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Heroes

I know dozens of people that love this show. They tell me Heroes is great and, like a character from Grey’s Anatomy, I’m left asking “seriously?” over and over again.

The basic premise is a world where some people find they have super powers. Heroes was NBC’s answer to ABC’s Lost, a multi-character driven drama (which is interesting because Jeph Loeb, former Lost writer and producer, left the show to work on Heroes).

But unlike Lost where each few scenes are intensified with constant explosions, death and over dramatic plot twists, Heroes fails in that NOTHING happens. In between each commercial break, Heroes sets the bar for the most two person scenes.

Heaven forbid they actually SHOW the powers in use. Instead we get people TALKING about having powers.

I watch the show hoping that something will happen but the ball never starts rolling.

The show is a shell parody of X-Men, where these super powered beings are chased by a government conspiracy because those powers may pose a threat to society.

A new character, Kensei, IS Wolverine — a samurai with a healing factor.

If anything good happens from the TV writer’s strike, it will be that this show will end its season early or maybe be written by scabs.

Heroes airs 8 p.m. Mondays on NBC

Smallville

The brainchild of comic book writers, this show was started to show the events that led up to the classic rivalry between Superman and Lex Luthor. Taking place in Clark Kent’s hometown of Smallville, this show is The OC with super powers. For a show based in comic book mythology, it rewrites the Superman myths as it sees fit. This season has already featured more elements of the comics, like the Martian Manhunter, Bizarro and introduced Supergirl as a main character. Green Arrow and Brainiac are set to return, and Black Canary will be introduced. But since it is shown on the CW, the super human action usually ends after 45 minutes and the last ten minutes deal with cheesy human relationships. If you are a fan of Superman, don’t watch this show.

Smallville airs 7 p.m. Thursdays on the CW

Dexter

Sunday’s the night. Like Mike Baron’s Nexus comic book, Dexter is about a serial killer that kills other serial killers. Based on the book series by Jeff Lindsay, this Showtime series is not about a super hero per say. But in a recent episode after a comic book store owner was murdered, our Darling Dapper Dexter, a blood splatter analyst for Miami PD, saw that a comic book titled The Dark Defender was being written about him. Dexter imagined himself as a super hero, and though the books differ greatly from the series, Dexter sometimes references comic books. What is great about this show is that the series is a lot more than just Dexter. The writers use the various characters to explore the nature of trauma through very dramatic plot devices like drugs and murder but utilizes them to explain the human experience. This show, unlike blood, will not set your teeth on edge.

Dexter airs 8 p.m. Sundays on Showtime

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