It's a bit much, isn't it?

[shipperx]

I'm not a hypocrit.  I don't believe that any actor or actress doing a guest stint on a show is going to ruin a show or a fandom.  For this reason, when it was announced that Kristin Bell was going to have a guest stint on Heroes, I didn't have a rant saying "OMG! She'll ruin the show" or complain that now her worshipful fans will begin writing crossover fics.  That's giving one actress and one fanfaction more importance than is logically merited (and this applies to many actresses, actors, and fanfactions).

But reading this morning's announcement that KB has signed on for 13 consecutive episodes with an option to extend the contract still further has disquieted me for several reasons.    I'm wary.

First off, the writers have already said that the storyline for the first half of the season  is so packed that certain regulars from last season are going to have to sit out some episodes and at least one is being killed off (as opposed to KB who will apparently be in 13 consecutively).  Secondly, how many new characters does this make now?  I've lost count, but it's a lot.  And while I squee about Uhura making a guest stint, it's clearly as a secondary character.  But this makes three regulars/semi-regulars (Yes, it's open for KB to perhaps become a regular) in addition to a cast of other guest shot appearances for multiple other actors.

The late, great Douglas Marland once wrote (a fairly famous) set of dos and don'ts for writing serials for television.  One of the rules was not to shove newbies down an audience's throat.  The audience resents it.  He counseled that it takes an audience three to six months to give a damn about new characters  And that's just one new character.  Heroes now has a bunch of newbies, (in addition to the Heroes:Origins series next spring ... on top of Heroes:Classic's  pretty frickin' huge cast).  Add in that the show already has not one but two blonde super heroines to service with storylines, and it's beginning to feel as though Heroes is pushing the envelope with how many new characters it can add to an already overflowing cast.

Sometimes it does a producer good to know when to stop expanding their universe and when the existing characters need adequate tending.

Yes, bringing in new blood is often a good thing.  But it should be handled in a measured way. We don't need a full body transfusion in a couple of hours. 

Maybe this will work out.  I would hate for Heroes to go from something loosely connected but fun to a giant hot mess.  I'm not saying that  it will.  I'm just saying that there's a chance that they're bringing in too many new characters all at once.  (Sort of like Joss did with Potentials).  

Serials -- like fanfic -- should remember that the audience tunes in largely for the characters who brought us to the show.  And, while new characters can certainly win our hearts, a flood of new characters placed front and center immediately doesn't allow much time for audience adjustment or the development of affection.    

Heroes should tread carefully.   Don't grab for every bright, shiny, new thing. 

Comments

[swsa.livejournal.com]

Heroes is so a show I can take or leave that KB's presence is enough to get me to leave. I just thank my lucky stars everyday that she didn't get cast on Lost. I hear you on giving one actress too much power, and as someone who hates when people freak out everytime JM gets a gig, I can see not jumping to conclusions. However, KB really IS one of the primary reasons I gave up VM after S1. She's just very pinchy-faced and smirky to me and I don't like watching her.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

The couselling caution is the logical side of me.

The pure, emotional TV viewer in me reminds me that both characters I've seen her smirkily portray have incited instant, visceral "Will someone please punch her?!" reactions.

I'm no fan... though I don't believe that any one actor can ruin a show all by themselves.

That doesn't mean that I'm filled with glee that she's joining a show I watch.

[sp23.livejournal.com]

Douglas Marland was, without a doubt, my favorite soap writer. He had that magic touch that made even the most despicable character (Lucinda Walsh at her most interfering Mommy Dearest) have moments when you sympathized and loved her. It was a great loss to daytime television when he died.

I don't have a problem with Kristen Bell. I stopped watching VM because I didn't care for the way the third season was written, so I have no problem with her coming on Heroes. However, I do agree that I hope we don't have to ingest a whole slew of new characters all at once. It was nearly until the end of last season before I really felt I knew the characters.

Do you know if Ando is coming back?

(Sort of like Joss did with Potentials).

The big difference between new characters on Heroes and the Potentials, I think, is that we had a very tightly knit core cast in BtVS whereas we have a larger, more fluid cast of characters on Heroes, so I don't think adding new characters is as jarring.

I'm really looking forward to the new season while at the same time worrying that like so many shows I loved in the first season I'll be disappointed with the second.

[shapinglight]

Who is Kristin Bell?

[swsa.livejournal.com]

I think what worries me is that it sounds like they wrote this FOR Kristen Bell. Which, first, I don't get why she's so frickin' sought after when no one knows who she is. And second, it makes me feel like the character was crammed in at the last minute because "Oooooh, we can get Veronica Mars!"

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Quick reply: Ando is definitely back.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

The titular Veronica Mars... of the hyper-annoying cult fandom of Veronica Mars, the cancelled show perennially touted as 'the next Buffy.' Only... not so much.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what it sounds like.

In fact, it sounds like she talked herself into the job because of whatever relationship she has with Zachary Quinto and because Heroes loves to lure in other cult fandoms.

