Read a blurb or two in the press about the new NBC show called “Heroes,” and it sure sounded interesting. My first reaction was that it sounded very similar to “The Tomorrow People,” a Brit show that I enjoyed back in the 70s (remember “jaunting?”). The premise of both is that young people around the globe suddenly realize that they have unique powers: teleportation, telepathy, etc. They are introduced (to some degree) as being the next stage in human evolution. Wait, that sounds familiar, too: kind of like a pre-cursor to “X-Men.” The difference between this new series and the other two, it seems, is that in “Heroes,” none of the characters know each other, or have any idea that there are others like them (mostly), or have visions of dressing in spandex and saving the world. Either way, it sounded promising, and after watching the premiere just now, I think I’m hooked.
As with most initial episodes, it’s hard to relate names to faces, so I just started referring to the characters by some of their (duh) characteristics:

- Fly Boy: the brother of a high-level politician; he thinks he can fly, and in the final scene of the episode, Fly Boy does indeed attempt to fly, and we are treated to a shock: his brother (the straight-laced politico) is the one who can fly!

- Invinci-Girl: this young Texas cheerleader is proof against harm from falling, fire, knives, etc. There’s also a hint that her father may be a Bad Guy, too.

- The Artist: he paints pictures of events that have not yet come to pass - but eventually do. I think he’s dead, by the end of the episode.

- Teleporter: a young Japanese man who discovers much to his delight that he can transport himself across the planet. The Star Trek references were cute. Oh, and the character maintains a faux-blog. Give NBC a few extra cred-points for at least trying.

- The Professor: the scientist from India who is trying to follow up on his father’s research into genetics and the next “big leap” in human evolution.

- Cam-Girl: she’s a single mother of a genius boy, and she earns her money by doing strip-tease stuff on the internet for lonely geeks. Not sure what her “power” is, but it seems to be something deadly, given the two corpses on the floor when she woke up after nearly being raped.

- ALSO: noticed the names “Wendy & Lisa” in the opening credits for the music — good to see that Prince’s former band-mates are still working. And the smaller thug that tried to rape Cam-Girl — pretty sure that he was the creep in the bowling alley that tried to hit on Tia in “Uncle Buck.”

All in all, an enjoyable experience. I’ll be waiting for Episode #2!