"Heroes" Morning After
Posted October 10th, 2006 by RD Heldenfels
I had already seen last night's "Heroes" but paused again for the shot of the cheerleader on the slab, because it's such a great "holy cow" closer. Can't wait to see what they're going to do with her next — especially since Matt Lanter, who plays the evil quarterback, is going to be around for more episodes, and I suspect some creepy payback awaits.
I interviewed Matt last week, by the way, since he's a local guy and he also has a recurring role on "Shark" starting this week. You can find my story about him here. He was a little surprised that I had seen this week's episode — which had been sent to critics some time ago — and I was frustrated that we couldn't talk more for publication about the twists, both in his character and in the final scene. But I didn't want to spoil it all for readers.
Getting back to the episode, I'm thinking that from here on out, the best way to watch "Heroes" may be to record it and then just watch the sections about characters I'm entertained by — cheerleader, Hiro, mind-reading "Alias" guy — while skipping the rest. Unfortunately, they're promoting the intertwining of all their destinies, and there is that Overarching Plot, which also interests me a lot less than some of the characters.
Looking ahead, by the way, there's a pretty good little twist in tonight's "Nip/Tuck" involving Monica Wilder, the character from Akron. Even when I had an idea what was coming, I jumped when it happened.
October 11th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
Two important notes Rich. That was a great twist last night on Nip/Tuck and it looks like it's going to torment Sean for some time. Which is good, but that whole ghost thing was redundant of Rescue Me. Second, it's nice that you're giving Matt Lanter some publicity. On the other hand aren't you concerned that your bosses might be skeptical about you giving press time to an unknown name? When you told your bosses you interviewed Lanter I doubt your boss jumped up from his desk screaming " wonderful Rich. we'll get it into the paper right away." On the other hand if you interviewed Robert Redford or Michael Douglas your boss would give you effusive accolades and put it into the paper right away, probably with a tagline on the front page " Movie star Douglas unloads on our critic. Page 23." Plus if you went to a local diner lets say and asked the waitress or any patrons if they read your interview on Matt Lanter, they would ask you who.
October 11th, 2006 at 5:43 pm
As a matter of fact, I've also written about Redford and Douglas.
Matt may not be Redford but he's considerably more famous than, say, me. And he may yet be a bigger star; recurring roles on two prime-time series is not a bad deal, and his picture has brought some impressed "mmmmm's" from women.
Even more significant for my newspaper, and my bosses, is his having lived around here (and his mother is still in this area) — which makes him a local story. And, I thought, a kind of interesting one.
October 11th, 2006 at 7:38 pm
I agree with you on most counts Rich. From a local angle, it makes for a good story. Homegrown boy makes good. He's even a charismatic and likable actor, but I'm curious. Do you really think he has the potential to one day break out? Not everybody can be another Leonardo Dicaprio. I'm tending to think he might be another Steven Gilborn, a
TV and movie guy who's spent his entire career flitting from role to role without having any success in the industry. It'll be interesting to see Rich if your confidence in Matt is rewarded, or if he is doomed to suffer the failure of Steven Gilborn.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:55 am
Achieving success in Hollywood is a mystery, isn't it? Did anyone see the future of Leo, or George Clooney for that matter, when they were doing sitcoms?
October 12th, 2006 at 8:10 am
"Flitting from role to role" on network television is considered pretty successful in the acting profession, I'll bet.