Save the cheerleader, save the world”. It is the cryptic message that sent the sci-fi blogo-sphere into meltdown. But it is about to become increasingly familiar to British viewers as the tag-line for the latest hit American drama series to ensnare devotees in a web of cunningly crafted mystique.
First there was Lost, the Disney series that refused to give its cast of air-crash survivors – or viewers – an easy escape. Last year, Lost begat Heroes, an equally sprawling drama about a disparate group of ordinary people who discover they have extraordinary powers.
Shot in an ultra-vivid comic-book style, few gave the show a chance of breaking out of the sci-fi ghetto. But from its premiere, Heroes has become the most-watched programme among US adults aged 18–49, attracting 14 million viewers to NBC.
Like Lost, Heroes gathers an ensemble cast, but these characters span different continents and their paths cross irregularly. A genetics professor at the University of Madras sets the story in motion.
The fate of humankind rests with a chubby, good-natured Japanese salaryman called Hiro, who is mightily surprised to learn that he can suspend time and space.
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The scenario struck a post9/11 chord with American viewers. The band of heroes, including the indestructible cheerleader Claire, must join forces to prevent a devastating explosion that the teleporting Hiro has foreseen will destroy New York.
British viewers of the Sci-Fi channel have already sampled the show. But sniffing the next break-out US hit, the BBC seized the terrestrial rights and paid £400,000 an episode to secure an exclusive run next year of series two. Yet UK viewers, fascinated and frustrated by Lost’s twists, may wonder if they have the patience for another 23-part series, littered with clues and mythology, which is unlikely to deliver the “pay-off” of a neat conclusion.
“ Heroes wouldn’t have happened without Lost,” admits Masi Oka, the Japanese-born actor, now based in California, who plays Hiro. “But our show sends a message that there are heroes out there in these tumultuous times who can make a difference, and the audience responded to that.”
If viewers get the impression that the writers are simply making it up as they go along, that appears close to the truth. Tim Kring, the Heroes creator, knew how the series would start and end, but left a team of writers to elaborate on the storylines that would ultimately connect 13 protagonists. “I have learnt that you really have to be open to letting a show take you where it wants to go,” he said. “The younger audience wants a show to be less spelt-out. They want to guess where it’s going.”
But too much guessing and viewers will simply bail out, as Lost’s producers discovered during a second season incarcerated inside the mysterious “hatch”. “Our writers learnt not to get stuck in the mythology,” said Oka. “It’s not about the superpowers, its about human characters going on an extraordinary journey.”
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It is Oka’s character, a childlike Tokyo comic-books obsessive who embraces his “save the world” mission, that immediately became the identifying point for viewers. The character speaks subtitled Japanese, which Oka translates himself. But Hiro wasn’t part of Kring’s original plan. “I wasn’t in the pilot, but Tim’s wife said it was too dark,” Oka said. “So he added a character who has an innocent optimism you don’t see on television very often. Hiro never gave up his dream of being a superhero and he is vindicated.”
Oka, 32, a computer science and maths graduate who moved to the US when he was six, is undergoing a similar transformation. He retains his day job working as a special effects programmer at George Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic studio, improving blockbusters such as Pirates of the Caribbean.
Described at the age of 12 by Time magazine as an “Asian-American whizz-kid”, Oka exclaims: “I’m giving a lot of hope to the geeks out there.” The concept of geekdom positively excites Oka: “A geek is someone who is passionate about something. For some people it’s ant farms; it’s what make us human. I love Su Doku and I love my Macintosh!”
Nominated for a Golden Globe, the unattached Oka found himself fêted by Victoria Silvstedt and Hugh Hefner’s girls of the Playboy mansion when he attended the Monte Carlo TV Festival. He has politely declined marriage proposals from the wilder elements of his web fanbase. “They want to make Hiro their pet,” he said. “They want to cage him and talk to him all day. As long as they feed me that’s OK.”
Shooting began early on the second Heroes series to beat a possible screenwriters’ strike this autumn, while NBC has commissioned a spin-off series, in which viewers choose a new character to join the cast. A wave of Heroes-influenced dramas is set to hit screens, with one quarter of the new series picked up by the US networks containing sci-fi or fantasy elements.
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NBC is scheduling Heroes with Journeyman, starring the British actor Kevin McKidd as a man who travels in time to correct wrongs. ITV has snapped up the same network’s revi-talised Bionic Woman, starring Michelle Ryan.
Many shows will simply fall by the wayside, believes Dick Wolf, the creator of the long-running Law & Order franchise, who has seen viewing figures for his police procedurals fall under pressure from the trend for “mystery” dramas. “Sci-fi is the current fashion,” says Wolf. “It’s a case of ‘send in the clones’ when anything works. But only Heroesmade it from the Lost-inspired shows.”
Kring has a five-year plan for Heroes, but with reality shows providing cheaper ratings hits for American networks, there is no guarantee that it will reach its finale if its performance dips.
Even Lost has conceded to demands for a clear resolution by announcing that the show will end after its sixth series. Jack Bender, the Lost producer, said: “It’s essential not just for the fan base but for the writers to know that they are working towards a conclusion. It is the first time a show has preannounced that it is ending, and now other producers are following suit.”
Bender does not apologise for keeping viewers in suspense. “If we answer questions every week then there is absolutely no drama,” he says. “We do a good job of weaving threads through the tapestry which are tied up by the series end. You can’t earn the big ending unless you have paved the way.”
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Oka has already survived the first of many sci-fi fan conventions and is set for a film career that will propel him far beyond his early roles as “Japanese tourist”. “Japanese portrayals in Hollywood have often fallen short,” he argues. “I am proud of being Japanese and I don’t see it as a burden.”
For now, like millions of viewers, Oka has been infected by Hiro’s boundless enthusiasm. “I want to save the world in my own way, by inspiring the next generation of kids. I’m writing comedy, when you break it down it is very scientific. Comedy is mathematical!”
Heroes begins on Jul 25 on BBC Two