#8 - The Making (or Remaking) of Heroes

I had spent a fair amount of time considering what I was going to write about for my next blog. I had put on the backburner my idea to solve world hunger and world peace using a jigsaw, two jars of peanut butter and a rubber mallet. I mean, world peace and world hunger…they could wait a few more weeks, right? I had even considered talking about why Bill Murray would so much rather star in my version of Ghostbusters III than the one being pitched to him currently (either way Bill, please do Ghostbusters III ).

So, I had all but decided on providing some insight as to how and why I write (sorry JK, you’ll have to wait a while longer), when I stumbled upon a topic of greater importance. No, this one couldn’t wait.

I was at lunch today with a friend of mine, and we were discussing our usual plethora of random topics…our weekends, football (I’m a Rams fan, he the Eagles), baseball (I’m a Cardinals fan, he the Phillies)…when we stumbled onto the topic of television shows we have enjoyed over the years. He was a big Seinfeld fan, while I preferred Friends and Cheers . At that point, we hit the point of this blog; the all-time show that had the biggest potential, yet disappointed badly. We were in agreement that Heroes was just that beast. My friend, Terry, and I like to have friendly banter, and often times we find ourselves on different ends of a given topic. On this day, not only did we agree that Heroes had a great premise, that it started very strong and that neither of us were around for the end because it strayed too far from what made it great, but we agreed on what to do about it.

What Terry and I decided was, Heroes needed a do over. Not a reboot per se. No this isn’t Spiderman , Superman or The Incredible Hulk . We don’t want to pretend that the original didn’t exist at all. We were pretty fond of the actors. We just want to pretend that the series didn’t happen…the way it did. Here is what I proposed (and he agreed):

1. NBC needs to re-launch Heroes . They need to bring all of the characters from the first season back.

2. Claire should be in college, but still be a cheerleader (sorry ladies, the guy part of us definitely liked the cheerleader thing).

3. The first episode should be almost identical to the original first episode, but change a few things. The viewers can enjoy spotting the discrepancies.

4. Each episode would veer further from the original series until, at the end of the first season, it would now be a completely different show with its own identity.

5. They should be careful not to introduce a bunch of new characters. Further develop the ones they have in the first season. Give them significance. There were a lot of characters. NBC will have plenty of episodes to develop them before they need to introduce more.

6. Don’t kill off characters and bring the same actor back as somebody else. Especially not several times.

At this point, Terry and I had concluded our lunch. Terry and I had agreed on more points at one sitting than we probably ever had before, or will again. The two of us agreed…it was practically a consensus. Terry was ready to present it to NBC. I thought we should get a little more input, so I thought I would present it to you, the readers. Please, let us know what you think. Let’s do this!

For my next blog, I will be giving some insight into my next novel. I’ll have it up within the week. If you would like to check out my first novel, In My Shoes , click here . Until next time!