What Makes NBC's 'Heroes' So Good

I'm not going to recap last night's fall finale when Michael Canfield has such an excellent writeup over at TV Squad. (Here is the link.) But I do want to talk a little about what makes HEROES so satisfying, and I don't want to talk about the characters, dialogue, or any of that. I want to talk about the pacing.

Yes, pacing is a boring subject, but for writers pacing is what will keep the audience's attention through the whole piece. When I used to teach music, I would tell my students to take their time when they played a piece of music. They had all the time in the world. Music is not as much the organization of sound and rhythm, but the silence in between the notes that creates the passion and tension. It is important to heed that silence to bring out the pacing that the composer wanted.

The human mind expects things to happen at certain times and in certain sequences. There's been a lot of scientific research about this and I don't have any desire to site any of it, but if you've ever experienced the "20-Minute Lull" at a party, you get my drift. Therefore, writers must be cognizant of giving the audience a little resolution -- that V I chord progression that makes them say "ah" for just a moment.

So many TV shows today, with their never ending story arcs, forget this and thus lose audiences. It is important to give something to the folks that show up every week to watch your show. I can think of many on the air that do not, but I choose not to point them out here.

The same goes for books. I saw a few posts about giving a book 100 pages or so before deciding not to continue with it. Wow! For most casual readers 100 pages may take several reading sessions over a few days. That's a lot of time. Pacing in books is almost more important, and having the ability to grab your reader in the first few pages is critical when he's browsing the shelves at the bookstore. Most often the cover copy doesn't do it, and anyway the cover copy is not written by the author. Just go to your bookshelf and look at the covers of some of your favorite books. You'll be shocked.

Tim Kring understands pacing. His show HEROES is wonderful in that you get something every week for showing up and watching -- a little bit of the mystery unfolds and pulls you in wanting more. He doesn't need to stack cliffhanger on top of cliffhanger to have throngs of people parking their butts on the couch every week to watch. No, Tim does it with pacing coupled with great characters, dialogue, and a story arc that's brilliant and accessible.

So many shows, books, and movies could benefit from the type of pacing employed in HEROES. It allows for deep HBO-esque character development while still staying true to that which makes comic-style shows fun. But I think episodic TV has a duty to it's viewers that take the time out of their busy schedules to tune in. Episodic TV must give these folks something for their loyalty. HEROES has figured this out, and the show along with NBC and the advertisers are reaping the benefits.