The TV Addict 

At the recent Global TV UpFront, the TV Addict had the opportunity to sit front row for a brief Q&A with HEROES stars Masi Oka and Adrian Pasdar. Here’s what they had to say about being part of the surprise hit of the season.

What’s it like to be on a hit show where you can be killed off at anytime?
Adrian Pasdar: Why are you looking at me?
Masi Oka: You blew up [in the finale].
Adrian: It’s a little bit unsettling, having an expiration date. But after the first season, we all feel like if we have to go — as long as it helps the show move on — we have no problem moving forward.

Were you surprised at the negative reaction to May’s season finale?
Adrian: I just had this conversation with Tim Kring [HEROES creator]. It was a very expensive episode, with the real trick being how to get every character in the same spot for the final moments. I think we were going in a more emotional direction, whereas the fans expected something different.

Masi Oka: If fans want to see more special effects, thay have to buy more Nissan Versa’s. Next season it will be the Nissan Rogue.

How’s life changed since HEROES become a hit?
Adrian: Masi and I were in New York at around 8PM the night of the NBC UpFront. We thought it would be fun to duplicate the scene in the pilot where Hiro yells “Yatta!” in the middle of Time Square. Funnily enough, we couldn’t have been more invisible. He’s [Hiro's] spinning around, arms waving and this fellow walks up to us and asks if we could take a photo of him. The guy even corrected us on the angle! Totally oblivious to who we were. Of course two blocks later, fans see us and go nuts.

Masi Oka: At least Adrian can grow facial!

By: Steve Czarnecki (theTVaddict.com West Coast Correspondent)

The approach to Stage 7 on the Sunset-Gower studios was an anticipated one this past Thursday morning. I was here to cover a last minute press conference regarding the NBC television series HEROES! There were rumors that talks about Season 2 would be taking place and as a fan of the show and a TV journalist, it was too good to pass up. I headed to the large soundstage where along the way I passed a giant heaping of set props I found familiar, the most recognizable were giant metal letters spelling out the name of Claire’s cheerleading home; Union Wells High School and a sign that said KIRBY PLAZA, the location of the climactic season 1 finale. I checked in and immediately I realized something big was going on…something worldwide…the clue was a humongous globe shaped cake with 7 cities flagged on it. Taking a quick glance around it wasn’t hard to miss Isaac Mendez’s NYC rooftop set and a large number of Asian wooden carts, wicker looking baskets, heaps of bows and arrows in another area of the stage. I sat myself down and eagerly anticipated what was to come in the minutes ahead.
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It’s events like this that make theTVaddict.com worth the effort. Yes, you heard me. Watching television is serious ‘work’ and today was no exception. This morning, the TV Addict reported live from the 2007 GLOBAL TV UpFront, and believe you me, it was no treat. Especially when I had to suppress an audible groan when HEROES stars Masi Oka and Adrian Pasdar were asked — no doubt the millionth time — who their personal hero was!

Okay, who am I kidding? Stupid questions aside, the Global TV UpFront were as exciting as one would imagine. After-all, it’s not often that I get to sit front row and question HEROES stars Masi Oka and Adrian Pasdar, drink coffee while congratulating BROTHERS & SISTERS star Balthazar Getty on all his success and get the opportunity to chat with the hardest working guy in show-business — Ryan Seacrest.

Now onto the festivities.

The event started off with a Q&A featuring HEROES stars Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura) and Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli). Not surprisingly, Pasdar was tight-lipped on what fans can expect come season two explaining, “When the show first started, the network wanted us to talk to anyone who wanted to talk to us. But now that we’re a hit, we can’t say anything.”

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TheTVaddict just got off the phone with HEROES stars Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli), Malcolm McDowell (Linderman) and Cristine Rose (Angela Petrelli). While the actors couldn’t reveal too much about the season finale — having taken the Tim Kring oath of secrecy — they did reveal a few morsels of scoop that fellow HEROES addicts will no doubt find fascinating.

When asked about what fans can look forward to in the finale, Adrian Pasdar had this to say:

In the final few minutes of the finale, all the questions that were posed in the show’s pilot will be answered. In fact, everything gets resolved in a big way.

My character [Nathan] plays a huge part in the final scene. And let me say this, it’s mind-blowing, stunning the way everything comes together.

Season two will pick up at the very end of the finale and I don’t think anyone will guess where. Needless to say, it’s a very, very interesting place.

Leave it to a bunch of HEROES to make this TV addict look stupid. The week after I complain that the HEROES writers were using the ’shape-shifting gag’ far too often, well, they manage to fool me again.

Sylar as President Nathan Petrelli! Talk about evil genius — I did not see that coming. Perhaps I was too distracted by the coolness of future Peter (how bad-ass was that scar?), or the remarkable friendship between Hiro and Ando, but I honestly thought that power had simply taken hold of Nathan, driving him to do some really stupid things. After-all, he is a politician, and let’s face it — we all know that people in power do stupid things in order to hold onto it.

Chapter Twenty of HEROES was almost perfect and with a mere three episodes left, the show is truly firing on all cylinders leading up to what will no doubt be a fantastic finale. That said, we at theTVaddict.com thought we’d offer up a few more questions for fellow HEROES addicts to answer.

