Masi Oka: “Heroes” Working to Win Back Fans

[Gilpesh]

http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2009/01/30/oka-heroes-working-to-win-back-fans/

“Heroes” is coming back Monday night…and it’s got a lot of work to do.


After a disappointing third volume, “Villains,” the third-year series is (once again) working on winning back the fans, critical acclaim and (most importantly) the ratings it enjoyed in season one. A writing-staff shake-up may help things and according to many in the “Heroes” camp, the show is going back to the fundamentals in an attempt to lure back viewers.


Masi Oka, who plays Hiro on the series promises the show is “going back to the central characters and trying to tell smaller stories but with big action.”


“I think with all our volumes we’ve sometimes have slow starts, but we always pick it up at a high gear towards the end. And I think because a show like this takes such risks and makes bold choices,” he told SciFi Wire. “It takes a little bit of time for the audience and the critics to get accustomed to this kind of new kind of journey that we’re starting to take. And once everyone is on board, we hit the ground running. So, you know, we do ask [for] maybe some patience from the fans and the audience. If we can ask for that, that’d be great.”


“Volume four, “Fugitives,” is another completely [new arc]” he continued. “We’re going back to the grounded characters and the central characters, [and] people trying to live their ordinary lives being hunted now. And that’s a completely different story than we’ve been trying to tell. So it might take a while to get us accustomed to the “usual heroes,” but it still has the core ensemble drama. So I’m not sure if it’s lost its way, it’s just always different. Some people will respond to the way the story is told in the one volume and maybe not to another.”


As for what’s ahead for Hiro, Oka said “Fugitives” will be about Hiro rediscovering the joy of his powers. He starts off the storyline powerless and slowly regains them over the course of the arc.


And Oka says fans can look forward to a different dynamic in the Hiro and Ando friendship.


“In the beginning, Hiro’s powerless, and Ando has a kind of supercharger power, so Hiro is trying to nudge him on,” Oka said. “In many ways he realizes, “OK, well now he’s had his turn, so he needs to kind of step up and see what he can do.” And he takes on pretty much the role of the butler. He becomes Alfred in many ways. He’s trying to make a Batman out of Ando, but Ando is reluctant, and he only cares about girls right now. So Hiro is trying to make him use those powers for good, to save other people. And of course, Hiro ends up getting in trouble, and Ando ends up helping him. But then, you know, then it’s about them trying to work together and find new ways to get [Hiro’s] power back.”


Fans can tune in and decide if these changes are what the show needs when “Heros” returns Monday night.

 

[RonStoppablefan]

Well yah I like how there switching rols for Hiro and Ando. Guess we know Hiro gets his powers back noww though. I wonder how Hiro will get his powers back, super charge from Ando? Now if only we could get a scoop from Milo on his character.

 

[RootBeerMaster]

I was a little upset Hiro lost his powers, I was worried he would never get them back. That makes me feel better, I liked Volume 3 Villians though. But I like were they want to take Hiro's story line for volume 4, that sounds really cool, can't wait to see were it goes.

 

[GL1]

Why... why do they do this to me? It's like... they make such moments of promise, and give me hope that there will be something epic... and then they rip it to shreds.

My first gripe:

Masi's quote is self-conflicting. He says "were taking big risks" and "going back to the central characters and smaller stories" in almost the same breath. He even goes so far as to say that the change in appeal in the volumes is purely a matter of style preference, and not of overall quality. Come now Masi... I know you want the writers to give you back your powers, but do you have to sound like a complete husk of a man?

I have other gripes, mainly how the 'groundedness' has flown out of the coop in under 40 minutes for something which I Will have a lot of trouble as regarding as more than a fusion of Lost and Prison Break.

And, I will say it again, I do NOT want to watch the Sylar show.

 

[Kabuki_Jo]

I wonder how much more patient Masi expects us to be, and for how much longer.
We've been patient since that catastrophically bad season 2 and the equally bad volume 3.

“In the beginning, Hiro’s powerless, and Ando has a kind of supercharger power, so Hiro is trying to nudge him on,” Oka said. “In many ways he realizes, “OK, well now he’s had his turn, so he needs to kind of step up and see what he can do.” And he takes on pretty much the role of the butler. He becomes Alfred in many ways. He’s trying to make a Batman out of Ando, but Ando is reluctant, and he only cares about girls right now. So Hiro is trying to make him use those powers for good, to save other people. And of course, Hiro ends up getting in trouble, and Ando ends up helping him. But then, you know, then it’s about them trying to work together and find new ways to get [Hiro’s] power back.”

Maybe that's just me, but this is simply crap writing. Ando only cares about chicks and Hiro is trying to get him to use his powers for good?
what the bloody hell is this ********?
It's too bad Heroes has gone down and never been able to get back to its former days as one of TV's greatest shows.

 

[The Apocalypse]

I wonder how much more patient Masi expects us to be, and for how much longer.
We've been patient since that catastrophically bad season 2 and the equally bad volume 3.




Maybe that's just me, but this is simply crap writing. Ando only cares about chicksand Hiro is trying to get him to use his powers for good?
what the bloody hell is this ********?
It's too bad Heroes has gone down and never been able to get back to its former days as one of TV's greatest shows.

I would .

 

[SuperT]

fusion of Lost and Prison Break.

You keep referring to Lost like it's a horrible show. If there's any show and production/writing crew that Heroes should be taking pointers from, it's the people that run Lost.

That show's been amazing the past three seasons.

 

[chaseter]

If Damon and Carlton came over to Heroes once Lost is finished next year, if Heroes lasts that long, I will **** a brick and die of excitement Lost is the tightest written serial show on telivision today

 

[GL1]

I wasn't referring to Lost as though it was a horrible show. I was referring to it as though I don't like it, which is very true. It is good enough that even I, who almost despises it after watching Season 2 in a marathon, have to admit that it is a good show, ESPECIALLY after they decided how and when they were going to end it... but I hate the psychology of the show, how it manipulates the viewer. They took the cliffhanger gimmick and made it their calling card, and that's offensive to my sensibilities. Quality show or not, I don't like it.

And Heroes shouldn't be ripping off a plane crash on a mysterious island regardless of the quality of the original. Especially with Lost still on the air.

 

[Philly Phanboy]

They'll need to really work hard to get the fans back now. NBC's lead in show, "Chuck", gets the best audience it's had all season on Monday and then the new chapter of Heroes places a distant third in its time slot.