Enough is enough!

[MakeMineMarvel]

Enough already with the "this is a ripoff of 'such and such.'" Seriously, how many different ways can you give people with special powers their powers? You either have them born with them or they acquire them through circumstance/choice. That's about the limit of possibility right there. The X-Men route is the "born with them" route, whereas nearly every other route is the "acquired them" route.

Of course there are elements to the show that make other shows you've previously seen come to mind - don't you think that people who are paid to make television shows might potentially have some TV knowledge and feel drawn to borrow parts of ideas and storylines? It's as simple as "doing this worked 'X' number of years ago and it's why I liked 'ABC Show,' so I want to re-tell it this way." Wouldn't you like to put your on spin on a type of storyline if you had the chance and the resources?

How about we look at the ability to develop such a vast number of characters over a season with the number of twists and turns? How about we applaud the ability to make people like my wife, who could really care less about comic books or superheroes sit up and say, "that's a pretty awesome show!" Do we have to try and find the chink in the armor of every single thing that grabs attention and entertains. What doesn't borrow a little from something else these days? Grow up and just enjoy it for what it is.
[end rant]

 

[Go Spidey!!]

I gotta say, not a fan.

 

[phoenixflight]

Enough already with the "this is a ripoff of 'such and such.'" Seriously, how many different ways can you give people with special powers their powers? You either have them born with them or they acquire them through circumstance/choice. That's about the limit of possibility right there. The X-Men route is the "born with them" route, whereas nearly every other route is the "acquired them" route.

Of course there are elements to the show that make other shows you've previously seen come to mind - don't you think that people who are paid to make television shows might potentially have some TV knowledge and feel drawn to borrow parts of ideas and storylines? It's as simple as "doing this worked 'X' number of years ago and it's why I liked 'ABC Show,' so I want to re-tell it this way." Wouldn't you like to put your on spin on a type of storyline if you had the chance and the resources?

How about we look at the ability to develop such a vast number of characters over a season with the number of twists and turns? How about we applaud the ability to make people like my wife, who could really care less about comic books or superheroes sit up and say, "that's a pretty awesome show!" Do we have to try and find the chink in the armor of every single thing that grabs attention and entertains. What doesn't borrow a little from something else these days? Grow up and just enjoy it for what it is.
[end rant]

Applause! You said everything that truly needs to be said. Yes, these forums are for open discussions of any kind, however, for those individuals who 'hate' the show so much, why don't your try something new...stop watching it!! The show is very inventive and fun and it puts an interesting twist on the topic of powers and heroes. Just enjoy the show!

 

[MakeMineMarvel]

I'm with you, but I'm not even just talking about this show. People do it all the time with cars and music and movies and so on. I think it's human nature to seek the similarities between something new and previous things of a similar genre to obtain a comfortability, but most of the time, it's not like, "Carlos Mencia" style blatant ripping off. It's usually a retelling or a different take or what-have-you.

 

[Neptune]

I agree with you guys but seriously, there is only 1 "Heroes is a rip off "thread.I hasvent seen many haters on this board.

 

[PLAS]

I gotta say, not a fan.

I gotta say... who asked?

 

[MakeMineMarvel]

It shows up within threads though. "This guys power is a rip-off of blah, blah," "this story is a rip-off of blah, blah," or "this whole show is a rip-off of blah, blah."

I'm not trying to be a big complainer, but people do it all the time. Here and elsewhere.

 

[Child-of-Light]

I gotta say... who asked?

lol well put

 

[Katsuro]

Read this: http://www.qwantz.com/index.pl?comic=951

That said, Heroes is a great show, but as a Terminator II spin-off it completely dissapoints.

 

[Walter Sobchak]

I agree with the lead post on this thread 100%. People have accused this show of ripping off X-Men, Rising Stars, Watchmen, 4400, and others. There is nothing new under the sun, but a good story is a good story.

 

[Antonello Blueberry]

Well, the Linderman plan is completely stolen from Watchmen and that's not fair especially considering that there's a movie based on the book coming.
How many people will come out of the theaters saying "Hey, they stole the criminal plan from Heroes"?.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Watchmen wasn't the first story ever to have a misguided villain who wants to make the world better by giving it one major threat to unite against. The unique thing about Watchmen was the fact that Ozymandias had already enacted the plan and won without the heroes' noticing. Linderman clearly hasn't already won, so there are probably about a thousand other stories that Heroes' first-season plot is more similar to than it is to Watchmen's. All of the people shouting "rip-off of Watchmen" seem to have forgotten that part.

 

[Demigod00]

almost anything is a rip off of something else in modern times.

 

[The Question]

Watchmen wasn't the first story ever to have a misguided villain who wants to make the world better by giving it one major threat to unite against. The unique thing about Watchmen was the fact that Ozymandias had already enacted the plan and won without the heroes' noticing. Linderman clearly hasn't already won, so there are probably about a thousand other stories that Heroes' first-season plot is more similar to than it is to Watchmen's. All of the people shouting "rip-off of Watchmen" seem to have forgotten that part.

Hell, Alan Moore lifted Ozymandias' plot from an episode of the Outer Limits.

 

[chamber-music]

I find it funny how people all ways said superhero films and Tv shows won't work and now you got heroes which is a highly rated superhero show only the characters aren't wearing costumes.

 

[Dark Sentinel]

hey havent posted in here yet (been in the TDK and SM3 boards) but i just thought i'd throw in my two cents. I agree with MakeMineMarvel's statement. what makes Heroes so intriguing is the story. another good aspect is the Crash-like editing, i.e. multiple storylines that somehow all connect with each other.

 

[Majmun]

There is nothing new under the sun.

 

[GNR]

This show is the finest depiction on film and television ever of superhumans.

 

[squeekness]

Edit

 

[AssMan]

 

[batnkevlar]

4400 stole their idea offa Mindwarp, which was a children's bookseries that warped the idea of Animorphs...

 

[wootbaby]

WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS THREAD?

you dont offer any opinion that Heroes does NOT rip off Moore. quite the opposite everyone saying "so what" and "there's no new ideas out there" only admits the fact that yes the plot of season 1 of heroes indeed does "borrow" quite heavily from Watchmen

WHAT EXACTLY IS YOUR POINT

1) you admit yes there are similarities

2) you want the smartest and most knowledgeable of the fans here on SSH (who automatically see similarities) to "dumb it down" so that the 12 year olds and noobs can "enjoy" the show with their heads in the sand, that pretend this isn't a linear rip off of the plot of watchmen?

keep in mind that no one is telling you to NOT ENJOY the Heroes. last time I checked this is a message board where people DISCUSS things such as similarities, sources, etc.

if you enjoy Heroes that's enough. whether other people are having a high-level discussion about its similarities to specific comic book plots, should have no impact on the sole reason you enjoy a show... whether it is a well made series or no (which Heroes is). it's pretty sad that you'd ask people to stiffle discussion so as to not make yourself feel "stupid" or better about yourself for not knowing about the original source, Watchmen