Those are the words of Tim Kring, writer/creator and producer of the mega-SF hit show “Heroes” on NBC. The acclaimed series makes its return to network television this month for a second season of new cast members, plot twists and nail-biting intrique.
“Some [cast members] won’t make it,” stated Kring. “This is not a show about stars.”
Neither Kring or cast members like Zachary Quinto, who plays the very nasty killer Sylar, are giving much away but during their world-wind summer tour through New York last week, Quinto laughingly told the AP News Service that he [his character Sylar] was “just trying to get some more power.”
“The point at which we left the story in season one, and the point at which we begin in season two are vastly different for my character, and for all of the characters, really,” said Quinto.
Other returning season one cast members will also find some radical changes to their particular circumstances. Ando, played by actor James Kyson Lee (see our recent interview with Lee), is without his time-traveling friend Hiro. Ando must find a way to locate and communicate with Hiro, who is now, not only miles, but eons away in 17th Century feudal Japan. Ando finds himself stuck in America alone trying to make his way back to his home and job in Japan and without his friend.
“There’s going to be an interesting channel of communication. I can’t reveal what, but it’s going to be such a great way of storytelling,” Lee told AP. “What happens in one timeline may affect the other. For Ando, I think you’ll see him spending more time at Yamagato. Does he want to stay there? Probably not, after experiencing all that he did in season one.”
The star did hint at a future reunion of his character and Hiro later in the season.
A little later in the season Quinto will take a short break from “Heroes” to shoot the new J.J. Abrams “Star Trek” film. Quinto has been cast to star as the younger version of Spock, alongside the elder Spock, reprised by iconic actor Leonard Nimoy.
“Heroes” may not be a show “about stars” but every show and every good story is about characters. Good storytelling relies on good characters and it is the characters the audience comes to care about. With every announcement of yet another “new” addition to the cast, I grow more and more worried about the upcoming season and, quite frankly, less enthused about watching it. It is the characters I grew to know and love from Season 1 that I am interested in seeing, not a whole batch of new people. “Lost” made this same mistake in their Season 2 with an overemphasis on the Tailies and then they did it again in Season 3 with an overemphasis on the Others and a downplaying of their main, core cast. The result was a loss of viewership and a very unhappy fanbase.
I completely agree with Ann. We have grown to know and love the season 1 cast. If they all of a sudden replace them, or add many more the show would probably crash. The show IS about the characters in it, and without the audience knowing and loving the cast so well it’s over. “Siler” is especially important as the villan, because we know a years worth of his personality and charicter, what he’s capable of. we want him dead, yet if he dies, then what? He makes such a good villain.
I don’t agree about “lost”, although I never watched it on TV, as I saw the whole 5 seasons on my computer (8 hours at a time..lol)
I cannot wait for these shows to air again. It seems the producers don’t understand how many people simply forget about these shows after waiting EIGHT FRICKING MONTHS!!!!!!!! to see the next episode. I don’t EVER remember waiting so long to watch the next episode! Then at Christmas they will take another 3 or 4 months off. It is to their own demise to do this. They take a great show and kill it by taking it away for 6-8 months. Most of us give-up. For the record, I didn’t watch 24 this year. I waited till now and am going to watch the whole season on DVD. I cannot stand the breaks.
I disagree, both in terms of “Lost” and “Heroes”. When the stakes within the story are raised, character survival becomes more and more untenable. If viewers want a show where the cast stays comfortably the same week after week, perhaps they should just tune in to whatever iteration of “CSI” they prefer. Or perhaps reruns of “Voyager”.
And that is why so many shows don’t last because, like it or not, audiences do come to care about characters. Without them, people stop watching, ratings decline, which has been shown again and again and again. I can’t see how it can be disagreed with in terms of Lost, because that is EXACTLY what happened and that is why their ratings dropped.
If you want a show where characters change all the time then watch a reality show and vote them off because ultimately it makes the tv shows which behave that way no better than that.
I applaud Tim Kring. The old entertainment adage that “No one is bigger than the show,” has lost much of its potency in the scifi genre. Instead, it’s become an endless parade of “no one ever dies in scifi”, making death and mortality meaningless. “Heroes” is an ensemble piece, and as such no single character’s presence should ever be considered more important than staying true to the nature of the story. If we are to consider the sense of peril to be real, then it has to be treated realistically — with consequences that don’t just disappear by the time the credits roll.
Actually, that’s not what happened with “Lost”. The apparent ratings drop for “Lost” can be traced directly to the shift in timeslot from 8PM to 9PM to 10PM and the concurrent rise in time-shifted viewing, as well as the typical attrition for a serialized drama over 3 seasons and a terrible scheduling decision by the network.