The Company, an NBC Heroes Podcast

The Company returns on September 12

thecompanypodcast — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:20:46 +0000

I am pleased to announce that on September 12, The Company will return with an all-new show structure and episode schedule!

We have signed an agreement with FarPoint Media Inc (www.farpointmedia.net) to continue producing the podcast as well as additional content. We will be getting a brand new site with a brand new look, our own forums, and more! The domain name (www.thecompanypodcast.net) will stay the same, but the feed will be changing, so be sure to stay posted for more information on this change. This website/feed will be up for another month and then we pull the plug and fully migrate to the new site.

The tentative schedule for our return can be seen here:

September 12: “Genesis” Join us as we revisit the very beginning of the phenomenon known as “Heroes” and discuss some of our favorite (and least favorite) moments of Volume One: Genesis.

September 19: “Generations” Listen as The Company analyzes what went wrong with Volume Two: Generations, what was good about it, and what they’ll have to do right in the next season do regain the popularity of their first year. We’ll also cover the latest Heroes: Graphic Novels and “Going Postal” the Heroes Web Mini-Series, all leading up to our Volume Three coverage after the premiere of Heroes: Villains.

September 26: “The Second Coming” Volume Three coverage begins with the crowd-pleasing premiere episode “The Second Coming” which brought back the excitement of Heroes to the fans at Comic-Con. Join us while we share our thoughts on the premiere and speculate on the direction Heroes will be going this year. Also, Heroes Masterpiece Theatre makes its long-awaited return, and some new features premiere including our weekly Character Spotlight this week, “Hiro Nakamura”.

Wednesday Features: Starting Wednesday, September 24, The Company will have weekly video features on their YouTube channel. Watch and subscribe and have something to tide you over between the new episode of Heroes on Mondays and the new episode of The Company on Fridays! Feature will include Heroes Masterpiece Video and more!

We’d like to thank FarPoint Media and our fanbase for giving us the opportunity to come back and continuing doing what we love: entertain. Given the new resources from FPM, our production should be streamlined to sustain a higher quality and more consistent show. We hope that you join us in our second season as we migrate over to the new site and feed.

Thank you very much! See you soon!

-Demi

The Company Update

thecompanypodcast — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:17:07 +0000

Hey fans and listeners of The Company!

I’d like to take this time to thank you all for listening to our last podcast season, we had a bit of a rough start and end, but we hope you enjoyed the ride.

There’s a lot of exciting things happening behind the scenes of The Company that I can’t mention yet, but I’d like to clue you guys in on a side project I’ve been working on.

The podcast is called “TubeNooBs” and its a show about television and movies. It’s the first long-distance podcast I’ve ever managed on my own. I hope that you guys check it out, subscribe, and listen! You may even hear some updates from time to time.

The show covers a lot of new releases in television and movies, but visits old classics as well. We’ll have the scoop on returning fall shows as the summer progresses so look out for some tidbits about Heroes!

We are in our humble beginnings and I hope you guys (and girls) give us a chance! I remember fondly how great of a listener base we had here with The Company and thought it would be awesome to bring you guys in on this new project!

If you’re interested in checking it out, you can visit http://tubenoobs.wordpress.com for streaming audio and information about episodes.

If you’d like to subscribe please add the following feed to your podcatching software: http://feeds.feedburner.com/tubenoobs

iTunes Podcast listing is coming, but in the meantime we hope you enjoy it either on our blog or manually through podcatching software (including iTunes).

Again, thank you all for listening and giving The Company a chance, and I hope you do this same for this new side project of mine.

Sincerely,

-Demiveeman

Strike Ending Soon?

thecompanypodcast — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:32:34 +0000

Reports from Industry insiders are reporting that the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America) Strike against Studios could soon be coming to an end. The WGA is prepared to picket the upcoming Academy Awards on February 24, but its been heard through the grapevine that it won’t be necessary.

Insiders are expecting an announcement as soon as by the end of the week.

Although this is fantastic news, if and when the announcement is made…its a bit late for our show, Heroes, to come back on. As far as we know, Heroes is totally out of scripts and that the final two scripts (episodes twelve and thirteen) have been scrapped (see our interview with Jimmy Jean-Louis). If this were the case, writing could not be finished in time for shooting and production to be complete before summer. This means that the best case scenario for our show is a Fall 2008 return.

However, Lost fans (which is another show we love here at The Company) might be in luck. If this strike were to end this week, writing could be completed and Lost could start shooting while showing the remaining six episodes left to air. This would allow for a near seamless completion to the season (there could be a week or so gap).

However close the Writer’s Strike is to being ended, the WGA has publicly stated to its members that “…there are many significant points that have yet to be worked out.”

Let’s hope for the best, and in any right….its always been about the writers. Let’s hope they get what they deserve!

-Demi (Mitch)

Sources:

Access Hollywood
sawf.org
Hollywood Insider
National Post

Update from The Company!

thecompanypodcast — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 13:42:23 +0000

Hey guys,

Hope you guys enjoyed the latest episode from The Company! If you haven’t, be sure to catch up on the old episodes .

Right now, we are planning our next project, we could go a few routes now that Heroes in on hiatus.

One of these routes could have something to do with ABC’s Lost, but that market is pretty full as far as podcast and blogs go.

We are throwing around options, so make sure to check back here for updates on our new projects!

Thanks everyone,

-Demi (Mitch)

Final Episode - Powerless

thecompanypodcast — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 04:43:35 +0000

Hey everyone, The Company finale podcast is here! It’s based on the season finale of Heroes.

We cover things such as:

The quality of the episode
The future for the Heroes
Who shot N.P.?
Maya still alive???
Donations anyone?