1. If Peter can heal himself, why couldn’t he heal the massive scar on his face?

2. Is anyone tired of the shameless plugs for primatechpaper.com (oh the irony of yet another shameless plug!)

3. If Sylar is such an evil genius, why doesn’t he kill the Haitian and take his power? You’d think the ability to ‘turn off’ an adversaries power would be something he’d want.

4. Where was Linderman in the future? And more importantly, did the future turn out how he planned? It didn’t seem that the world was united in grief. It seems as though the world was even more divided then ever.

5. If Peter has the ability to time travel (since he’s been in close proximity to Hiro), why didn’t he team up with future Hiro and help him stop ‘the exploding man’ — which it turns out, is himself.

6. When is Sylar going to die? Sure we’re all loving the Peter vs. Sylar rivalry now. But eventually the constant face-offs are bound to grow tedious. Who’s Molly Parker and how does a little girl have the power to defeat Sylar? (Could she be a Sylar’s younger sister whom we’ve yet to meet?)

7. Was anyone else a little put off by the whole 9/11 aspect of the episode? Yes I realize that HEROES is a TV show and complete fiction. But for some reason, I just found the whole dramatization of a New York tragedy a little off-putting.

The feeling is somewhat similar to the unpleasantness I felt while watching the original HEROES pilot. In the original cut of the show, there was an entire plotline that dealt with suspected arab terrorists. The plot was, in my opinion, rightly cut out of the pilot that premiered in September because it felt a little too real. HEREOS is supposed to be fun, a fantasy, an escape. No one wants to be reminded as to just how awful (at times) the real world can be.

8. With Isaac gone, who’s been paying rent on his New York loft for five years? Living in New York isn’t cheap.

theTVaddict is thrilled to be able to finally post some new footage from Monday’s all-new episode of HEROES. Clip #1 features Claire learning more about her biological father’s family from the mysterious Momma Petrelli. Clip #2 has Linderman asking Nikki for one pretty big favour. While Clip #3 is the clip that NBC showed us at the 2007 Paley Festival. It features a really interesting conversation between Linderman and Nathan Petrelli.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for more great HEROES clips from Monday’s much anticipated new episode. HEROES returns with its final five chapters of the season starting April 23 at 9PM.

This past Tuesday, also known as Halloween, the TV Addict had the chance to talk to HEROES stars Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli) and Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli). Not surprisingly, both actors who play ‘make-believe’ for a living didn’t dress up for Halloween. But they did have some very interesting things to say about being part of the fall’s newest hit show.

Did you ever imagine HEROES would become the hit it has?

Milo Ventimiglia: The pilot script was different then anything I’d read in a long time. It was a huge departure from the misfit younger characters I’ve been playing [GILMORE GIRLS, AMERICAN DREAM] which I was definitely excited about.

Adrian Pasdar: The moment I had an idea [that the show would become a hit] was at July’s San Diego Comic Con. The fire marshall came over to Jeff Leob (HEROES Executive Producer) and told us that we have too many people in the hall and we’d have to shut down. Jeff said, “You go tell them they can’t watch the show.” At that moment, I realized we’d have an initial shot at a large audience and it was up to us to deliver.

Milo Ventimiglia: The overall response has been positive. I’m starting to hear things from people on the street or my friends, asking about Nathan. It’s nice to know that hopefully we’re doing our jobs well enough that people are talking about the show.

Adrian Pasdar: It’s nice to be a part of the water-cooler conversation.

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This afternoon, theTVaddict had a chance to talk to HEROES stars Adrian Pasdar (Nathan Petrelli) and Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli). Check back tomorrow for some great insight and scoop on television’s newest hit drama. That said, here are two questions that I found particularly interesting, yet have absolutely nothing to do with HEROES.

Question for Milo: If this happens to be GILMORE GIRLS last season, would you consider returning as Jess?

Milo Ventimiglia: With GILMORE GIRLS last season, I went back because Dan and Amy [Sherman-Palladino] asked me too. I’ve never met David [new executive producer David Rosenthal)] and I’m pretty busy working on HEREOS, so I don’t see it happening.

Question for Adrian: How do you feel about the same network that your show is on [NBC] not wanting to air commercials for your wife’s documentary film SHUT UP AND SING [Adrian Pasdar is married to Dixie Chicks band member Natalie Maines]?

Adrian Pasdar: That’s a touchy issue, but I can’t say I condone the behaviour by NBC. I think it’s cowardly. Television is free for the people and the network should not take it upon themselves to be a sieve for what’s acceptable. It’s a documentary for heavens sake — It’s not a fictionalized account [the movie]. I think it’s a sad commentary and I’d be a liar if I didn’t say I was extremely disapointed.

Be sure to visit theTVaddict.com tomorrow for more with Adrian Pasdar and Milo Ventimiglia. Rest assured, they talk HEROES… not politics! This TV Addict was incredibly impressed with how well both actors spoke and articulated answers to practically every question under the sun.

Tomorrow afternoon, the TV Addict will be interviewing the Petrelli Brothers — Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) and Peter (Milo Ventimiglia). If you have any questions for TV’s most fascinating new HEROES, please post them below.