Save the Cheerleader... Save the World

I'm a huge fan of the new show Heroes, but every time I hear the voice at the end of the show's commercials whisper the phrase, "Save the cheerleader... save the world," I laugh. I can't help it. Visions of a Bring It On / X-Men crossover flash across my brain.

Heroes is a graphic novel (a.k.a. comic book) masquerading as a television show. To successfully pass itself off and survive on TV, it needed to adapt to its new environment and lose some of its conventions in order to gain acceptance from a mainstream audience. In other words, it had to sacrifice spandex. Like Smallville (that other comic book superhero show, now in its sixth season), the heroes of this show don't wear outfits made from that fashionably elastic, yet easy-to-wash material. Instead, they wear what any modern, self-respecting ordinary-person-discovering-extraordinary-abilities would wear: Abercrombie & Fitch.

It's a fun show to watch. It's slow at times, but the story moves steadily enough to keep me interested as characters discover or develop their abilities, new heroes or villains emerge and the mystery surrounding the heroes' ultimate mission - saving the cheerleader, the world and any last-minute items the creator can think up - reveals itself.