And much much more!

Check it out by subscribing to our feed via the iTunes button to the right, or enjoy the Vodcast via Google Video below.

High-quality Divx Stream coming soon!

Heroes Finale!!!

thecompanypodcast — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 06:00:59 +0000

Well, the Heroes Finale was tonight, and it was pretty good I would say.

I’m writing this update to tell you we WILL be having a nice healthy podcast for you this week ON TIME and ON Schedule.

I know that we don’t seem very trustworthy right now, but that is mostly my fault and I apologize.

We will have more on the last couple episodes of Heroes on this podcast, and discuss the future of The Company Podcast while Heroes is off the air.

Update from The Company

thecompanypodcast — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:15:14 +0000

Hey guys,

First, I would like to apologize for the lack of updates. It took so long to get the interview ready (took me HOURS to accurately type/transcribe most it) and I’ve kind of dropped the ball on episode 6.

I will say this…we DID record Episode 6. We recorded both the audio and the video for it, but it never got edited. Between the holidays and end of school semester tests, etc…it’s been very hectic.

Our plan is to record a small episode (an Episode 6.5 if you will) about the latest episode, Cautionary Tales. We should post Episode 6 on Wednesday/Thursday. I know its really late, but if anything we will upload it for archive purposes.

If we do the Episode 6.5 stuff, we can post that this Friday. If we don’t get to do it, we’ll take a holiday hiatus and see you guys next week on reactions on the second to last episode.

Thanks for the understanding!

-Demi

Exclusive Interview with Jimmy Jean-Louis

thecompanypodcast — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 23:12:17 +0000

Hey guys! The podcast this week will come out a little later this weekend but for now enjoy an exclusive interview with Jimmy Jean-Louis, the actor who portrays The Haitian on NBC’s hit show Heroes.

In the interview we discuss with Jimmy his hobby of Soccer (or futbol), how its like behind the scenes on set, the impact of the Writer’s Guild of America Strike, Angela Petrelli’s power, and more!

The recording of the full interview in its entirety is posted at the top and bottom of this entry. You can also listen to the interview by subscribing to our podcast feed via the menu on the right of the website.

Here is the majority of the interview transcribed:

Engee: Alright. We are going to hop around in questions a lot. I’ve read that you can actually speak five different languages.

Jimmy: Yes, yes. Uh, Correcto!

Engee: Very cool. Okay, I can understand…I believe its English, French, Spanish, and Italian? How often do you…

Jimmy: Yeah, and Creole.

Engee: How often do you get to use Creole, I mean I’ve never really..

Jimmy: Well, Creole…all the time because of my parents and my family. Because I’m Haitian and in Haiti we speak Creole first.

Engee: Oh, okay. See, I was under the impression that they spoke mainly French there but they speak Creole.

Jimmy: No, no. It’s Creole first and then French. But most people don’t speak French. I mean only the people that have the chance to go to school speak French but otherwise, in the streets, we speak Creole.

Demi: Were you aware that your character would be such a central role in this second season? You have a lot of screen time this season.

Jimmy: Yeah…no I didn’t have a clue. You know, those guys don’t tell you nothing at all. I am telling you. I didn’t know if I was returning in the second season. I had a clue because some of the producers, you know, told me, “Oh, yeah…You’ll be back”, but it wasn’t officially. And I was happily surprised to see how they’ve been using The Haitian lately, because the guy is very powerful. Especially from that last show that you guys saw. You know, to be able to not only block Peter but actually take care of him, with or without power…that tells you that its going to take a lot to actually stop The Haitian.

Demi: We have a couple episodes left until the last episode? That’s correct? Until the last episode of this story-arc. You’ve gotten information about the Writer’s Strike, I’m sure. How did that play out, as a far as [Heroes is concerned]?

Jimmy: Uh, well obviously its a huge bummer for the show, because the show was in the middle of shooting when it happened. I believe they finished shooting number ten for this season and, unfortunately, they won’t be able to air those two ones, the last two episodes. So they’re going to stop on number eleven. Eleven will be the finale…for this mid-season..or it could actually become for this season depending how long the strike goes.

Demi: So you had scripts from further episodes than what we are going to be seeing?

Jimmy: Until number thirteen.

Demi: And are they going to totally scrap those do you know?

Jimmy: I believe so. I believe so, just because of the storyline..uhh….

Demi: It’s hard to say, I’m sure..

Jimmy: It’s hard to say because you never know how much you can say in the interviews. But I think that Tim Kring is going to restructure the whole show and he’s going to bring what Heroes was..what was on Heroes, you know…bring back the main characters from the first season and make those characters go against some baddies, you know. And I think he’s restructuring the whole show, so thats why I think we are going to be losing episodes twelve and thirteen and then when we come back it’s going to be a new beginning.

Socrates: Do you have any idea when it (Heroes) would come back?

Jimmy: I don’t have a clue. It’s up to the writers at this point. If the Strike stops now then we can all go back to work. If it doesn’t stop for like three, four, five months…I think we are going to have to say, “See you guys next year.”

Demi: Right, That’s what we’re afraid of, but I’m sure everybody is afraid of that.

Jimmy: Yeah. But we don’t know. We have to wait and see, because obviously its very important to what is happening to the writers because it will affect directly the actors, as well. Because our contract is up next year. So, in June of next year. So what happens to the writers is probably whats going to happen to us.

Demi: With all this Writers Strike, I heard that you (Heroes cast) went back and re-shot [some] scenes. Were you in that re-shooting?

