I know a lot of you probably may not watch this show, but I wanted to see if what I had heard about it being a 4400 knock-off was true.

Well, now that Im into it, I can say that it definitely is a 4400 knockoff, but it is also its own show.

And while my overall opinion is still that in a head to head match from unbiased veiwers, 4400 would win, there are some things heroes does better.

1. It has already established something to work towards for the main characters. This is quite frustrating in the 4400 that you don't ever really have any idea what the whole thing is for.

2. There is a lot of cohesiveness between character storylines, and there is enough information given that you can make guesses at what is going to happen (but you are never right). In the 4400, you have people whose abilities are things like seeing talents inside children. Thats great, but when has it ever matter to the story??

3.... and in my opinion, the most important, central characters actually use their abilities to accomplish things. Is there anybody else frustrated that there is a little girl who can see the future and no one ever asks her what is going to happen??? No one ever tries to use her to get information.

Anyways, I love the 4400, but I wonder if a few small things couldn't mean big improvements in the show.

I've never watched Heroes. I've heard a lot of talk about it on my game --City of Heroes. Maybe one day I"ll tune in.

Heroes is NOT a 4400 knockoff. It's a show, like the 4400, X-Men, and numerous comic book movies like Superman and Batman, with people who have superpowers. Aside from having people with superpowers on both shows, Heroes and the 4400 has very little in common and I can't imagine why people keep saying Heroes is like the 4400.

Hi docpoco! Great post... I havem't watched Heroes yet and mean to. I've heard similar assessments and many people feel 4400 is a better show, in terms of writing and acting, acknowledging that the story telling is different and for some better. I think there are advantages to both styles of storytelling - it's great that the two shows can offer different approaches for the viewer.

If the acting on the 4400 is better, I'll probably prefer the 4400 in the long run, as I am a critc of acting. But I do want to give Heroes a once over and see what it's all about. Besides I love Adrian Pasdar, who has a significant role on Heroes.

OOOOHH, Adrian Pasdar! Did you see him in Mysterious Ways, EasyMac? Well, I'd say the acting on Heroes is neither better nor worse than the acting on the 4400. It's a different style of acting, because Heroes is more of a comic book type show. I'd say it's more melodramatic, but it's appropriate in the context of the material being presented. Really, the two shows are very different in so many ways I can't imagine how they ever got compared in the first place. They're both TV shows, so there's a similarity...

I like the 4400 better because it's so thought-provoking. Heroes is not a thoughtful show. Although I do love that Japanese guy, Hiro (except for his name-Hiro from Heroes ) and his friend Ando. They are so much fun to watch.

Probably gets compared because of the powers/abilities thing. I'm posting about a show I've never seen. OMG.

I think the obvious comparison (sci-fi shows about people with powers) is why they get compared. Like cop shows, or lawyer shows. Just like Boston Legal is compared to Ally MacBeal or LA Law... shows about lawyers but don't have much more in common than that. People like to categorize and compare, so the comparison between Heroes and The 4400 is obvious even though the shows are very different.

OOps, I just said that too, should have read your post before I repeated what you said. LOL!

It is definately time for tonites show so we can have something to talk about. We are fishing here lol

I reckon you're right, EasyMac, but then why do people have to be so nasty about Heroes having people with superpowers? There have been some very mean posts, and even threads with mean titles, about Heroes ripping off the 4400. Anybody would think the 4400 was original in using humans with superpowers. I have to admit I get irked when Heroes gets slammed on this-it's not such a great show, but it's okay to watch and it's not a ripoff of any other show, so why do people get so steamed? If you have any insights here, I'd be grateful if you could explain this to me.

I watched Heroes from day one and I think they borrowed, successfully, somethings from the 4400 for this show to be so popular.

*Of course the ability thing is not a stretch.

*At the beginning and end of each show there is a commentary that kicks it up a notch because there are clues in the commentaries for the viewers.

*They have an interactive comic book with clues and we have Maia's diary.

*They originally dealt with saving the world [through saving the cheerleader]...hello can anyone say--catastrophe?

