Well, I normally hate Superman (stick with me) but I was VERY impressed with Smallville. The first four seasons were great, how he dealt with learning new abilities, and how the writing tied them into dealing with teen issues, etc, etc. However, the show originally was only going to deal with the four high school years, and then end. The fifth season was ok, the sixth started to slide, and the seventh is garbage so far in my opinion. I think Heroes is doing quite well, but yes, I am starting to see the downward spiral. I hated Claire’s emo boyfriend from the start, and I’m sick of shows using amnesia to drive a plot or character. I actually had a discussion tonight about Smallville vs Heroes, and how Smallville seems unable to kill off main characters. Chloe dies at the end of season 6, but she was only in some sort of coma. Lana “dies” in an explosion (I doubted it from the beginning) and then they find out she’s alive in China. They bring her back to Kansas that very same ep. They had such a promising story with Lionel, but abandoned it. They are back to meteor-freaks (see the episode with the three Ms Corn Cob contestants or whatever), so, I think Heroes will keep me for a bit longer. I would rather have shows stop than continue with a story that is not top notch, or is utter crap. First four seasons of 24 were great, the fifth dragged halfway, then picked up. The latest one was episode after episode based on writers sessions that start with “What’s the most outrageous thing we can do today” and end with “OK, now Jack Bauer suggests something, is denied permission, does it anyway, and saves the day.” All shows must die, and finding the best time to kill them is the best way to end it, rather than running it into the ground and turning it into crap. I would much rather remember a few seasons for greatness, than watch three or four seasons that suck out of loyalty.

Heroes seems like it has some good ideas, but out of the need for a large cast (which I hate in movies and TV shows) they have to have so many stories, and have them cross paths at some point, all driving towards an end goal, in a limited number of episodes, so I empathize with writers and all the associated cast/crew, but I really think a smaller core of main actors would help the show be more effective. A few male leads, for a guy to identify with, a few strong female leads for the girls (and for the guys to look at) and then a good cast of villains. I also have a love/hate relationship with the multicultural characters. Am I supposed to hope that two illegals sneak across the border? Or that an African American saves LA after Katrina (I don’t live in the area, so I have no personal interest)? I just hope that in the end, I am not disappointed, but I guess even if I am, they tricked me into watching the entire season anyway.

No, the best ep was the one with ten minutes of Kristen Bell. Any episode featuring Hayden Panettiere listening to music on her headphones connected to her CELL PHONE lying on the couch forehead to forehead with her emo fagtard boyfriend cannot be the best. The fact that Peter Petrelli gained back some of his memories made it decent, because amnesia storylines suck nuts. Parkman learned/increased his powers, good. Mohinder is still a vagina, Nikki/Jess probably started the chain of events for this plague business, and if anyone had any common sense, they’d all get some sort of “HEROES cell phone group” so they could tell each other the shit thats going on, because communication is vital if you really are interested in saving the world with minimum loss of life. If I was any one of them, I guarantee I would be like 10x cooler at least. If I had Peter’s powers, I’d probably pummel pursuers and pinch Panettiere’s plump posterior.

Honestly, it was a pair of headphones (a single set, two earbuds, pair? I don’t know) and it was just retarded (probably product placement for the new iPooh or something) but I would think she has an mp3 player or something, using a cell phone to listen to music. And, on the subject of her phone, I love how TV shows use the “instant text” where she sends a text message, and *BING* gets a reply .001 nanoseconds later. The person has to read, reply, and send, at least. I mean, they could jump to the other persons location, and show them going thru the motions, but oh wait, that would ruin the surprise of him being in her kitchen (which is a little freaky, the kid is coming on harder than a drunk at a strip club). And, he’s so ridiculously evil, like you know he’s going to be a villain later on, but it’s going to be like Tobey Maguire as Venom, totally unintimidating. I would laugh at him if he did anything remotely violent towards me.