Jimmy: I heard I was supposed to. I was supposed to be, but I’m going to have to tell you that I was not in town. I was not in town, but I heard that they called me for something…but it was very…I mean it was last minute scheduling and I was out of the country. So that means no, I didn’t make it. But obviously they need him, so somehow, I don’t know how they are going to play it, but maybe they’ll find a way to still show him.

Demi: Special Effects.

Jimmy: Yeah, you never know man. You know, get, uh…. *laughs* Put a little bit of make-up on D.L. and get him to play The Haitian!

Demi: Now you originally auditioned for D.L. that’s right?

Jimmy: Yeah, yeah actually I did. I did three auditions for D.L. I saw the casting director first,and then I saw the producers, and then I saw the producers again. I mean…many, many times. But obviously, they didn’t give me the job because apparently I didn’t fit the role, the character and eventually they gave me the part of The Haitian. And that part was not supposed to be Haitian, it was supposed to be from New Zealand.

Demi: I heard that, I’m wondering, because of that…were you ever…of course your character is still alive right now, but I was [wondering if you ever regretted] not getting that part? I mean, they reformatted it for The Haitian so I’m sure thats got to be a very comfortable role.

Jimmy: Its very…for me being Haitian, I’m very proud of that. Because somehow it makes me…not only representing my country, but at they same time..The storyline is very interesting because they were able to play with all the spiritual beliefs, the voodoo things, and everything that goes with The Haitian…with the character of The Haitian.

Socrates: Yeah, and I’m sure you’re able to identify more with a Haitian character than like a New Zealand character.

Jimmy: Hey, hey..I’m an actor, man. I can do whatever…Give me a Swedish guy and I’ll be Swedish if you want me to be Swedish, okay? *laughs*

Demi: Now we actually saw a scene this season in Haiti. Well, they said it was in Haiti. I’m sure that was a set. How accurate do you think they portrayed Haiti in the show?

Jimmy: It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t bad, knowing that that was done at Universal Studios. You know, everything was done on set. They got it right…the people in the street, the little corner stands, and even the music in the background and everything. Yeah, it was believable even though they didn’t show my character in the crowd. But you know, it was a good way to show Haiti. Yeah, I think it worked. Most people think that they went to Haiti for it.

Demi: Did they ask you at all about that? Did they ask you for..to advise or input on that?

Jimmy: Those guys don’t ask for advise, man. *laughs* We have ten amazing writers …They’re the ones that are writing the show. Maybe they get little tips here and there if I’m talking to them, but as far as sitting down and trying to go over the character…No they don’t do that. So they didn’t ask for any advise. They do their own research, and come up with an accurate portrayal of Haiti.

Engee: Alright. Switching gears a little bit. You know, you work… as the Haitian, you work with H.R.G., Noah Bennett, Jack Coleman a lot. Is there anybody on the show that you haven’t gotten to work with as much that you’d like to work more with..that you’d think you would work well with.

Jimmy: Well, I enjoy Jack Coleman very much. He’s a sweet guy as well in real life. I would have loved to have worked more with Claude, Christopher Eccleston…We worked together for a couple of episodes and I really enjoyed it. He’s a great actor. And, uh.. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I’m going to have a chance to do it. Maybe next year. But otherwise, you know, I think the character of The Haitian has a chance to work with pretty much everybody…and Hayden, as well, is a great actress.

Demi: I was wondering…You’ve been under the direction of Tim Sale directly, I mean Tim Kring…sorry Tim Sale did the art. How is he as a person? We never get to see other than interviews…Is he pretty hard on you guys or…?

Jimmy: No, no…He’s very quiet.

Demi: Quiet?

Jimmy: He’s very, very quiet. He’s here, and disappears..and comes back..and you never feel that he’s around.

Demi: So he has other people doing…

Jimmy: That’s what I think, you know. He’s one of the clever ones…He doesn’t do the hard job. *Laughs* But no, no… obviously he’s very clever, very intelligent. And he comes on set very often just to supervise things, and you would never think that he’s the one running the show when you see him on set if somebody doesn’t tell you. Because he doesn’t look like somebody that’s running it. He’s just there…very quiet, taking notes, and just doing his thing.

Socrates: Okay, I’ve got a question. You might not be able to answer it, but I’m going to give it a shot anyway. You’ve had some connection with Angela Petrelli’s character on the show?

Jimmy: Yes.

Socrates: Does she have a power?

Jimmy: ….I belllllllllieeeve so. *Laughs*

Socrates: If she does, you don’t have to tell us what it is.

Jimmy: I believe so…uhh…

Demi: I think everybody in the group would have one…

Socrates: Yeah, thats what we thought…we just weren’t sure…because, I mean… she’s been on the show for a season and a half now, and you really don’t get any inclination to whether or not she actually has a power.

Jimmy: Well I mean… ….. all her kids have powers. And she seems to be from the older generation. So, you know. I’m forced to say yes. When are they going to show it to you guys? I don’t know, but…*laughs*

Demi: I know its hard to say stuff about this.

Jimmy: Yeah, Yeah…If I had to guess, I’d say yes.

Demi: Now do you watch, I don’t know…When you’re in the States, when you’re not out traveling, do you watch Heroes on Television?

Jimmy: Yes, yes I do, because that’s the only way that I can actually stay connected with what’s going on. Because as an actor, you go there and just do your part. Even though I do have the script, but it’s always different when you get a chance to see the show. So, by seeing the show, I have a better idea of what’s going on with Heroes. So yes, I always watch it when I’m in the States.

Demi: I was just wondering, did they send you guys the DVD’s or do you gotta buy them if you want them?

Jimmy: Yes they did, they did. But I have to say that..I think there are two DVD’s: One that’s HD, and another one thats a little bit cheaper. We got the cheaper version. *laughs*

Socrates: So when you guys are actually shooting the episodes, are all of you there or do some of you come in separately for separate scenes or what?