And, Phanta, you should watch the show from the beginning because it is good eventhough I have issues with one character that they dealt with in the last finally---I think.

I've seen every episode......I really like it.
Last season they moved it to opposite 24. I had to choose.
I'm waiting for season 6 of 24 to come to DVD so I can see it!

LOL I chose to watch 24, thinking I'd watch Heroes on DVD! I TiVo'd 24 while watching it, just like I do 4400.

Good to know so many 4400 fans are also Heroes fans!

Alas, I'm ashamed to say, I'm the last person in the world without TiVo.
It's probably a good thing. I'd be in front of the TV too much.

I dont have tivo either

It's funny, I spend less time in front of the TV (or with it on) with the TiVo because I know what I do want to watch is being recorded, and I can watch it at my leisure. And what has happened is that some of the shows I was really in the habit of watching have gone unwatched, and I've come to realize how much of a habit it was to watch them.

So TiVo actually broke me of my TV watching habits.

I LOVE HEROES!

I wouldn't say that it's a 4400 knock off...but just another show giving everday people extraordinary powers! I do recommend Heroes to everyone here...I'm sure everyone will love it! The new season should hopefully be starting soon...but it's a really good show.

Um...all the characters tie in together and the cast just meshes well together, it has suprising twist and turns and of course catchy attempts to get everyone hooked!



I really love Heroes...it keeps me on the edge of my seat every episode. But if anyone is going to start watching the new season I recommend that first you watch the 1st season on Sci-Fi otherwise you will have no clue whats going on!

Yeah I love Heroes and 4400, Heroes turned out to be pretty good.

Hi there, what kind of game is that? Is it online?

Exactly! They are each thier own show.

Yeah I like Hiro's character, he's so funny!

LOL! You should check it out, they have all of the episodes online for free. It's pretty good. Here's the link: http://www.nbc.com/Video/rewind/full_episo...heroes_01.shtml

Heroes is a great show IMO, and at this point i like it just a little more than the 4400.
but to sit here and defend either show in this forum like its a personal attack on me if someone doesn't like either one, is a waste of time.

If someone attacks Heroes or the 4400, who cares

Yeah I like those commentaries by an unknown narrater, they are interesting. Which character do you have issues with?

the narrator in Heroes isn't unknown or anonymous. Its the Mohinder character in the show.

LOL! I know what you mean!! That's why I try to watch certain things live or online because if I record it, knowing it's there recorded and that I can see it whenever I want makes me put off seeing it even more then I'll end up 2, 3, 4 episodes behind! LOL! I love recording movies though because they are just on their own but weekly shows I prefer to see than to record.

Yup, exactly to your whole post! I loved "Save the cheerleader, save the world". And people can watch the whole first season online, they still have all of the epiosdes there, so that's a good thing to do before the new season begins.

Oh okay yeah that's true. I like his character.

i like his character too, and he is one of the best characters in the show, and doesn't even have an ability

plus my wife thinks he is hot

Welcome! I watch and enjoy both shows, though Battle Star Galactica is my favorite scifi show. I'm just glad to be able to watch "the 4400" in the summer and now "Heroes" in the fall. With the over abundance of reality shows, crime shows and now game shows on the networks, I look forward to the sicfi based and fantasy shows.
I'm definitely gong to watch "Reaper" , "The Sarah Connor Chronicles", "New Amsterdam" and "The Bionic Woman" this fall!

NBCs JourneyMan looks good too. From West Wing producers, it's about a newspaper reporter who starts traveling back in time and making changes in people's lives. He is gone for days at a time, and then returns to present day.

Sounds abit like Quantum Leap, which I loved!

Me too.
I don't really get why Heroes gets compared with the 4400. They're both series with people having supernatural powers. but that's where the similarities end, I think. And if someone is in a mood to compare, they could just pick anything from Smallville to Supernatural.

Some people say that Heroes is more light-hearted than the 4400, I think it's just the opposite. When I saw Heroes' season 1 finale, I almost cried. It was sad. The only  sad scene in the 4400 i can remember was when Lily died. And when I saw that, I wasn't even near crying. I was just thinking that the song in the backgound was pretty good.

