Squee! Out on DVD

[shipperx]

From TVGuide:

Friday Night Lights
Small-town Texas life is brought into sharp focus in Friday Night Lights. This show isn't just for fans of high school football games (which take place under the stadium lights on Friday nights, thus the title); more than anything, it's about family, friendship and the strong sense of community in tight-knit Dillon, Texas. One of the critics' darlings of the past year, this series may show you a slice of America you never knew existed — or one that's as familiar as your own back yard. Extras on the five-disc set include a featurette on the making of the final episode, as well as commentary and deleted scenes.

And, hell, if I'm going to pimp, let me pimp

Also out today:

Heroes: 
The first season of this fan favorite comes out today simultaneously in DVD and HD DVD formats, so whatever your tech capabilities, you can follow along while seemingly ordinary people start to discover their own extraordinary abilities. The superb ensemble cast includes Masi Oka as Hiro, the Japanese computer geek who can bend the space-time continuum; Ali Larter as Niki, the single mom with a sinister mirror personality; Hayden Panettiere as Claire, the cheerleader with an uncanny ability to heal; and Greg Grunberg as Matt, the cop who can hear others' thoughts. Both the DVD and the HD DVD sets feature seven discs, with lots of extras, among them the unaired 73-minute extended pilot episode, with commentary from series creator Tim Kring; secrets of the show's special effects; a test to uncover your own inner hero; and 50 deleted and extended scenes. The HD DVD also offers special web-connectivity options, like downloadable trailers and Heroes updates.

Comments

[ladycat713.livejournal.com]

I got my copy of the Heroes box set in the mail yesterday and I listed the differences between the director's cut and the one we saw at
http://ladycat713.livejournal.com/74538.html


also a picture of the cast photo on the inner sleeve at

http://pics.livejournal.com/ladycat713/pic/0004tx7e/g9

in case someone wants to use it for picture fodder but can't get the set yet.Also there's a flyer inside that said Season two starts September 24.

[bluekaty.livejournal.com]

I'll start watching the first season on Italian TV next September so I think I'll wait before buying the DVDs - but from your description the characters seem very interesting and my sort of super-hero thing, they remind me more of x-men stuff than your traditional super-person so I'm really looking forward to it now.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

It is a bit X-men-like though no one has superhero costumes. Still there are good odds of it appealing to Buffy fans because it exists in a similar kind of universe, though it surprised me that they left out so many of the "heroes" (and they tend to use the word regardless of hero or villain -- of which there are a few -- "hero" tends to just mean "someone with superpowers").

The TV Guide blurb mentioned a few of the major heroes:

Claire (Texas) (the Cheerleader of the mid-season catch phrase "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World") who kind of falls into the Buffy mold of a girl who just wants to be 'normal' but who can't be.

Hiro (Tokyo) Sci-fi geek who is totally jazzed at discovering that he has powers and decides almost instantaneously that he's on a heroes journey.

Matt (L.A.) Cop who can read minds.

Nikki (Las Vegas) Porn star/loving mom/homocidal split personality.

But they left out -

Nathan Petrelli (New York): Self-serving politician who can fly.

Peter Petrelli (New York): Nathan's younger brother who is a male hospice nurse.

Isaac (New York): Drug addicted comic book artist who can see the future.

The Haitian: Works for some shadow conspiracy and possesses the ability to erase/alter people's memories.

Ted: Emits radiation and can possibly go thermonuclear

Sylar: Supervillain who isn't seen at first, but whose handiwork is stealing other heroes' brains (literally), so he's the serial killer that Matt is initially tracking (also pay attention to the little girl Matt saves in the premiere. She'll show up again).


Several other heroes come and go through the season. And then there are the normals who have significant roles.

Ando (Tokyo): Hiro's best friend who joins Hiro on his quest, and who has become pretty beloved in his own right.

HRG(aka Horned Rimmed Glasses Guy)/Mr. Bennet (Texas): Claire's adoptive father who Claire becomes (rightfully) suspicious of. He's clearly connected to some conspiracy that knows about heroes and... does stuff to them. He works with "The Haitian".

Mohinder Suresh: (India) Geneticist whose father has disappeared after discovering the genetic mutation which causes heroes and who went in search of them...

[bluekaty.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot! I can see why the show has so much appeal, just reading about the characters makes me want to see stories with them - and I can also see the Buffy connection, Hero sounds a bit like a Willow sort of person. Well, I'll just have to be patient.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Heh. And I left out some of the major heroes as well.

D.L. Las Vegas - Nikki's husband who can walk through walls.

Micah Las Vegas - Nikki's and D.L.'s son

Not all heroes (and villains or bystanders) survive Season 1.

[bluekaty.livejournal.com]

There seems to be quite a lot of people, does this mean that each episode is about a certain character?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Very rarely. It usually uses parallel storylines that have unifying themes (for example: their powers are given, but what one does with that power is a choice, being a hero is a choice-- whether or not one has superpowers. At some point I think everyone except perhaps Hiro and Peter take walks on the gray or bad side).

Storywise, the Heroes begin in separate places and actually only come together in the last few minutes of the Season 1 finale (though they do intersect paths from time to time and their powers do seem to be genetic which means that familial bonds come into play in some cases.)

Basically you have different storylines running simultaneously that eventually mesh and/or connect. (There was some early criticism of the show of having too many disconnected storylines but it died down as the series began to be the enjoyment of watching the characters unknowingly cross paths or finding the connections between them or their discovering who each other is and that the other person also has powers.) So you start off with separate storylines like a Claire/HRG story and you have a Peter/Nathan story and eventually Claire intersects with Peter. And you have a Hiro/Ando story and they eventually cross paths with Nathan. Not every character is in every episode, though. Claire and Hiro are the most consistent throughout the season, but even they are absent every now and then.

And, it's Buffy-esque in that it's building toward a season conclusion where all of them have to take down the Big Bad -- Sylar.

[bluekaty.livejournal.com]

Thanks, it sounds more and more interesting :)