Jimmy: You come just for your scene..and you get out. It’s a very serious business and its very extensive, so if you’re not needed, you’re not going to be on set. So sometimes…For example, it took me maybe four or five months before I met everybody. Because at first I always used to work with Jack Coleman and Hayden and all those guys…but it took me a long time before I met Dr. Suresh, for example. Because we didn’t have any scenes together so we were never on set at the same time. And the same for the character of D.L., the same for Leonard. So you don’t see each other, you could be doing the same episode and never get to see each other.

Demi: That’s interesting. So the final product on television is the first time you get to see…

Jimmy: …what the other guys have been doing, yes.

Demi: Other than this re-shoot, have they ever called you or how often do they call you back to re-shoot things if they..they don’t…Do you guys pretty much get it on the ball and you’re done?

Jimmy: No, usually there is no re-shoot, you know. Usually there is no re-shoot. Those guys are so precise, and so accurate with what they are doing, that when we go there its because there have been meetings of what was going to be done, so usually there is no re-shoot.

Demi: We’re about done here and we’ll let you go. One last question: Did you ever think Heroes was going to be this big? Some people say when they get on a new show they have this feeling that its going to be something special. I’m just wondering, did you ever think it was going to be as big as it is now?

Jimmy: Well, there was a big talk around Heroes before it came out. Before they actually [shot] the Pilot there was a lot of speculation. “Wow, this is a great show…This is a great script.” So, I heard that before I even read for the role of D.L. So the buzz was in town, already. But, at the same time, nobody was sure of how successful it was going to be, you know. But, yes, I am very surprised by the success of the show, because, I mean, it doesn’t matter where you go…in the world…people know about the show.

Demi: And it’s very exciting. Obviously, we love it…we’re doing a show just about it. And, uh, we’ve said many times that The Haitian is, definitely, our favorite character.

Socrates: Oh, we said that on our pilot.

Jimmy: Oh man, thank you man, keep telling those guys. Keep writing to Tim Kring and the gang.

Demi: We’ll be sure to keep your character in high demand.

Jimmy: Tell him to write about the hero. Tell him to give him a wife, or a family, or something.

Demi: Well I was wondering, maybe some family members would join The Haitian sometime..but I don’t know

Jimmy: Yeah, that would be interesting!

Socrates: I was thinking, maybe, about a Haitian spin-off series.

Jimmy: Well, that would be cool. I could be hanging by the beach, drinking my coconut drink. *laughs* And taking care of people from a distance. But that would be nice with a Haitian spin-off, Haitian Connection.

Demi: Yeah, Haitian movie? Haitian Sensation.

Jimmy: Yeah. *laughs*

Socrates: Alright, Jimmy.

Jimmy: Alright, guys.

Socrates: We appreciate you coming back and having this little interview with us.

Engee: Thanks a lot.

immy: No, man, it was a pleasure. Thank you very much, I appreciate you guys…because we all know that without the media, there’s no actors.

Demi: Alright, well we support you guys. Keep up the good work, we hope the Writer’s Strike is going to be good and when you’re guys’ contract gets up there than you get…

Socrates: get what you need.

Jimmy: Okay man, thank you guys. You have a good one, okay?

Socrates: Alright, appreciate it. Alright, buh-bye!

Jimmy: Buh-bye.

Episode 5: Out of Time

thecompanypodcast — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 00:43:07 +0000

The second vodcast and fifth episode of The Company is here!

Hope you enjoy it!

In this episode:

1. We cover the events that took place in episode 207 of Heroes entitled “Out of Time”.

2. Discuss listener voicemail and shoutouts.

3. WGA Strike??? What?

4. and the Heroes Masterpiece Theatre!!! (End of Episode special!)

The picture we refer to in the episode about the Original 12.

Please note: When we refer to “three more episodes left” we mean three more after this Monday November 12th, 2007’s episode “Four Months Ago”.

Please enjoy the episode in either audio only or video as well via Google Video!

If the video is not working for you, there are currently some problems with the video on Google Video’s site. There is nothing we can do but wait for Google to sort it out as it was working earlier. Thanks for your patience!

Update: It seems that this is now a widespread problem with Google Video, that is affecting tons of people. We hope the the folks at Google will get on the problem and fix it soon.

Episode 4: The Line (First Vodcast)

thecompanypodcast — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 06:11:13 +0000

It’s here! The first episode recorded on video has arrived.

It’s a bit rough, but we’ve never done anything like it before. Hope you enjoy it!

In this episode:

We cover the events that took place in episode 206 of Heroes entitled “The Line”

Discuss listener voicemails/messages

Talk about the latest results from our Heroes Showdown “Unreal” Tournament.

and more…!

Please enjoy the episode in either audio only or video as well via Google Video!

Vodcast Coming Soon!

thecompanypodcast — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:53:41 +0000

Hey guys,

We just finished recording The Company Episode #4 last night.

I know that we promised that this podcast would be “the best Podcast yet”…we fell a little short of that goal.

But don’t worry! The reason that the quality is not yet up to par….is because we added yet another feature for The Company to exploit: The Company Vodcast (or Video Podcast)! We have recorded the first episode of our podcast with video ever last night for a special Halloween podcast. We originally had planned on Halloween-themed Podcast material, but it has been a busy week for all of us. Since it was Halloween, it was hard to do a podcast recording period.

Still, we hope you enjoy and expect the podcast online tomorrow!

-Demi

EDIT:

The post-production process of the Podcast is going a bit slower than I previously predicted due to the addition of the new Video Podcast. Because of this, the podcast will be posted a bit later than usual, but don’t worry…it will be here soon. ^_^ Keep checking back and if you are subscribed, you’ll get it automatically!

