Blu-ray

There's so much to be said about Blu-ray, and yes I understand that I have said most of it. Still, the format lends so much to action movies and shows.  You get to experience the true advantage of HD sound and visuals like no other format can bring.  With the proper setup and the right amount of enjoyable ears (just takes two), you will find Heroes such an enhanced experience.  It's tough to describe, but almost every action scene and creepy scene (that's every Sylar scene) really jumps out on this format.  You'll be happy, especially if you fancy the show.  Universal/NBC really embraced and used the Blu-ray format properly. 

Speaking of enhancements, here's what you get with the first season of Heroes:

 

- U CONTROL: Universal’s exclusive signature feature, U Control puts viewers one click away from going

deeper into the making of the film without ever leaving the movie:

- ARTWORK PRESENTATION: View details of Issac’s paintings and comics as you watch the

episodes.

- HERO CONNECTIONS: Follow your favorite Heroes with the Interactive Hero Connections.

- PICTURE IN PICTURE: With just one click, access Interactive cast and crew Interviews and

behind-the-scenes footage using the Picture in Picture while you watch the episodes.

- BD-LIVE FEATURES:

o MY COMMENTARY

o MY SCENES SHARING

o EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

o MY SCENES

- Premiere Episode with Audio Commentary by Show Creator Time Kring

- The Making of Heroes

- The Special Effects

- The Stunts

- Profile of Artist Time Sale

- The Score

- Deleted Scenes

These features are some of the best included on a television show DVD or Blu-ray set.  The Making of's are great, the deleted scenes are good, and the Blu-ray features (even down to when you pause the show) really give you a glimpse of what's coming to this format in the very near future.  And the advancements on this Blu-ray season are a great reflection of the advancements of the show and its characters.  It's all tied together, even if it's in this reviewers opinion. 

...to be continued

Having such a huge first season, a very successful first season/nearly perfect, is a tough act to follow.  Many people thought that Twin Peaks couldn't top their first season and they were proven wrong.  So, let's see how the second season goes in the next review, as the first season of Heroes is the most magnificent television experience, at least for me, in some time.  It's a plus that it's on Blu-ray. 

You must own this, it's one of the most exciting shows on television.