In the US: Mondays, 9/8c, NBC In the UK: "Simulcast", which apparently means some time within the next month or so
So Heroes is back.
Woo.
Do I hear a hoo anyone?
No? Why's that then? Ah, you got hacked off with it. Too many odd character flips and complicated storylines that made no sense? Sounds about right.
But wait. Sit up and pay attention at the back. This is an all new Heroes. A refreshed Heroes. A Heroes that's going back to basics.
Promising a clean break with the overly complicated past storylines that estranged its audience (this being the third such clean break promised), Heroes is trying to recapture the glory days of season one with this, its fourth "volume".
With Nathan gone bad after the last volume, his new plan as junior senator for New York is to cosy up to the US President (Michael Dorn - Worf off Star Trek) and make him go Guantánamo on his fellow super-powered friends, who are all just trying to live normal lives now.
And that means - in case you missed all the advertising - if the heroes are to survive, they've all got to work together. The question is does this all add up to new and improved Heroes or is it well and truly time to call it a day?
The US Superbowl is a traditional time for Americans to get together, eat snacks, party and watch lots of commercials that are occasionally interrupted by some football. Some Superbowl commercials are classics that live in history – can you believe it's been 25 years since Ridley Scott directed the legendary first ever advert for the Apple Mac way back in 1984?
Most don't though. Oh well.
But with a vast, near-captive audience, NBC gets the chance to
up promo rates and still show lots of exclusive ads (see today's news for some movie spots)
promote its own programmes
Here, for instance, is a great big sing- and-dance-a-long involving the casts of Chuck, Heroes and Medium. Yes, Yvonne Strahovski can do a good high kick.
As well as that combo, Heroes got not just one but two dedicated promos: a standard "clips from the next episode" promo
But as pointed out on Thursday, there was also a specially shot promo with various Heroes playing football against NFL players – and having to use their powers to stand a chance of winning.
Me being me, I can't help but notice that someone who was there for the filming and appeared to have shot some footage for the ad, didn't appear in the final thing at all except if you look really, really hard between 0:17 to 0:20 . Sigh.
About the blog
This is a UK media blog with daily news, views, exclusive reviews and good conversation. There's a bit of a bias towards the latest and greatest US TV, but we also cover British TV ranging from new Doctor Who to old Z Cars, Property Ladder to Big Brother, and BBC4 to S4C – yes, this blog is firmly part of the conspiracy to promote all things Welsh where possible, particularly Caerdydd.
Add in film, theatre, art, books, events and media journalism and you've (hopefully) got one of the best places on the web for media lovers. Oh yes, and there's The Carusometer, the ultimate guide to quality TV.
About me
I'm Rob Buckley, a freelance journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of. I've edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for trade magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and contributed sarcastic articles about television to the blink-and-you-missed-it "web site for urban hedonists" The Tribe. I'm freelance now and have contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly and TV Scoop. Have pity on me.
Read more on Friday's Sitting Tennant (week 11, 2010)