Episode 3: Fight or Flight (or Flop?)

thecompanypodcast — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:01:45 +0000

The third episode of The Company is here. Based loosely on episode 205 of Heroes, “Fight or Flight”".

In this Podcast we cover the following:

No Claire and West - Best Episode Yet?

Nightmare Man - Crappy or Creepy?

Is Hiro’s storyline even important?

The big deal about the new Character, Elle.

The Virus!!!!

The Heroes “Unreal” Tournament results and Shout-outs to Listeners!

Oh…and forgive us for our off-topic tendencies and lack of enthusiasm in the beginning of the podcast…we were very tired. Music provided by:

cdk from ccMixter.org.

For discussions about the episode or anything else Heroes related…please visit DiscussHeroes.com

Recorded on Wednesday, October 24, 2007.

For current voting on the Heroes Showdown “Unreal” Tournament, please visit

http://www.discussheroes.com/forumdisplay.php?f=361

Demi Blog #2: Cancellation Proclamation

thecompanypodcast — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:33:29 +0000

The Heroes fanbase is a torn community.

Some of the fans are so frighteningly dedicated to the series that they will blindly defend it by throwing out all logic. Other fans are too critical of the series citing that it “copies this” or “its just another X-Men clone” without taking it for what it is…an entertaining television show. And then there’s the middle of the spectrum. The fans that watch and enjoy the show and indulge in speculation and theories, but also keep a watchful eye on the quality of the programming they are watching. This is the category where The Company and many of our listeners fall into. I think it goes without saying that I’m a little worried about the quality of Heroes and its future. The ratings are not as good as they were last year and, although it is starting to pickup, the second season is just not as good as the premiere season (even with the anti-climactic season finale last year).

So what if the worst happens…down the road Heroes is canceled…Will it go down in history as one of the greats that was cut before its time, or will it be thrown to the wayside as a “X-Men wannabe” television Sci-Fi fad? Will it be able to join the ranks of other television shows that have exceeded the 100-episode threshold, or just fade into the bowels of network television history? Let’s take a look at some of the major ill-conceived cancellations in recent years:

1. NewsRadio - NBC

Say what you will about the show, NewsRadio was The Office of its time. Running from 1995-1999, it possessed one of the most comedic-inclined casts of all time. Members of the cast included Dave Foley, Phil Hartman (whose character was replaced by John Lovitz after his death), Maura Tierney, Andy Dick, and Joe Rogan. The show covered the life and times of a NewsRadio station which often entailed comedic situations in and out of the workplace. Its creator, Paul Simms, has been seen recently working on HBO’s new comedy, “The Flight of the Concords”.

Although the series was praised by critics and audiences, it was plagued by fluctuating ratings and network bureaucracy (the show was moved throughout 11 different time slots).

After the death of Phil Hartman, the 5th season was not what the network wanted, and it was sadly put to rest.

Fortunately, all episodes are available in Season DVD sets by Sony.

2. Joan of Arcadia - CBS

Whether or not you are of a religious faith or not, Joan of Arcadia presented realistic drama in a non-realistic fashion. Although the show didn’t have much high-impact star power (unless you count Joan Osborne and her 1995 smash hit, “What if” as the opening title music), it did present a believable cast of actors.

The show followed a girl named Joan who could presumably see and talk to God Himself, and He could show up as any kind of person, anytime.

Before you assume anything, NO…this show is not all about religion. In fact, its not really about religion at all. The show focused more on the miracles performed by everyday people (it did what Bruce Almighty failed to do) and the connections that the world population has with one another.

Joan of Arcadia also had its share of sci-fi type moments including the first season finale where Joan is found to have a disease that is seemingly causing her “God experiences”. Ultimately, however, it was a fairly mild-mannered, easily watchable program. Despite its family-friendly nature, Joan of Arcadia was canceled before its third season could get off the ground. Petitions and Fan Sites exploded, but not even an epic season 2 finale (featuring Prison Break star Wentworth Miller as a dark, manipulative millionaire that could also talk to God) could save Joan of Arcadia from its fate. Fans and critics are unsure why it did so poorly, but some blame the low audience Friday night time-block as partly responsible for the low ratings. You can catch Joan of Arcadia replaying on HDNet and both seasons on DVD.

3. Creature Comforts - CBS

I know what you’re thinking. What is this, and why is it on this list instead of Futurama? I’ll tell you why. Creature Comforts was a shiny comedic diamond in the rough that was pulled from CBS after only three episodes. The show was hurt by low ratings due to poor marketing by CBS and poor audiences. The truth is that the U.S. is not ready for a show like this, and the U.S. version failed horribly. Made by the same folks responsible for Wallace and Gromit, this show is still very popular in the UK.

The show uses real non-scripted interviews from real people to poke fun at other interview-based shows such as Reality TV and News Programming. The interviews are then animated to make it seem as if it is a scripted show based around animals.

I only saw this show twice, but the first time I remember thinking…What the hell is this? And then immediately later thinking…”This is freakin’ hilarious”.

The chances of this show coming out to DVD in the States could be slim, but considering even My Big Fat Greek Life can be packaged and sold as a DVD set…I wouldn’t put it past anybody.

Edit: I looked it up and it seems that a DVD of the seven American episodes was scheduled to be released October 9th of this year…Looks like I have another DVD to add to my Christmas list.

The show is not currently airing in syndication anywhere on the U.S.

4. Firefly - FOX

The fact that I didn’t really know about this series until after the DVD set was released shows how badly Fox handled it. To say this series was mis-marketed would be like saying that Orlando Bloom is gay: its a huge freaking understatement.

