So my favorite show of last year, well, second favorite since LOST woke up halfway through, was HEROES. I'm a total comic nerd at heart and really only stopped collecting when they started making 8-bazillion storylines throughout 20 different comics in order to get us to buy more shit. I distinctly remember being pissed at this brilliant move even when I was like, 14 and it turned me off to comics. However now it's really easy to drop $20 for a big, thick comic book that covers entire storylines. Recently I've read "30 Days of Night," most of "Preacher" and "Mavel Zombies" (in which all the Marvel characters get bit and turn into flesh eating zombies) and I'm smack dab in the middle of "Watchmen," which is on it's way to being a movie. I also whizzed right through the prequel to "Marvel Civil Wars" which was awesome. But, as usual, I digress.
I love the show HEROES and recommended it to everyone. But now that it's out on DVD, everyone seems to kind of hate it. That is to say, everyone who has rented it and didn't watch it week by week, Monday by exciting Monday kind of hates it. And here's where I have to get back to something I've mentioned before: some TV shows need to be watched week by week and not on DVD. Some might call them "water cooler" shows as in, the phenomenon grows because people at work discuss episodes at the ole water cooler. And I think there's something to that. I loved talking SEINFELD with my work friends back in the day. But with HEROES, I feel like you need a week to dream and digest and wonder what's going to happen next.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a "great" show in terms of say, DEADWOOD or SIX FEET UNDER. Those are shows that compel you to watch them in order on DVD. I think THE SOPRANOS is like that too, but I've never seen an episode...sue me. But I will say I totally missed DEADWOOD when it was on HBO and literally ripped through the first season on DVD in one weekend. It's that good.
But shows like HEROES need time to sit with you. Not because they're so overpowering and amazing, but because there's a simple spacial aspect at work. When I was a kid, I could not wait for the next episode of "The A-Team," "Miami Vice," "Robotech," "Manimal" (or whatever). You'd watch em and spend a week re-enacting them or quoting them or dressing like the characters...or whatever. You watch those now on DVD or reruns, and they suuuuck. Sure, they were sucky to begin with, but cultural phenomenon figures into these shows as well. You needed to rush home to see em and then the next day you spend a few minutes bonding with a friend at school or work over the episode, and then waiting all week for the next one. Those are popcorn shows, shows which don't really "deserve" bigtime DVD releases, and HEROES is the same. Here's what I'm saying...
I have a semi co-worker who I really like, but we have nothing in common. She's older, has a bunch of kids, a longtime husband and a house. All things I don't have. We did a kind of entertainment based "dogs sniffing butts" last spring and finally found some common ground: HEROES. We have a great rapport and sought a way to connect on a simple level and TV was an easy concept to agree on. Now for the last three weeks we wonder when it's coming on, what will happen, what we're excited for and then, other people get involved and either like the show too, want to watch it, or think we're dorks. In any case, it's social and it's good. I sure as shit don't need to tell this person about my sex life or my feelings about Barack Obama, but it's sometimes nice to have a friend (or acquaintance) who you can share a pointless, inane TV show with.
So if you watched HEROES on DVD and didn't get it, I'll simply give you this scene from the always amazing film, BEAUTIFUL GIRLS:
Channel 38's showing
Rich Man, Poor Man - all 12 parts.
- No shit?
- Back to back.
Holy shit. Fuck!
Fuck!
364 nights a year I do dick.
The one night I decide to go out...
You gotta tape it for me.
- Can't do it.
- Why not?
You can't tape Rich Man, Poor Man.
You gotta watch it with the
commercials just like everybody else.
That's a good point.
Falcon Eddie.
Man, was there ever a more terrifying
screen villain than Falcon Eddie?
No.- You're gonna watch it?
- Yep.
- All 12 parts?
- Back to back.
Shit.
It's a tough call. You're a bastard.
Yep.
Oh, shit...
Don't drink too much punch.
YA-TAA!!
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