The TV Addict 

While the teaser trailer [above] for the third season of HEROES titled “VILLAINS” certainly looks to be a step in the right direction. This TV Addict is still reeling from the train—wreck that was HEROES “GENERATIONS”. Will I be ready to jump back on the bandwagon come September 2008. Stay Tuned…

In yesterday’s TVGuide, Super Scooper Michael Ausiello revealed that Kristen Bell has yet to sign on for a third season of HEROES.

Cue deep sigh of relief.

For if the lackluster season of HEROES, combined with the brilliance that is LOST illustrated anything. It’s that Ms. Bell made a career mis-tep so serious, you’d think Logan Echolls was running the show.

That said, thanks to the WGA Strike [never thought I'd use that phrase in a sentence] one doesn’t need to harness Hiro’s time-travelling abilities to make things right.

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The TV Addict and Thomas Dekker

Attending Wednesday night’s party celebrating the launch of TERMINATOR THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES was akin to living out an episode of ENTOURAGE. From booze to babes and celebrities every-which-way this TV Addict was well, in TV heaven.

Not surprisingly, I wasn’t the only one.

Dancing away to the beat of his own drummer was TERMINATOR star Thomas Dekker [see video]. And following the year he had, who can blame him.

After surviving nine nerve-wracking auditions, an untimely Writer’s Guild of America work-stoppage and that whole HEROES controversy, the world is finally going to get to witness the fruits of Dekker’s labour as FOX launches their highly anticipated new series TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES.

“It’s not a big day, I’m just going to get some Chinese food,” joked Dekker when I sat down with him at Hollywood’s historic Roosevelt Hotel the following afternoon. “No actually, I’m terrified, I’m very excited and worried. It better do well after all of this!”

‘By all of this’ Dekker is of course referring to not only having shot the first nine episodes of the action-packed adrenaline rush that is THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, but to his time spent over the last few weeks tirelessly promoting how the fight for the future begins tonight at 8PM on FOX.

Just how nervous is Dekker about stepping into the now iconic role of John Connor? “When I first heard about TERMINATOR, my initial reaction was f*ck, they’re going to ruin it. But when I talked to showrunner Josh [Friedman], director David [Nutter] and producer James [Middleton], learned why they wanted to make the show, what it was about and how much they cared, I couldn’t have been happier.”

Which is a good thing, because Dekker sits down with this TV Addict following three hours of non-stop interviews. “This is where as an actor you have to live with yourself and choose projects that you care about,” acknowledges Dekker. “I don’t mind talking for three hours about something I’m proud of and adore. But if I had to talk about something I was embarrassed of… that would not be good.”

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By: Seth C.

I would like to thank the TV Addict for allowing me to rant and post my feelings on a show I love so much.I have made a conscious effort to stay away from all blogs and postings so that my article will just be my thoughts and not influenced by others. But let’s be honest, if I thought of an idea I’m sure someone else has, so here we go.

My last two articles have talked about how to fix Heroes. With that in mind I’m just going to talk about the season finale, what I thought was wrong and the questions it brought forth. You can draw your own conclusions on how things can be fixed.

The last episode had three good things and two of them didn’t have any effect on the story at all. First the tribute to Steve McQueen and The Great Escape, with HRG in the lead role (If you didn’t catch the reference rent the DVD, it is my favourite move of all time) Second was the symbol appearing in Peter’s hand as he disposed of the virus. Lastly was Hiro’s disposal of Adam. That was brilliant. My only question is will he now die from a lack of oxygen or a lack of food?

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Suffice to say, if there’s one positive that fans can take away from this unfortunate WGA strike, it’s that showrunner Tim Kring and his team will have a nice long break to really think about where they’ve taken HEROES and how their once thrilling, surprising and highly enjoyable series suffered from an infection far more lethal than the Shante Virus — the dreaded sophomore slump.

Yet rather than go on a viscous and lengthy rant about how dreadful last night’s finale was [and believe me, I've got a long list of issues]. This TV Addict thought he’d lend Tim Kring a hand and offer up some solutions to ensure that HEROES Volume III doesn’t [for lack of a better word] suck.

Problem #1: The Blood
The fact that Claire’s blood has been proven to save virtually every gun shot victim’s life [see HRG] has completely robbed the show of two things integral to HEROES first season success: Suspense and danger. What could have been a fantastic final moment to last night’s episode becomes completely pointless when you quickly realize that Claire’s blood can so easily save Nathan’s life. Even after multiple gun shot wounds.