Seriously, this series has seen every crappy network decision EVER. It suffered from episode trimming (Fox ~~asked~~ demanded creator Joss Whedon to cut his original two-hour pilot down to forty-five minutes), time-slot surfing (some promos for Firefly didn’t even include a time-slot because it changed so much), budget cutbacks, and more. Joss Whedon had to swim through so much crap to finish even the first season that its no surprise that his disappointment was overshadowed by relief.

Thankfully, due to high DVD sales (at one time it was the 6th most bought DVD series on Amazon) and Fan outcry, Firefly was brought back to the big-screen in the form of the film Serenity, but not to be outdone by its network affiliate…20th Century Fox screwed up the movie release by cutting budgets, poorly publicizing the movie, and releasing the movie in the void at the end of September (post Summer, pre-Holiday seasons).

5. Arrested Development - FOX

It should come as no surprise to you that Fox has two canceled series on my top five best canceled series list. It was really a toss-up between Firefly and Arrested Development for my top spot, but I went with Arrested Development over Firefly for a few reasons.

First of all, Arrested Development had more critical acclaim than most canceled and long-running series alike. It won countless awards including six Emmy awards and a Golden Globe. Still, the series did not garner the ratings that Fox deemed appropriate for a television show.

Secondly, its nearly worse considering they allowed for the series to blossom for three seasons (the last season was only thirteen episodes, though). I will give Fox some credit…they did let Arrested Development have a series ending episode…but, in typical Fox fashion, it was aired during the same time slot as the Olympics -_-’.

Towards the end of the third Season…or should I call it Season 2.5…there were rumors that Arrested Development would be picked up by HBO or Showtime (even referencing this in a comedic matter in the series), but Mitch Hurwitz (show creator) would not continue working with the show and Showtime wouldn’t pick it up without him on board.

You can catch Arrested Development on G4 and HDNet in syndication.

All seasons are available as DVD sets and can also be watched online via MSN.com (click the link for the Arrested Development Episode page).

So there you have it…my top 5…but since this is the longest blog ever on The Company, why not make it longer with my short list of shows that should have been canceled earlier.

1. 7th Heaven - WB/CW

Please…this show was a joke after its bazillionth season. The “cute little girl” had grown up to be a late teen slut, and the father/preacher figure had sinned more than I’d care to give a crap about. Seriously, 243 episodes??? Are you kidding me? Why did people watch this? For some reason I was hoping the 7th Heaven, would be for it to be canceled after its 7th Season. Somehow it lasted four more seasons though…I blame it on crappy shows like Girlfriends and Aquaman (which didn’t even get picked up -_-’).

2. Smallville - WB/CW

I know, I know. There are probably some Smallville fans out there that might be reading this, but lets just get this straight. Smallville sucks. The writing sucks, the network sucks…In fact the only thing worse than the acting in this show, are the effects. Heroes fans be alarmed…in the 3rd Season, Hiro Nakamura will travel to the future and see that his television show turns into a Smallville-like crapfest. Hopefully he’ll go back and warn Peter before its too late.

Save the Acting. Save the Series.

3. Crossing Jordan - NBC

I know its finally been put under, but it took far too long. How did this show last six seasons? This unoriginal, hack of a show was merely a Kidz Bop version of CSI. Honestly, what was NBC thinking. More importantly, what was Tim Kring thinking? Yes, Tim Kring created this show. The only good thing that came out of this failure to television is that it got Tim Kring the opportunity to pitch Heroes to NBC.

4. Home Improvement - ABC

Remember this show? If you don’t, just tune in to Nick at Nite…they seem to be over-joyed to have obtained the syndication rights for it, plastering promos all over its networks to get viewers to watch. Don’t get me wrong…I loved the show, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that when half your cast has either stopped caring about the show or left the show altogether, its time to give it a rest. The show was stretched out so long that it lost what was so great about it to begin with: its hilarity. You should have pulled a Seinfeld and quit while you were ahead. The only reason people watched it in its final seasons was for a chance to see “Hi-de ho, Neighbor” Wilson’s face. If you wanted to see his scruffy mug that bad, you could have just found old episodes of the low-grade soap opera, Ryan’s Hope.

5. Bionic Woman - NBC

WHAT? You say. If you are reading this and reacting like that, you need to re-evaluate what makes a good television show. I honestly don’t see why NBC even picked this piece of crap up. I watched the pilot. It was a piece of hot mess, steaming with the poisonous vapors of bad acting and even worse writing. Okay, its a pilot. Watch the next four episodes and you see that it doesn’t change. Why does NBC put more money in this show than anything else? I’m sick of seeing promos like, “This Wednesday…they can rebuild her..” Come on…I know that the Bionic Woman came from Six Million Dollar Man…but get something original…I don’t know…possibly an X-Men or Quantum Leap rip-off? That was a joke…Heroes and Journeyman are really good shows. In fact, set your TiVo to record Journeyman…not this piece of bionic scrap. Honestly, how far can you expect the remake of a show that only lasted three season over two networks to go? I’d rather be strapped to a chair and made to watch Chuck re-runs while being force-fed Steven Seagal’s Lightning Bolt Energy Drink through an AIDS-infected IV that watch this garbage.

There you have it…longest blog ever…hope you enjoyed it.