And the last thing for now, is that Heroes is the only series I've seen that really has ordinary people with abilities. Take the 4400 for example. 4400 people sent back in time in a ball of light to save the future. Ordinary?
Well of course having supernatural abilities isn't ordinary, but in Heroes it's explained with genes and evolution. So is in X-men, but in Heroes there isn't any Xaviers with mutant schools bringing the extraordinary people together. I think that Heroes is the only series I've seen with ordinary human beings, who just can do something everyone else can't, and trying to live their lives knowing that. Heroes also has some great characters without abilities in the main cast. (Like Mohinder Suresh and Mr. Bennet)
Also, the thing about Heroes that kept me watching was that it has many different storylines, different people of different nationalities, which all are somehow connected. And the season 1 finale brings them all together.

As for now, I like Heroes better than the 4400. Still, the 4400 has also something unique that other similar series don't: Promicin. I think that's a brilliant idea, for anyone to have a chance to get an ability (with a risk though). 

Well I would probably have a lot more to say, but I can't write it all here, because it woud take all day and besides, nobody would like to read such a long post. (And this is too long already, so see ya, and you should watch both Heroes and the 4400 IMO!)

Most every scifi show out there now, has some sort of character that is a superhero. It's going to happen that similarities pop up. Though, I've never could get into Heroes, and I admit, at first when I first heard the concept, my mind went straight to The 4400 and how it was the same, but different. Yep, that's what I meant.

Speaking of X-Men, and The 4400. Anyone ever notice the similarities between Isabelle and The Phoenix. Both are overly powerful and can pretty much do anything they put their mind to, however, yes, one big difference. Isabelle is to destroy the rest of the 4400 (or that was her main purpose to begin with) whereas The Phoenix is basically the future of mutants/evolution. Just thought that was a cool similarity.

Yea, the only thing that's the same in heroes and 4400 is the fact that people in both shows have superpowers.The 4400 is more of a science fiction show while heroes is definately a comic book based show.It has some sci-fi refrences in it but not as much as the 4400 does.Not to mention the fact that when heroe's does time traveling we actually get to see what's going on during that time period.The 4400 just leaves us in the dark.I wish they'd copy that from heroes.It'd be nice if we could see what was going on with future people and what happend to maia and alana during their trips to the past.anyway, i can't wait for the season finale of the 4400.. we've waited along time to see how the catastrophe is stopped so now it's time to
Save the messiah Save the world.

I have seen some similarities.
But I have said it before.

I like more the 4400 because Heroes is more violent.

I agree. I mean, some of those scenes with the cheerleader...ugh! I get it that she heals, but come on already. If I wanted to see that, I'd go see Saw or something. LOL

true, but they were up against a telekenetic brain eating psychopath, it was bound to happen.

LOL, I don't even know what you are talking about. The only bits I saw were when she was still figuring out what was happening, and that guy was video taping it. Ugh, that was enough for me. I remember her fingers all nasty...k, I'm done. LOL

oh, you didn't see homecoming?It was the episode where sylar tried to kill claire and peter went and tried to stop it from happening. it got really gory.

i think this show is really amazing in its own way, the characters are just suppose to be ordinary humans until they find out what they are capable of and i think it makes a better appeal to everyone because its on one of the more popular networks but just think that if 4400 was on nbc or abc it would would have a dozen emmys right now lol

besides Tom could kick sylars ass without any powers lol

marked tom could, not regular tom.Sylar would have been such awesome villan for the 4400.Oh well.Anyway, who cares if they're alike.the 4400 airs in the summer so we have to wait another year before it comes back on.Meanwhile, we can watch heroes for our fix during the fall untill it our beloved show comes back.

Heroes is fun because of the two Japanese guys, Hiro and Ando. I never get tired of them-Abbot and Costello save the world! It's just mind candy to me. The 4400 is much more challenging-it's totally different. Except for a few bits here and there, there's hardly any humor in the 4400. I do wish they could have an occasional light-hearted episode.

i love watching heroes the show freaken awesome.....