Solution: Kill Claire
Claire’s death will completely revitalize the show. Not only will it turn HRG into a seriously angry and vengeful father [translation: Baddass]. It will get rid of the deadweight known as HRG’s family and allow for writers to easily kill off lame and uninteresting Heroes that simply aren’t working. How disappointed were you that Claire’s blood saved Maya’s life last night? Do we really need Maya dragging down Volume III?

Problem #2: Elle
When the book is closed on HEROES, the show’s biggest crime may in fact be what it did to Kristen Bell’s career. Who’d have thought a show could so quickly evaporate the coolness of Veronica Mars. Paging Rob Thomas Stat!

Solution: Kill Bob
In a recent interview with TV Guide, Tim Kring had this to say about Elle saving Mohinder, Maya and Molly from Sylar in last night’s finale. “Kristen Bell gave us the perfect reaction in that scene. For a moment there, Elle sees she’s been given an opportunity to use her powers in a good way. And she absolutely likes the sound of that word ‘hero.’”

Our reaction. A villainous Kristen Bell is far more entertaining. The HEROES writers should be using Elle to get rid of her ‘father’ Bob. It’s time for Elle to stop acting like a teenager and take control of her life. Let’s have Elle take over The Company, team up with Sylar and create a school for super villains. It’s time the Heroes face a genuine threat. Not an ominous faceless company, or a virus nobody can comprehend.

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By Special Guest Columnist Seth C.

So it has been three weeks since my last article on how to fix HEROES and a lot has happened since then, and I must say not all of it good. Everyone is saying how Heroes is back on track, but I still think it needs a long way to go….and here is why.

1. The need for Claire’s blood. This whole plot line really bothers me. Adam has been prisoner for 30 years with the corporation. Everyone knows that Adam’s blood heals(as we saw with Nathan and have been told by other characters). So why weren’t they stockpiling Adam’s blood. Lets be generous and say they only took one pint a month for 30 years(with his healing powers they could easily take more) that would be 360 pints or over 40 gallons!! of blood more then enough when you saw that only one syringe was able to heal Nathan.

2. The Wonder(less) Twins. I was more interested on why Alejandro’s wife was cheating on her wedding day then on the twins and their quest. If I see her cry once more I may stab my own eyes out. Kill them both off already. If Sylar takes both their powers will he be a light switch: black goo on, black goo off, black goo on…….

3. Four Months Ago. The whole episode was terrible. Are we meant to believe that Peter is so gullible that he will give everything up so it won’t happen again. Also Peter can absorb powers, being so close to Adam wouldn’t he now have Adam’s powers which would render the drugs useless because of his healing powers, oh wait he already had that power from Claire. D.L.(calling Squad 51). He doesn’t phase the second he sees a gun. Please… What happened to Sylar for the past 4 months? How did HRG and Claire stay under the radar for so long? How did HRG and Mohinder meet up? All Four Months ago did was aggravate the audience by showing Peter as a sniveling baby.

4. HRG surviving was just too obvious and too cliched lets have dead characters stay dead unless they are flashbacks.

5. Sylar!! He is a wonderful anti-hero who has been delegated to the sidelines and has yet to see major playing time this year. It’s time to put in your heavy hitters.

6. Hiro. Yes he is back in our time, and yes he has to deal with the death of his father, but his trying to change time is getting confusing. He helps Adam and then can’t help his father? He only now learns of to be a “hero”. Yes Hiro was surprised to learn Adam killed his father but I was not. Who else could walk away from a fall like that-Peter, Claire or Adam? Process of elimination it was Adam.

7. Elle. She is very annoying with her treating of all men like puppy dogs that she wants to keep.

Now I must admit there have been some positives.

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It’s not easy being a critic.

In fact, at times, my fake job as I like to call it, is surprisingly challenging.

Every morning after walking my dog, I’m expected to have an opinion.

No really, people expect it.

Good, bad or ugly. If I neglect to comment about last night’s episodes, I get emails.

Subject lines like “What about HEROES?” or “More SUPERNATURAL” are always popping up in my inbox. “Get back to work!” is also a constant. But that’s generally from my good friend and business partner Ariel who only wants me to [as she puts it] “stop wasting time because she has a mortgage to pay.”

That said, it’s mornings like these that I dread.

HEROES was on last night and quite honestly — I think my mind has been erased by the Haitian. No joke. I’m drawing a blank. I’m not sure what to think. Or more worrisome at the moment, what to write.

Thanks to an enormous cast of characters — all of whom I enjoy to varying degrees — no show in the history of my television addiction is quite so difficult to pin down. If it’s possible to both love and hate a show simultaneously —well, to paraphrase an infamous real-life line [since my writer's are on strike], “Houston, we’ve got a problem.”

