Brea Grant, who was on “Friday Night Lights” for like three episodes, has been cast as a new series regular on “Heroes.” Her character name is Joy and described as being “quick on her feet — and adept at getting herself into and out of trouble.” Sounds like she may have super-speed.

NBC announced their full primetime schedule today. Biggest changes include SNL doing a Thursday night political show, “the office” spin-off, and “Knight Rider” airing on Wednesdays. I’ve posted the full line-up after the break… (Read on …)

Saw this on Pop Candy, New York Magazine talked to striking writers and had them write mock scripts for other shows. The feature is pretty lame except for “The Daily Show’s” take on 13 other shows. A sample of which can be seen below:

• Lost - It turns out the island is actually a peninsula. Boy, are they embarrassed.
• Heroes - The power to keep track of all the new heroes becomes way rarer than invisibility or time travel. Seeking to scrimp on budgets, NBC rolls out an entirely special-effects-free spinoff called Bystanders.
• How I Met Your Mother - The show takes a dark and unexpected turn when Ted’s children are conceived, but then aborted.
• Pushing Daisies - Attempting to revive his strike-threatened show, Ned decides to “touch himself.” Unfortunately, he enjoys it so much he touches himself again, killing the series for good.

It’s bad enough to get spam from fake African kings or people who want to enlarge your penis, but now fake “Heroes” spam has hit the web. The emails promises deleted scenes to explicit for network broadcast:

“The network judged to wipe out several parts from new Heroes episode since they were too sexually explicit. The producer refused to cut out the questionable scenes. We managed to get our hands on that episode! Download it here”

Anyone who attempts to download the “video” will instead get a nasty virus.

I have a pretty big spoiler for “Villians,” the third volume of “Heroes.” If you want to know, check it out after the break… (Read on …)

Last night’s episode “Powerless” was the final episode in the “Generations” arc (which should the WGA strike continue it will also be the season 2 finale). I personally found the episode “meh” and will be talking specifics after the break… (Read on …)

Did you hear? Three people are dying in next Monday’s season finale of “Heroes.” (Read on …)

Greg Beeman, an executive producer on “Heroes” shared the storyboards for the bomb-explosion sequence in last night’s episode “Four Months Ago.” You can see the pics after the break: (Read on …)

I just watched last night’s “Heroes” and I’m man am I disappointed. This show has gotten worse and worse and worse. The pacing is off. Too much time is spent with lame characters. Big reveals were held too long. …it’s just not up to par and it seems that the show’s creator Tim Kring agrees with me because he gave a huge interview with EW where he trashed the show:

THE PACE IS TOO SLOW ”We assumed the audience wanted season 1 — a buildup of intrigue about these characters and the discovery of their powers. We taught [them] to expect a certain kind of storytelling. They wanted adrenaline. We made a mistake.” (Read on …)

I got a press release from TV Guide saying that their four variant “Heroes” covers are now in stores (click the pic above to make it bigger).

It was finally revealed that the big threat on this season of “Heroes” is a deadly virus that will wipe out all of New York. However, some characters are hoping that Claire’s healing powers may lead to a cure for the virus.

…which is EXACTLY what happened in the old 90’s animated “X-men” show. In it the X-men were trying to find a cure for the Legacy Virus because if they didn’t it would kill all mutants. So to stop the virus, Bishop infects Wolverine with it. Wolverine’s healing power then manages to fight off the virus and the X-men then use the antibodies in his blood as a cure.

As the Writer’s Guild Strike commences it means many of our favorite shows will soon be nothing but re-runs. As a result, I’ve compiled a list of some of the shows that are and aren’t affected by the strike (update: a more detailed list can be found here): (Read on …)

NBC is doing a “Universal Green Week” where their shows each have a “green” theme or moment. It started last night with “Chuck” “Heroes” and “Journeyman.” On “Chuck” there was an echo friendly rally on a college campus. On “Heroes” the regular eclipse appeared green and on “Journeyman” the main character recycled.

I’m sorry… but how do any of these things really promote green? They were super small and lame!