N.G. Blog #2: Casting Call

thecompanypodcast — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 03:22:40 +0000

Let it be known that this blog was not the one promised by N.G. during the podcast. If you have issues with that, please comment on this blog and flame him for his lack of podcasting etiquette. Thanks -Demi

Casting Call

Hi all, N.G. here, and this is my second blog: Casting Call. I realized the other day that when Heroes premiered, they had no real star to get them recognized. Don’t misunderstand me, I believe all (well, almost all) of the actors on Heroes are great, but none had any real star power pre-show. NBC basically relied on the white coach’s daughter from Remember the Titans, John Shaft in a bit role, and Greg Grunberg who was in a movie with the greatest actor of all time, Sir Kevin Bacon (the Sir was added by myself to show respect). So basically what we have in today’s blog is my fantasy Heroes cast. Because people care what I think, right?

Playing D.L. Hawkins… CHRIS TUCKER: This was the first choice I made in casting, and possibly the easiest. He would have brought a nice, light tone to such a dark character. Also, aside from phasing through objects, two sweet added powers would be high-pitched banshee wailing, and the ability to get confused for Chris Rock. Imagine D.L. screaming at Micah, “Micah, my man, Micah, Micah, AHHHH!, Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth?”. Priceless.

Playing Claire Bennett… BRITNEY SPEARS: She needs the money, stability, and attention a lot more than Hayden, and lets be honest: did you see Crossroads? Better than Schindler’s List. Mariah Carey was a close second for this one.

Playing Nathan Petrelli… ONE OF THE CAVEMEN: Yeah, from the Geico commercials and that new show on FOX. Duh.

Playing Micah Saunders… HALEY JOEL OSMENT or DAKOTA FANNING: Yes, I’m aware that Osment is, like, 40, and Fanning is a girl, but they are probably the greatest child actors ever, and, I mean, there actors, they could act like a young boy. And, they have acted alongside a plethora of great actors like Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, Michael Caine, and others, which would make them perfect alongside…

Playing Gabriel “Sylar” Gray… GARY BUSEY: Who is your go-to guy when you need someone crazier than a shithouse rat? Who was in Black Sheep, Lethal Weapon, and Point Break? Who, if given the chance, might actually bust someone’s head open and look at their brains? That’s right: Busey. Just look at that crazy twinkle in his eye… a lot scary than Zachery “Mr. Spock” Quinto.

And finally,

Playing Peter Petrelli… Carson Daly: You guys know the whole situation in Darfur? Yeah, well take the inverse of that and multiply it by how awesome it would be to see Keira Knightley naked and then take that to the nth power and you still only have half the awesomeness that is Carson Daly.

Nuff said,

N.G.

Episode 2: The Kindness of Strangers

thecompanypodcast — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 17:01:40 +0000

The second episode of The Company is here. In this Podcast we cover the following:

Angela Petrelli lies about murdering Kaito Nakamura.

Claire and West have a second date.

Nathan and his old self.

Maya, Alejandro, and Sylar

Micah and his cousin Monica

Molly, Suresh, Parkman, and the Nightmare Man

Oh…and we also talk about our new Heroes Showdown Tournament at the end of the episode.

Music provided by:

Waldhorn 33, cdk, and Shadow_C from ccMixter.org.

For discussions about the episode or anything else Heroes related…please visit DiscussHeroes.com

Recorded on Wednesday, October 17, 2007.

For current voting on the Heroes Showdown Tournament, please visit

http://www.discussheroes.com/forumdisplay.php?f=361

Woo Blog #1: Allegory of the Washer/Dryer Combo

thecompanypodcast — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:06:21 +0000

Welcome to Woo’s Smorgasblog, The Pot Luck of Blogs. Every week, my anti-genius will be regurgitating the weeks’ meals in an alphanumeric format so you can enjoy what I enjoyed. Yay for you, right? Yeah, yay for you.

This week I engineered a new allegory type thing. I call it the…………..

Allegory of the Washer/Dryer Combo

The liquid detergent flows from the bottle to the washer in a fluid motion. It mixes with water and the detergent fairies grow, so I throw my boxers and socks in there to get it magically scrubbed. When the detergent fairies use their fairy dust on my threads, it get clean and what not. I then throw my clothes into the dryer, so the dryer demons can use their hate and anger to torch my clothes. However, they run out of hate, so they don’t get to destroy my clothes-instead they just leave it nice and warm for me. This really burns them up on the inside, so they eat one of my socks to get back at me. Losing a sock doesn’t really bother me that much, but it tears up the sock’s partner who is forever doomed to the bottom of the sock/underwear drawer. That sock will never again get to travel the country again, see the sights and such. It will be left in the dark forever.

So you see, I’m the sock in the dark. The other sock isn’t important. The country is Heroes. I will never get so see Heroes, but it doesn’t really bother me that much anyway.

~Woo.

Socrates Blog #1: Allegory of the Cave

thecompanypodcast — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:41:16 +0000

Hello everyone. This is Socrates here and this is my first official blog. I am going to try to make this short and sweet, partly because I already touched on this subject in last weeks podcast and partly because I do not want to take up your whole lunch break. So let’s get to it!

The Allegory of the Cave

Okay, so first things first, one would need sufficient background on the allegory of the cave in order to fully understand how it relates to the Heroes plotline. So here is a general excerpt from Wikipedia.org’s page on the story:

Imagine several prisoners who have been chained up in a cave for all of their lives. They have never been outside the cave. They face a wall in the cave and they can never look at the entrance of the cave. Sometimes animals, birds, people, or other objects pass by the entrance of the cave casting a shadow on the wall inside the cave. The prisoners see the shadows on the wall and mistakenly view the shadows as reality.

