NBC "Heroes" Conference Call

by: Average Joe 2 years, 9 months, 2 weeks, 4 days, 16 hours, 17 minutes ago 6

I just wrapped up with the NBC conference call for Heroes, and I thought I’d go over a few things that were discussed throughout the 90min duration of the call. Originally Ali Larter, Greg Grunberg and Tim Kring were scheduled for the call, but Ali Larter had to pull out at the last minute and was replaced with Masi Oka who plays “Hiro” on the show.

The call started around 10am, and ended about 20min ago. I was one of MANY participants in the call. There were people from news outlets all over the place. I can remember one girl calling in from Brazil, and another guy calling in from France. This just goes to show you how broad the appeal of this show really is.

Below are a few key things that were brought up during the call:

- Episodes 2 & 3 would be sent out to members of the press this week.

- Greg likes the idea that Matt has the ability to read people’s minds because it’s not something you’d always want to do. Sure it’s cool to get an insight into different people’s minds, but with the good comes the bad. A person’s mind isn’t always a good place to be.

- Masi wished he could have the Midas touch as a kid because his allowance was only a quarter which meant one shot at the arcades. "If I had the Midas touch I could’ve picked up a stone and been set for a good while" Masi says.

- Tim Kring admits that if he could choose one power from the show to have it would be flight. "There’s just something about flight that I think appeals to us all....the freedom would be amazing."

- Greg says the character of Matt Parkman has the best power a cop could have - information. Matt’s dream is to become a detective but due to his dyslexia he is unable to focus like he would need. Once he discovers his powers he decides to keep them a secret for the time being because he’s unsure how people would react. "Matt doesn’t even know how to control them, so how do you think someone would react to him saying ‘hey I can hear people’s thoughts’?"

- The characters will have interactions, but the premise of a “team” is not something that’s likely to show up. The show is focused more on how these characters will cross paths, and not how they’ll team up to use their abilities.

- Greg Grunberg says "Don’t assume everyone on the show is good. Masi and I are still wondering if our characters will be good from episode to episode."

- A major villain will be introduced in the show’s second episode. This character will play a major role over the course of the first season.

- Masi says he enjoys reading the scripts because of the excitement. "For every question the show asks, they provide an answer, and then they ask another question. It’s very exhilirating...it’s like a rollercoaster ride. When I get them, I can’t wait to find out what happens!"

- Heroes will be unlike a lot of other shows on TV that have 3-4 episodes that really don’t have much in them. "When you watch Heroes, something will happen each week" says Tim Kring. "It’s almost like the deal we made with the audience. They tune in and we give them what they want."

- One character will have a very different look for at least one episode.

After all the questions had been asked, they thanked us for calling in and informed us that a transcript would be available in the next day or so (I’ll post it when it’s up).

Heroes premieres Monday, September 25th on NBC.