We finally got to see the Kristen Bell on “Heroes” and I feel cheated. She was barely on the show and didn’t have any interaction with the regular cast members. At least I’m not the only one who feels this season’s pacing is off, Executive Producer Greg Beaming posted the following in his blog:

This episode is, perhaps, most notable for the introduction of Kristen Bell to the HEROES lineup. We have been introducing a lot of new characters in these early episodes. I know that, to some people, it feels like it’s been too much too fast, and some wonder where have last year’s heroes gone? But Tim Kring expressed from the beginning of the development of this year that it was important to him to keep evolving the big-picture story.

Then I have a few upcoming spoilers I’m posting after the break: (Read on …)

Holy crap. They just revealed something HUGE in tonight’s episode of “Heroes” but it was so subtle I’m sure you didn’t notice. But becarful before you read what I’m posting after the break because not only do I share tonight’s spoiler but I talk about who the BIG BAD of the season is. So if you don’t want to know don’t read. (Read on …)

What was up with this week’s episode of “Heroes?” The show is really stinking this year and I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out why. I think it’s because as of right now the show doesn’t feel like it has an overall direction. The first season was all about saving New York City and this season is just meandering around. (Read on …)

I’m more of a geek than I realized. According to a “Which Hero Are You?” test at EW I’m Hiro.

Tim Kring announced that “Superman Returns” co-writer Michael Dougherty and Hostel writer/direct Eli Roth will each write an episode of “Heroes: Origins.” “Heroes: Orgins” was announced way back in may and when NBC said the series would run for six extra episodes. Those episodes will be standalone and will only feature a possible cameo by the main cast. The point of the episodes will be to introduce new characters and to tell their origin stories.

I had so many juicy tidbits on the first season of “Heroes” that I felt obligated to get some even better dirt on the second season. So check after the break to see what exactly I found out. (Read on …)

My secret scoop source (who is tied to the TV industry) just sent me an email. It seems Jeph Loeb’s involvement with the second season of “Heroes” is in question. Either he is stepping down from his producing role or is taking a serious step back. My source also said some sort of announcement will be made at the San Diego Comic-con.

What my mole doesn’t know is the comics industry. This seems to confirm that Jeph Loeb is clearing his schedule so that he can become the new Editor and Chief of Marvel comics. In fact several months ago there was a “New Joe Fridays” at Newsarama where Joe Quesada was asked who his successor should be and he said Loeb.

As to whether or not this is all rumor or truth—my source has only been wrong once since February. Keep in mind though, that my source could be right about Loeb’s involvement with “Heroes” and this may have nothing to do with Marvel.

I guess we’ll find out next week.

David Anders (Sark from “Alias”) has been signed as a series regular for “Heroes.”

Though NBC has not yet announced it, my Heroes moles tell me it’s official: Anders has been given the much coveted series-regular role of Kane, a Sark-ish character who just so happens to be 1,000 years old, for the upcoming second season of Heroes. I’m told Anders starts work on the show on Monday.

Now why would they need an 1,000 year old character? It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with Hiro being caught back in time for the first 5 or 6 episodes, could it? Yes. Yes it could.

Sylar lives and loves SCOOPS of ice cream! So I guess he doesn’t only eat brains, unless those are BRAIN covered rainbow sprinkles!

I was disappointed with the “Heroes” season finale. Like everyone else in the blogsphere, I was expecting a badass Sylar vs Peter fight and didn’t get to see one, but what bugged me the most about the finale was that Nathan sacrificed himself to get Peter out of the city. It doesn’t make sense.

Peter absorbs other people’s powers. We’ve even seen him use Nathan’s flight power. So why the heck didn’t Peter just fly himself into the air? Yes its less dramatic but it makes more sense. Well series Tim Kring has the answers:

“Somewhere in there is the explanation for having Nathan grab his bro and do the flying man thing. But the real explanation is that we wanted Nathan to show up and save the day! Yes, I will admit that there’s a very tiny window of logic there,” Kring continues with a laugh. “But what can I say? It’s requires the proverbial suspension of disbelief.”

I like to think that the radioactive power overrode all of Peter’s other powers and that’s why he couldn’t just fly away on his own.

EW is offering hints to “Heroe’s” season finale. There are five different covers this week and each supposedly offers a clue to what will happen in the season finale. If you go here you can see the covers. Then once there, go to the second cover and click the shard of glass by HRG’s hand, and it talks about how Peter died but then really didn’t. On the last cover click the petals and it talks about how Linderman can heal (most likely hinting at the internet rumors that Linderman will heal Nathan’s wife).

