Heroes, My New Addiction

It all started in September 2006. NBC was premiering a new science fiction drama about everyday people who discover that they possess incredible abilities. It sounded a little cliche, but yet there was something that was compelling me to watch the premiere. After watching it, there was no going back. I was hooked!

When the series premiered in the United States, it was the night's most-watched program among adults aged 18-49, attracting 14.3 million viewers overall and receiving the highest rating for any NBC drama premiere in five years, according to statistics on Wikipedia.

The show has about 12 main characters, but not all of them possess special powers. There is Claire Bennett, the indestructible cheerleader; her adoptive father, who works for an organization that locates and studies these super-humans; Isaac Mendez, an artist who can paint the future; Hiro Nakamura, who can travel through time; and Peter Petrelli, who can absorb the powers of others, just to name a few. And then there is Sylar, who kills super-humans and steals their powers.

These characters are mostly played by people you've probably seen in other shows or movies. The list includes Adrian Pasdar, who starred in Profit and Mysterious Ways; Hayden Panettiere, who has appeared in Neutrogena commercials and played on Guiding Light as Lizzie Spaulding; and Ali Larter, who had roles in Varsity Blues and Final Destination.

With almost every new episode, we are introduced to a new character with new abilities. Some have only appeared in one episode and others have made reoccurring appearances.

The show really begins when Hiro travels through time to New York City. We see him in Isaac's apartment, where Isaac has painted the future: a bomb exploding in the city. Hiro now feels that he must stop this from happening. So he embarks on this journey with his friend, Ando, and meets other people with powers along the way. In the fourth episode, the heroes begin to receive a message that might help them: save the cheerleader, save the world.