TVSquad

As Bob wrote the other day, NBC has assured fans that Heroes will be back next season. Isn't that great? Well, no, not to me. I would like to assure NBC that I have had it with Heroes. I'm exhausted and fed up. Do you feel like me? Do you have Heroes fatigue?

The changes have been detrimental to the original premise, ruining what was once the most exciting new TV show on the air since Lost. Quite simply, I don't like the new "book"; I don't like the characters that have been mangled beyond recognition; I don't like all the story lines that were dropped in favor of this new paradigm that has the government hunting down Matt and Peter and the other familiar heroes and treating them like terrorists. At the end of the last episode, I just felt bad about Heroes. What have they done to my show?

While many think television was built on a combination of electronics and imagination, I personally feel that a good portion of it has been constructed on a fine bed of catchphrases. From the earliest mention of "How sweet it is!" by Jackie Gleason to "That's what she said" from The Office, there probably hasn't been a year that a catchphrase hasn't graced the lips of the international viewing populace.

I'm sure many of you know those catchphrases well. But, do you know when they were first used, or by whom? If you do, then AOL Television's latest trivia quiz will be right up your alley.

NBC brings us the Golden Globes tonight, and this is the last in our series of preview posts looking at the television categories. Sandy will be blogging live updates of the show here on TV Squad, so if Jack and 24 already have your attention, keep a browser open to play along. That said, let's look at the award for Best Television Series - Drama.

Inertia is a powerful thing. And it is one of the big problems with Emmy nominations. Too often the same show will get nominated year after year because that's just what they do, while newer, more deserving shows, are overlooked. The Golden Globes doesn't fall into that particular trap quite as often, but they have their own issues. The Globes have a tendency to favor shows with a lot of buzz, or big ratings, whether their quality is up to snuff or not. I think it's something we see again in the list of nominees this year.

(S01E11) Promos for this "fall finale" promised a stunning climax and that "a hero will die." Show creators can't be held accountable for, shall we say, the exuberance of the network publicity machine, but we do get a great episode this time that lives up to the hype. Bear with me, I kind of went overboard this week, with what I'll have to call an overly-extended review, but hey, it's the last episode until January 22nd anyway. Feel free to skim, my feeling won't be hurt.

Claire's Dad initially matches her honesty by revealing that he's known about her ability all along. Before tonight ends the new bond between them is turned on its head. That impressed me. HRG has become one of the most complex and interesting characters on the show. By the way, it's cool when characters actually communicate with each other; that then adds more conflict. It's great to see that happen again and again in this episode, as characters come together and talk about what they know, and to try and figure out just when the frak is going on.

Is anybody else as pissed off as I am after watching last night's episode of Heroes, "Homecoming"? Talk about empty promises. I've been seeing and hearing NBC promos all week that promised I would learn what "Save the Cheerleader. Save the World" meant. I actually watched the damn show live last night instead delayed on my TiVo. Did I miss something? Because, all that happened last night was that a cheerleader was saved. Great. But, how does that translate into saving the world? Other promos said "The Heroes come together to save the cheerleader, save the world!" What heroes came together? Peter was alone.

Some of my anger is directed toward the writers of Heroes. They did have the characters say "Save the Cheerleader" a hell of a lot during this episode. But, I mostly blame the NBC promo machine that totally cried wolf! They're actually doing a dis-service to Heroes by promising more than an episode delivers. Yes, we see shows over-hyped all the time, but this time we were given a specific promise and it wasn't followed through.

(S01E06) What a minute. Did all this stuff actually happen in only one episode? I don't know where to start. Even Isaac, the mopey artist, seems to be charged-up and awake. Maybe he feels a little better now that he's seen Peter manifest paint-the-future powers of his own, and thinks he is not so crazy after all.

Just when you think Horn-Rim Glasses Guy might actually be okay, and that evil is just his day job, he sets up daughter Claire to meet her "bio-parents." I guess there's no good reason to call him Horn Rim and not Mr. Ben net, or even "Claire's dad." But HRGG is more fun, and sounds more mysterious. As he truly does love and worry about Claire, he makes a great complex villain.