Forget the presidential election. I’m backing Nathan Petrelli for congress.

Welcome to the Nathan Petrelli for Congress campaign site. Through this site, you can learn about me, the issues facing our district, and how you can become a part of the campaign.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that my father’s death prompted me to run for Congress. With my father’s memory at the heart of my campaign, I bring his philosophy to the problems that face our district and our nation today. With a philosophy centered on family, personal responsibility and the desire to make a difference, I will build a brighter future for all the constituents of the 30th Congressional District.

Remember, I began my campaign with my family in mind. But when I represent you in Congress, it’ll be with you and your family in mind.

There is a form to sign up for email updates. Since the site is sponsored by NBC similar to the Prima Papertech site, if you want some “heroes” scoop I’d suggest signing up. It’s where I’ve been getting a lot of stuff lately. Also if you want a HUGE spoiler, then check out the most recent graphic novel which explains who was originally supposed to blow up New York.

So who else is going nuts over this 7 week break between new “Heroes?” The show has five episodes left and will air them starting April 23^rd.

While your trying to deal with the withdaw make sure you check out Greg Beeman’s (one of the show’s producers) blogs who is answering fan questions. Including one from yours truly.

Scott King asks: How big is the production staff for HEROES compared to other shows? HEROES just feels so epic at times and it’s hard to believe that the average size crew and staff can do all it does.

HEROES is, indeed, bigger than most other shows. We have a writing staff, production office staff, a shooting crew, a post production team – which is what all shows have. We also contract out a company that does our visual effects and another company that does our prosthetic makeup effects. The main reason we’re bigger is that we frequently have two main units going at the same time. That means, two sets of trucks and trailers, two directors of photography, two make-up and hair teams, two caterers, two sound crews, etc. etc.

There have even been a couple of times when we had two main unit crews and an insert unit crew going. Bottom line the size of the crew varies… On our smallest days we employee 85-100 people and on our largest days about 300.

Want some big spoilers. Continue after the break. (Read on …)

The �Heroes� spoofs are really starting to hit the internet, but this one really made me laugh.

Tell me you picked up the �Lost� reference last night on �Heroes.� Nathan said that by announcing people with powers to the press would be a big mistake and that if he were a normal person he would �round us all up and stick us in a lab on some island in the middle of the ocean.�

Even funnier is that USA today talked to �Lost� producer Carlton Cuse who said �Damn. I guess no one�s gonna be surprised when Charlie explodes in our finale and takes out the island in a nuclear blast.�

For the second week in a row, �Heroes� managed to beat �24� in the rating�s game. Heroes won for the hour and in the coveted 18-49 demographic. The good news is that neither show has seen a drop in ratings since they started competing so its not like they are hurting each other.

Monday�s episode had some big plot stuff, but anyone who closely follows the show had already figured out that Nathan was Claire�s father. It was given away last week when the promo showed someone in a suit reaching up and picking up the phone. Other than Nathan who ever suits-up on �Heroes?� But for months, all the spoiler sites have been saying that Peter will be betrayed by someone and all guesses are now pointing at Nathan. Expect pretty big fallout when Peter learns that Claire is his niece.

Also, did anyone catch the license plate on Hiro�s father�s limo (played by George Takei)? Yep! Those numbers are the designation of the original Starship Enterprise. See! �Lost� isn�t the only show with Easter eggs. Speaking of Takei, he had a fairly lengthy interview with Wizard, but nothing big or spoilery.

�Heroes� showrunner Tim Kring has an interview at Ain�t It Cool News.

Also, �Heroes� Producer Greg Beenman updates his blog about Monday’s episode and interviews the director.

If I do say so myself, it�s an all around satisfying episode. Again, I try to keep up with the writers room, and know what is coming up� But, frankly, the pace of the show is so fast � that a lot of times, reading the first draft of the script is the first time I really know where we�re going.

Spoilers� (Read on …)

Claire�s re-life alter ego, Hayden Panettiere has a music video on the �Cinderella: What If?� �I mean �Cinderella III: A Twist in Time� dvd and it is bad. Maybe Peter shouldn�t have saved her from Sylar!

Stan Lee will appear in an upcoming episode of �Heroes.� According to two publicity photos released by NBC, Lee will play a bus driver in the “Unexpected” episode scheduled to air on Monday, Feb. 19. Lee appears in a scene with Masi Oka’s Hiro Nakamura.”