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Did you happen to catch last night’s episode of THE SIMPSONS? Talk about bizarre. First we witness three of the most celebrated graphic novelists of our time [Alan Moore, Art Spiegelman and Dan Clowes] defend guest star Jack Black’s new comic book shop “Coolisville” against an angry Comic Book Guy. Then quickly cut to an entirely different story, as Marge opens up a successful chain of Curves-inspired Gyms for women. Channeling my own inner comic book guy, I’ll just say this — ”Most uneven episode ever!”

After catching up on the latest three episodes of the season courtesy of my very own FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS marathon this TV Addict is left pondering one important question. Who is my favorite Dillon Panther couple? While the obvious choices include the Taylors and/or Landry and Tyra, I think this season’s MVC [Most Valuable Couple] award actually goes to Buddy Garrity and his love affair with the Dillon Panthers. Not only does Buddy bring some much needed comic relief to the show, he’s the man responsible for reuniting Coach Taylor with his family and the Panther football team. If that doesn’t get you MVC, I don’t know what does.

And finally, if theTVaddict.com is a little lacking in the update department this week, it’s my Xbox 360’s fault. I’m currently hooked on ASSASSIN’S CREED, one of the most visually stunning and addictive video games I’ve ever played. That said, I can still tie this into TV, as one of the games characters is none other than Veronica Mars herself Kristen Bell. And sadly, not to continue my attack on HEROES, but I think it says a lot about the show when her video-game character is more intriguing than her television one.

With our one day strike in support of the WGA finally behind us [Seriously, who'd have guessed that not blabbering on endlessly about television for a day would be so difficult!] this TV Addict can finally get a few things off his chest.

First on the list — HEROES. It’s not so much that I hated Monday’s episode. I simply watched the entire hour thinking, “If only they started the season off this way!” Just imagine. How much more exciting would “Generations” have been if we knew that Adam and Peter were on the run from The Company. That the ‘Wonder Twin’s’ crime was essentially a wedding massacre and that Niki suddenly found herself with a lot more than just Jessica to contend with.

While it comes as no surprise —considering the brilliance of season one — this TV Addict is officially proclaiming DEXTER as this fall’s Must Watch Show. And not just Must Watch. It’s Must Watch with no interruptions. No phone, internet or food. Simply me, mesmerized and on the edge of my seat as Lundy and Co. creep closer and closer to realizing that the Bay Harbour Butcher is one of their own. Gulp!

Is anyone else struggling to figure out where Robin fits in when it comes to this season of HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER? While the show’s done a marvelous job of highlighting the ups and downs of Marshall and Lilly’s post-nuptial life, Ted’s quest for coupledom and Barney being well, Barney. Robin seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. Here’s hoping that post-strike, MOTHER masterminds Carter Bays and Craig Thomas give the deserving Cobie Smulders a far more substantial role to play in the show. A fellow Canadian and former Pop Star deserves a far better fate then TV sidekick.

And finally. I have a feeling NIP/TUCK’s Julian McMahon left his acting skills in Miami when McNamara/Troy moved to LA. Don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely loving NIP/TUCK: 90210 edition, but simply can’t believe how poor a job McMahon is doing of hiding his Australian accent. Hey McMahon — Get’cha Head in the Game!

Today’s good news — HEROES showrunner Tim Kring finally acknowledged to EW.com what this TV Addict has been saying for months — HEROES is broken. Revealing among other things that the pace of the season has been too slow, the new heroes weren’t introduced properly and Hiro was in Japan for far too long [well duh!]. The bad news — with the writer’s strike in full swing it’s looking like Kring and Co. will have quite a few months to ensure season three gets off on the right foot [translation: Wes, Monica and the Wonder Twins are killed swiftly by Kristen Bell's Elle]

As much as I’m loving the new season of HOUSE, is anyone else starting to feel a little bad for Cameron, Chase and Cuddy? To make way for the new interns, they’ve all pretty much pulled a “Robert Sean Leonard” this season. Don’t get me wrong, the new interns have been loads of fun [especially the bitchy one]. But isn’t it time for HOUSE to show the series regulars we’ve come to know and love a little more respect?

We’re only 3 days into the WGA strike, and this TV Addict is already jonsin’ for my nightly fix of THE DAILY SHOW and THE COLBERT REPORT. Who’d have thought the one network I’d miss the most would be Comedy Central — the home of such celebrated shows like KENNY VS. SPENNY and Crank Yankers? Should not American heroes like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert be except from the strike? There shows are [sadly] my only source for news!