From Zeroes to "Heroes"

I don't watch a lot of NBC, but I saw enough of it this summer to be sick of "Heroes" already. I can't blame NBC for trying to exploit the hell out of possibly its only buzzworthy scripted show, but, dang, enough already. At least now it's time for new episodes.

I will be watching the two new hours tonight, but I will not be there for the premiere party or whatever they're calling the clip show that kicks off the night at 8:00. This is how sad NBC is these days: If another network did it, I'd think it was just "leveraging the brand" for maximum profit. In this case, I see a very real possibility that the network simply doesn't have anything better to put on. Better this than "Deal or No Deal: Not a Million Dollar Winner Tonight, But Watch Anyway" or "Dateline: Tragedy," I guess.

I hope to put all this stuff behind me when it's time for the actual season premiere. The show was off last year and made some mistakes, but I think the creative team and executives went overboard in apologizing. I mean, if they keep saying how bad "Heroes" was last year, I'm gonna find it hard to think about much else. If nothing else, the network and the show's staffers are clearly trying very hard, and that should lead to something.