Last night gave us two new characters on Heroes, but nothing dramatic or things we didn�t already know. Thank goodness I�m here to give you a real fix!.

Greg Beenman, one of the show�s producers, has updated his blog.

Tonight�s episode pushes the HEROES story forward on several levels. Peter meets a mentor, invisible man Christopher Eccleston http://imdb.com/name/nm0001172/ Hiro meets �The Big Boss� who may be behind it all! (And fans of sci-fi synergy get a major treat!) One of the series regulars is revealed with a new power (one which may seem small now but will play out in a big way at the end of the season!!!) And Claire makes contact with her birth mother (Who is pretty hot!!! )

A new comic has been posted on the NBC website.

Don�t forget that episodes now come with cast-commentaries. This week’s features Greg Grunberg and Hayden Panettiere.
(Read on …)

Monday gave us a new episode of �Heroes� and I figured it was time to get some fresh spoilers for the show, but before that let me share some other stuff with you.

NBC is now running �Heroes� episodes online with cast commentaries.

Heroes producer Greg Beenman has updated his blog, �Beaming Beenman� so be sure to check it out. He talks about the newest episode and leaves some hints of things to come.

Twelve is where we restart our story. I think we left the audience with a pretty satisfying cliffhanger in December� Peter dreams he is the bomb that will destroy Manhattan. Eden is dead. Sylar has been captured. The Haitian is protecting Claire who knows her father has mind wiped her family and now she has to pretend she�s been mind wiped too. Niki has turned herself in to the police for the murder of Linderman�s men in episode 1. Hiro has lost his powers and has met Isaac who paints a future (or is it the past???) in which Hiro battles a dinosaur with a sword! (Read on …)

It�s impressive when a first year drama gets a super early renewal. Man I can�t wait for Monday so that new episodes can start again. There were also hints dropped at the winter press tour that NBC may have asked �Heroes� creator Tim Kring to do a spin-off of the show.

Other shows also renewed: �My Name is Earl,� Survivor,� Rachel Ray�s Show (renewed until 2010), and �Ugly Betty.�

Also word on the street is that �Scrubs� will come back for a final season. If for some reason NBC decides not to renew it, Touchstone (owners of the show and ABC) will bring it to ABC. The only thing up in air is whether Zach Braff who�s contract runs out.

Even if new episodes aren�t airing, NBC.com is still updating the �Heroes� comics. This week saw the release of part three of a four part story. Also, if you just can�t wait till Jan. 22^nd for the show to return then check out Ausiello�s interview with show creator Tim Kring.

Having �Heroes� withdraw? Then put it on your queue for Netflix! NBC just struck a deal so that a �Heroes� recap episode is available through Netflix. Also on the disk are sneak peaks of NBC�s new shows �Donnellys� and �Raines.�

Also, don�t forget that new episodes start again on Monday Jan. 22^nd and that even the show has been on break new comics have been posted online.

I figured it was good to start the new year bye ending this two week unplanned hiatus of my blog. The internet connection at home was spotty and then between dad getting sick and getting sick myself things have been a mess. He�s still not doing great, but we�re out of the immediate fear-zone.

Right now I�m working on my application for a Xeric grant and doing a re-write of my novel (Classes start 3 weeks from today so I have plenty of time to get a lot of work done). Other than that it�s the same old same old. So without further adu� here is two weeks worth of posts:

- Third �Resident Evil� film will be the last.

- Brian K. Vaughan has joined the “Lost” writing staff.

-�Stargate SG-1� ends this winter after being declared the longest running sci-fi/fantasy show ever. I�m not a huge fan of the show but I watch it because at the very least it has those episodes that are just fun and silly. Though I don�t know how I feel about Sci-Fi Channel doing a second spin-off of the series.

- �Shrek The Third� trailer is online. The first is one of my favorite movies ever so I�m excited that the third one will redeem the sequel.

- �Venture Bros.� the second season will hit dvd April 17^th and the third season will start sometime around then.

- In 1994, the animation industry voted on the 50 greatest cartoons. I of course feel there is a lot of good stuff missing from this list and recent stuff that�s not accounted for, but hey whatever, I was only 12 when the list was made.

