Billy, Don't Be a Hero

Spent most of the day Saturday, ass firmly planted on the couch, watching SciFi's Heroes marathon. Heroes always seemed like the kind of show that a fanboy like yours truly would love. But the glimpses I got of it--the monochrome blue mise-en-scene, the television soap opera sameness, and, most importantly, it's popularity--just didn't pull me in.

After the marathon, I have to say my opinion hasn't radically changed. Heroes is an X-Men rip off with Lost-style quality and structure. It's definitely engaging and great to look at, but it's also a little pointless and a little drab and diluted.

On the up side, it had one of the most beautiful special effects shots I've ever seen anywhere, as a flying shirtless man lands in the desert outside a roadside diner in a cloud of backlit dust.

And it stars Greg Grunberg as a put-upon telepathic policeman. And he's cuteness incarnate. (Confession: I used to fast forward through Alias to get to his scenes.) Might be worth watching Heroes just to see him smile.