Only, VM wasn't sci-fi or comic. And she's not just doing a fun little guest spot.

[paratti.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely having Joss and the Potentials crossed with Lost's Taliie's/Others flashbacks.

And that is never a good thing.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

It was nearly until the end of last season before I really felt I knew the characters.


Exactly. I'm not denying that sometimes show need infusions of new blood, but right now the 'old' cast still seems pretty darn new and in need of character development. Adding at a minimum three new major characters on top of that seems perilously close to overkill.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

What's worse is that it somewhat sounds like it's a last minute role created just to get her so it's not like it's a part growing organically out of the show.

On the bright side, Heroes kills off unsuccessful characters fairly quickly.

[rahirah]

I'm not worried about KB per se. But long before they announced her joining the cast, I thought that the multitude of new characters was a potential problem, unless they plan on phasing out some of the old characters. (Phase out Nikki. Please. With a 50-ton weight.) The cast is unwieldy enough as it is; making it even larger is not an encouraging sign.

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

I don't have a problem with Kristin Bell per se. I'm interested to see if she can do more than cute and sarcastic - we'll see. But yes, the cast is so large already that adding multiple new characters is kind of worrisome.

I still don't know what to think about Origins.

[fishsanwitt]

Douglas Marland was a very smart man. I agree.

[cy-girl.livejournal.com]

Hmmmmm....Yeah, that worries me too.

[jerrymcl89.livejournal.com]

And, of course, if VM was ever watched by even a third of the people who watch Heroes, it would still be on the air.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

LOL! This is true.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Plus, I liked the international feel to it. I'm simply unconvinced about the need of a 3rd blonde American herione (and one who hasn't really bowled me over in the past.) Albeit, I agree that Nikki is annoying.

I just wish is didn't seem like they were creating the character just to get KB instead of having created a character and then search for the appropriate actress.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I can understand NBC's view on Origins. Since last year hiatuses caused a lot of shows a lot of problems, they looked at it as a brand extension that can keep the timeslot going while not scrunching the production of Heroes. With a separate cast and crew they can film both series simultaneously and have continuity in the time slot.

As per Bell, I'd be more excited if I didn't have strong suspicions that we're just going to get Veronica Mars with superpowers.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

I think I should re-post his list of suggestions on writing. He knew what he was talking about.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

He seems quite worrisome to me.

[spikewriter]

Given the size of the cast, this is worrisome news -- not that they've cast Kristen Bell, but for the reasons you've given. If they were only adding one character I might not be worried, but they've added at least three that I've heard of and you're right about the cast bordering on being too large already.

Sadly, we'll just have to wait and see.

[sourisvho.livejournal.com]

I don't watch Heroes -- I watched the pilot, and it didn't grab me, so I didn't tune back in. My friends have been trying to convince me to pick it up, but I haven't because I frankly watch too much TV as it is. Not that I probably was going to anyway, but KB being hired pretty much put the nail in the coffin of me ever picking it up, I must say.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Well, on the bright side, Heroes kills off characters when they aren't working out, so there's always that to hope for.

Heroes has it's strengths and weaknesses. It's strength is in that it is increasingly fun to watch. They unabashedly audience please so you get squee-worthy events with shocking regularity (the down side to that maybe we now have KB as their effort to elicit audience squee).

The down side to Heroes is that as fun as the plotting can be, the show can sound pretentious. (I think the reason I've been immune to this is that it gives me nostalgia flashbacks to X-Files and their pretentious voice overs).

Still, I think Heroes, for all its weaknesses -- of which there are many -- gets a lot of leeway from me for simply being fun. I may not think about it much after it's off, but, as a genre fan I cannot help being all giggly when they time travel 5 years into an alternative future, or they have Trek's Mr. Sulu teach sword fighting, or travel back to Medieval Japan with an army of Samurai, or have a father willing to be shot to protect his daughter. So cheesy? Definitely, but I kind of like how it good naturedly panders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FekHnhsr0c

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Its not it's.

It's is late and I type stupidly. But I do know the difference. :)

[shapinglight]

Oh right. I don't even know what she looks like. Is she blonde?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Petite, blonde, & smirky.

http://www.superiorpics.com/kristen_bell/pictures/6444_bell_k48787_picture.html

http://www.superiorpics.com/kristen_bell/pictures/bell_sd884014_picture.html

http://www.superiorpics.com/kristen_bell/pictures/bell_sd141776_picture.html

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

It's a little shocking to see just how many new characters they're adding. I think most people reacted positively to the introduction of an African American heroine in Season 2 (and so they also accepted Trek's Uhura's brief stint playing her grandmother.) And then since it sounds like the Alias guy may be a villain, people were accepting of that. Then came the casting of two more cheerleaders, other various and sundry characters and most recently the announcement of KB and her thirteen episodes. Fans are beginning to react negatively, feeling that this may well be too much.