- �Fantastic Four� released a new trailer and a bunch of screenshots can be found here. It’s neat to see the Silver Surfer, but I really want to see Galactus.

- For those of you who celebrated Chrismika here is a Jewish version of myspace and here is the raunchy commercial for the site.

- FDA approves cloned animals for consumption.

-The anti-banana bruising device.

- I recently watched �The Chipmunks Adventure� movie that came out in 1987. It was one of my favorite movies as a kid. I also discovered that a new Chipmunks movie is in production.

- IGN reports that there will be several Kingdom Hearts projects announced very soon.

- The Empire may have been defeated, but it didn�t stop Storm Troppers from marching at at the Rose Parade. It was at the Parade last Friday that George Lucas announced �Indiana Jones 4.� The movie is about to go into production and come out the summer of �08.

- Saddam Hussein, Gerald Ford, and James Brown all died.

- David Tennant, the current Dr. Who, is leaving the show. He is currently filming the show’s third season and will leave sometime durring the fourth season. Also, I watched the two-part season finale’ and I’m ashamed to admit that it made me cry! Seeing Rose heart broken and leaving the show was sooooooooo sad.

- I hate high schoolers who write novels and then sell them.

- Masi Oka, Hiro from �Heroes,� will be on Jay Leno and share a sneak peak of new episodes, which return on Jan 22. Also, Wizard did a �Heroes� Q&A but there really isn�t anything there that I didn�t already post about.

- “Wild Fire” the third season premiers tonight and then �Beauty & The Geek� does so on Wednesday. On the 19^th both �Monk� and �Psych� will be back and then �24�s� two-night premier starts on the 14^th.

Over at Beaming Beeman, Greg interviews Ruth Ammon a production designer on �Heroes” and talks about where the show is now (Pic Above is of some location scounting).

While HEROES is on a six-week hiatus we�re still working hard on making episodes that will air in January. Today, for instance, we had two units shooting. The first is in downtown LA shooting the last day of episode 14 - involving Milo Ventemillia and a new (exciting) character doing a NYC street scene. As night falls they will do a big stunt high fall into a Taxicab. The other unit is shooting day 3 of episode 15 � scenes involving new disturbing developments at Claire�s house � and later a scene set backstage involving Hiro, Ando and chorus girls. Today, I, personally, scouted locations and laid out scenes for episode 16 (which we prep now but begin shooting in the new year) � I also spent time in the editing room, first doing a visual effects spotting session on episode 12 and 13 and later with Tim Kring and Dennis Hammer reviewing and polishing the edit of episode 12 (which looks like it�s gonna be terrific by the way.)

I don�t feel like finding the link, but way back in September I posted about how Claire�s friend Zach was gay. Well it seems that is no longer the case.

Series Creator Tim Kring had this to say:

I am very sorry this has caused concern for the readers of your website. It was certainly not our intention to confuse the issue of Zach�s character being gay. We have too much respect for our audience to do that intentionally. However, it has simply become too complicated behind the scenes to push this issue further with this particular character. We apologize for misleading the audience, and wish that we could have handled things better on our end. But making a TV show is often a very imprecise business. As you stated, Heroes is a big, sprawling drama and there is no reason to believe that a gay character will not be represented on our show in the future. It is my hope than we do, we do it with honesty and dignity. That will certainly be our attempt.

Meanwhile, several other sources have confirmed that Thomas Dekker was the problem, not Kring, the show, or NBC. Dekker�s manager threatened to pull her client from the show unless the story was changed. I personally think its pretty crappy and that Zach�s character should just be killed off, but as we saw in last week�s episode, his memory was wiped, so for all intensive purposes he may be done. Also, an upcoming death is related to a situation over an agent/manager and maybe it�s Deeker.

How badass was Monday’s “Heroes?” I plan on watching it again this weekend and then putting together a longer post. Until then here is what Greg Beeman, one of the show’s producers, has to say about it:

Also, how cool was the final sequence � Peter�s dream sequence in NYC � Like I say, HEROES is like a TV show, only bigger. We shut down 4 city blocks on a Sunday. We jammed the streets with empty cars to create a deserted, neutron bomb look. It was also the first time ever that the whole cast was together. We had cranes stedicams and three cameras - It was intense amount of work to do in one day� And beside the scene you saw Monday night there was a second version shot with more characters and more information which will be used in one or more future episodes