BANG!

THE BIG BANG THEORY is the funniest show on television in years. I like being the key demographic because shows are made for me and I love it. Screw getting old. These four guys are my friends – well, not the genius part but the geeky, comic, sci-fi, technology part for sure. Geek is chic, baby. 

Who knew that the senior citizen channel (CBS) could put out something so hip? Click here for the official page.

WE NEED MORE DEATH

… in the TV show, HEROES. 

Last night Noah, otherwise known as "Horn Rimed Glasses" (HRB), was trapped with Claire inside a trailer house 50 feet underground. Claire could live because of her special abilities, but Noah could not. At the last minute, good old Tracy-the-Water-Girl trickled in and saved them both. Ho Hum. (Caution: boring old plot device in use.)

The story would have been so much better had Noah died. It would have been poetic (the literary term being "foreshadowing") for Claire's next move to out herself as a special. He was, after all, the figurative locked door of her closet. Once dead, she could come out of said closet and be her true self: a person with abilities, which is really just a metaphor for oppressed peoples (be they ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, women, or homosexuals).

Instead, they chose the easy way out by letting Noah live. She still came out, but it didn't really make sense for her to do that. What was the real impetus for her to change? If she wanted to protect her father, she would not have come out as her actions will cause him all kinds of grief. 

It's all so sad because NBC missed a real opportunity for good storytelling. 

I did enjoy the 5-year/5-hour time-space dream sequence with Sylar and Peter. I've never said it aloud, but I don't care for the actor who portrays Matt Parkman. The execution of his powers always comes off trite and poorly acted to me. Always the same side glance. 

I am excited to see how Claire's outing affects all the specials. I am particularly interested in the avenue NBC takes it. How will it compare to the stories in X-Men or Civil War? Let's hope that NBC does a better job with the storytelling than Marvel did with the ending of Civil War. Humans versus Special always makes for interesting narratives and metaphors to other civil rights movements. Who would be the Professor X (Martin Luther King Jr) and the Magneto (Malcolm X) characters in HEROES? 

From my perspective, HEROES can stand as an analogy for any civil rights movement, but I think it is particularly apropos to the gay civil rights movement. You don't declare yourself as a person of color. It's apparent. However, you have to tell folks you have special powers or are gay. 

Anyone else follow HEROES, or am I the lone blogger round these parts?

WHO IS YOUR HERO?

I have successfully managed to watch all three seasons of HEROES this summer, which took some doing. Now I am geared up to watch season 4 (Redemption) beginning Sept. 21. I have really enjoyed the summer-long HEROES marathon and found myself caught up in the drama of the show.

Mostly, I am enamored with the switching of sides the characters go through. I have watched people who were often doing what they thought was right in the most maddening and destructive (and evil) way. Some were aware of their evil intentions but others were not until it was too late. Even Sylar had his moments of attempted redemption. It was the transformative nature of the characters that kept me watching.

The new season will focus on two main storylines: 1) the characters from seasons 1-3 trying to live normal lives and 2) a look at new powered characters who have lived among us as carnival attractions all this time and are now ready to come onto scene.

Newsarama reported seeing footage at San Diego Comicon of Claire kissing her female college roommate; who knows if that will make it into the show or not. Poor Claire has had a hard way to go and she is, understandably, confused and angry. She’s in some need of finding her real self.

HEROES is one of the best shows on television, in my opinion anyway, and season 4 would likely be a great jumping on point, considering the introduction of new characters and a new storyline for the established ones.

The HEROES comics are also in line for a new season. I haven’t picked up any of them, but they are available in hardcover at most comic shops. I’d like to have those.

HEROES
Season 4: Redemption
Two-hour premiere
Monday, September 21
8 pm