Elite Opinion gives an NBC show The Nod. The World Ends.

Heroes is a real paradox. The basic super-hero premise is a mammoth goldmine with unlimited potential. But on the flipside, making a sci-fi show work for the same people who can be entertained by American Idol, Deal or No Deal and a jingling set of car keys tends to limit what writers can do with a program. And so Heroes is a balancing act perched high on a major network tightrope. And sometimes Heroes shows deft poise. Unfortunately, seconds later the entire program is waving its arms and threatening to plummet towards the campy abyss yawning below. But somehow, it never does. It’s as if Heroes’ creators have managed to find the Golden Balance. Because for every inevitable error, the show recoils brilliantly with consistent barrages of ingenuity and creativity. And yet the program has achieved more than just a balance; they’ve transcended their peers and predecessors and managed to capture a stunning ratio: For every one misstep and trip-up, the program rolls back onto its feet and launches itself sub-orbital- twice as high as it ever was before. In other words, every time the show takes one step backwards, it pauses and then takes 3 steps forwards. Which tends to make for some damn entertaining TV. No, it’s not always HBO-sleek or FX-hip. And it’s definitely not the most concise, clever or well crafted show on the air- but it is one of the most ambitious and colorful. And as the series is now entrenched on the front lines of the corpse-riddled network battleground, where the most powerful beings are cancerous reality-show abominations or manipulative, shallow faux-dramas, incredibly Heroes shines, proving its valor as an epic and honest approach to one of the most classic and sacred fantasies of the last century. As the 90s came to a conclusion, so did final pages of the comic book era. But shows like this one simply prove what every nine-year-old kid already knows.. Real heroes never die. Having said all of that- the chances of this show staying at this quality level are next to none. In fact, there’s a better chance that tomorrow, I’ll wake up with the ability to shit plutonium and fart fireballs. NBC will ruin this show. You don’t need superpowers to see that. So back to The Wire!