However, one man is released from his chains and runs out of the cave. For the first time, he sees the real world and now knows that it is far beyond the shadows he had been seeing. He sees real birds and animals, not just shadows of birds and animals. This man is excited about what he sees and he goes back to his fellow prisoners in the cave to tell them about the real world. But to his astonishment, they don’t believe him. In fact, they are angry with him. They say the shadows are reality and that the escaped prisoner is crazy for saying otherwise. According to Plato, the world outside the cave represents the world of forms while the shadows on the wall represent objects in the physical world. The escape of the prisoner represents philosophical enlightenment and the realization that forms are the true reality. Most people are like the prisoners in the cave. They think the shadows are reality. Philosophers, though, are like the man who escapes the cave and sees the real world. They have true knowledge.

The most obvious example of the allegory of the cave shown in Heroes would definitely be the storyline involving Peter Petrelli. Peter has essentially lost his identity and has no real idea of the person he used to be. In this sense, Peter is like the prisoners chained in the cave. He only knows of what he can see. He only knows his self in its current state. The real question at hand that Peter has to confront and resolve is whether or not to open the box that supposedly holds his true identity. Peter now has a tough decision to make: be content with his current self and act as the prisoner or open the box, rediscover his true identity and break free from the chains to see reality in forms and not shadows. Everyone is entitled to choose what they feel most comfortable with. I know what I would choose; what would you?

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow. ~Aesop

The New Relationship

thecompanypodcast — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 05:57:23 +0000

Hope you enjoyed me and N.G.’s blog, later today will be a thought-provoking blog from Socrates.

The reason for this post though is to officially announce our new relationship with DiscussHeroes.com

DiscussHeroes.com is an awesome online forum community that have alot of Heroes based discussions.

We are proud to announce that they will be the official forum of The Company. We will have our own section where people can post stuff directly about the show, but for other discussions we will use the pre-existing dedicated forums from DiscussHeroes.com. We hope this will help encourage growth for both our podcast and their forums.

So…we welcome all the DiscussHeroes.com Forum goers and encourage all of our other listeners to please visit their forums and participate in some great discussion!

-Demi

Demi Blog #1: Missing Powers

thecompanypodcast — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 04:38:19 +0000

Hey everybody…

I just got finished posting a huge blog on like six different powers that weren’t present in the Heroes universe yet, but it didn’t process with the server and I lost it! I’m very upset right now, but I’ll go ahead and give you a summary of the powers I picked.

1. Super Speed

Possibly the most important power not yet shown on Heroes, Super Speed has encompassed comic books from Superman to The Flash. Will we see it soon? N.G. and I have agreed that we think one of the original Company members possess this power, although he seems to think its Peter and Nathan Petrelli’s father….which I’m not so sure of. I am sure that this power will be in included in this series. I’d bet my life savings on it…One, because my life savings is literally equal to zero, and two, because its so essential to a comic book setting.

2. Superhuman Senses (non-hearing)

We’ve seen Flight, Superhuman Strength, and Enhanced Hearing….what about the other classics? Where’s the X-Ray vision? Where’s the seeing three miles away? Also, and I know this is a stretch, what about superhuman smelling? I mean, Wolverine and Sabretooth had it…which leads me to another power…

3. Animal Mimicry

I know, I know…its a bit far-fetched…but animals are an integral part of the superhero universe. Many characters in comics have emulated the abilities or likenesses of animal i.e. Black Cat, Spiderman, Wolverine, Sabretooth, Toad, Batman, Catwoman, Penguin, etc.

4. Magnetism/Force Fields

We’ve already seen powers that have dealt with metal…Sylar can change the molecular structure of things (including metal) to cause them to melt without reaching melting point, Bob can use alchemy to change the chemical compound of things (including metal into gold)…but what about magnetism. We know how awesome Magneto is, and how helpful could it be to use an electro-magnetic force-field to protect you or your group from danger? I think we may seem some type of this sooner or later…perhaps in a new character with electric abilities *hint*. But speaking of metal what about..

5. Mechanical Prowess

I know its not really a power, but come on…its as big in comics as anything else. The ability or skills to make your own powered gear to fit your needs i.e. Batman. I know that NBC is pushing Bionic Woman down our throats but for the love of all that is holy please just drop it and put an Ironman type character in Heroes…Then you can put some of that advertising money into Heroes and Journeyman and replace Bionic Woman with some crappy mid-season show like..oh I don’t know…American Gladiator Redux (which is actually coming to NBC soon).

There you have it…I had more but I’m done writing. I leave the rest open to you guys. If you have a power that hasn’t been seen on Heroes that you think is worthy enough to be brought on the show, let us know! Leave us a voice-mail at 205-383-4781 or for you international folks (or people that just feel like doing it) send us an audio message as an attachment to thecompanypodcast@gmail.com.

Also e-mail us anytime at that e-mail address with your opinions, comments, or questions and, if they aren’t stupid, we’ll put them on the show!

-Demi

Exciting Announcement!

thecompanypodcast — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:23:54 +0000

Well everyone…I didn’t think I’d make a post until the podcast this Friday (other than the blogs of course), but I have some exciting news.

We have made our first steps into becoming the podcast we aim to be.

We have come to an agreement with an existing Heroes community that will provide us with a forum. I think this will be a mutually beneficial relationship as we will get our own forum section (mainly for show related discussion, as the forums does a good job with everything else), and in return they will get the word out about their online community.

Although I cannot officially announce our partner at the current moment, look for more information coming up later in the week about this exciting new conglomeration.

As always, thanks for visiting and please…listen, subscribe (just click the ’subscribe to iTunes’ link on the right side of the page..or use the other subscription/feed services, and spread the word!

Oh..and read the blogs, too! Yesterday N.G’s first blog was posted. It was a little…gay…but…still funny (because we could actually see it this season or next). Today’s blog will be from me and will be about the powers we have yet to see on Heroes. For a quick link to all the blogs posted, click on the Blogs link under the Categories menu on the right. -Demi