Heroes: Volume One
"A mere television show couldn't contain us." So says actor Masi Oka in his introduction to the new hardcover book Heroes: Volume One, which compiles all 34 of the online graphic novels posted at NBC.com during the first season of the show (Mondays at 9 pm/ET, NBC). The actor, like his time-stopping character Hiro Nakamura, was raised on Japanese graphic novels — known as mangas — and is still crazy in love with the form.
"As we grow, become adults and gain responsibility, mangas are where I can find sanctuary and still be a kid," Oka writes. "Imagination flows and it's a comfort to know that there are many, many others out there — from all walks of life — enjoying the same experience."
The collection is published by the DC Comics imprint WildStorm and is available in two different covers by comics icons Jim Lee and Alex Ross. It also includes all of Tim Sale's artwork from the se
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Kristen Bell, Heroes
Is this the new face of evil... or is she just misunderstood? Former Veronica Mars star Kristen Bell joins Heroes (Mondays at 9 pm/ET, NBC) this week as Elle, a loony operative for the Company who is not above using her special power — still a secret — for her own twisted delight.
"Pain is amusing to Elle, and so is the malice with which she conducts herself," Bell says. She's also a spoiled brat. "When she shows up in Ireland to locate Peter [Milo Ventimiglia], she does not succeed and that gets her pretty ticked. She takes out her aggression on the locals."
Elle's saga is a sad one. Her parents exploited her like a circus freak and put her into the Company at a very young age.
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Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm, Desperate Housewives
Two gay guys are about to shake up Wisteria Lane, but it's not their sexuality that's the issue — it's their bad taste in art! On October 21, Desperate Housewives (Sundays at 9 pm/ET, ABC) will introduce newbie neighbors Bob and Lee — played by Tuc Watkins (One Life to Live) and Kevin Rahm (Judging Amy) — and they'll quickly get tiffy with Susan (Teri Hatcher).
"Susan is so desperate to be nice, she puts her foot in her mouth and pisses them off," reveals creator Marc Cherry. "She
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Drew Carey, The Price Is Right
Drew Carey has the cold sweats, but not because he's worried about replacing Bob Barker as the new host of The Price Is Right. The guy is sick — bad sick — and he's in his dressing room at CBS in Hollywood downing Theraflu and popping vitamins like mad. Carey really should go home, but there's no rest for the overemployed. Today he still needs to shoot two more episodes of Price, then grab a plane to New York City to tape his other CBS game show, the prime-time Power of 10.
It doesn't help that he's also nursing a bum wrist, which he crushed in a much-reported mishap with a turntable door during an early Price rehearsal. When he makes his on-air debut Oct. 15 (check loc
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Zachary Quinto, Heroes
Zachary Quinto, who plays bad-guy Sylar on NBC's Heroes (tonight at 9 pm/ET), is preparing to enter sci-fi superstardom by taking on one of the genres most iconic roles, Spock, in the new Star Trek movie. The 30-year-old actor talked to TV Guide about his sudden rise to fame, the "new" Sylar and becoming a young Spock.
TV Guide: A year ago, you were just another jobless Hollywood actor. Now you're starring on the white-hot hit Heroes and playing young Spock in the next Star Trek movie. Are you sure you're not dreaming all this?
Zachary Quinto: It's all very dreamlike, though Trek is feeling less so as it draws nearer. We're getting ready to shoot in a month, and I just had my first fitting for my Vulcan ears. It felt incredible, and in that moment there was a huge shift for me. Suddenly it was
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Cristine Rose, Heroes
It's a Heroes whodunit! Mega-mogul Kaito Nakamura (George Takei) was murdered in last night's season premiere by a mysterious hooded figure who seems intent on picking off the show's older generation. Angela Petrelli, the ice-queen matriarch played by Cristine Rose, has already received a death card hinting that she's next — so, with the clock ticking, we quickly grabbed an interview with the actress!
TVGuide.com: How scared are you these days?
Cristine Rose: I'm haaaaa-ting this! [Laughs] On my chair on the set, they're now putting my name on with tape! It's so sad. And in small letters down in the corner it says, "She's going to die!" We have a "wall of death" at the studio, with pictures of all the actors who've been killed off, and I am staking out my 5 inches now! But you know w
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Lucy Lawless sports a shiner on Burn Notice.
Lucy Lawless as a damsel in distress? Say it ain't so! In a wild departure from her usual badass roles, the former Xena: Warrior Princess star will appear on USA Network's Burn Notice (tonight, 10 pm/ET) as a weepy, needy, emotionally frazzled mom who hires Michael (Jeffrey Donovan) to track down her missing husband and son. A much ballsier Lawless plays herself on Curb Your Enthusiasm in an episode airing Oct. 21. We gave the actress a call to discuss both gigs, plus the one that got away — the disastrous American version of Footballers' Wives.
TVGuide.com: It's downright surreal seeing you — a fem
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Heroes' Takezo Kensei
Can't wait for Season 2 of Heroes? Hardcore addicts can get a quick fix right now with Sword Saint, a new five-part NBC Web series that's currently streaming on YamagatoFellowship.org.
"It's a fake documentary — actually it's more like a Ken Burns mockumentary — that explores the legend of Takezo Kensei," says Heroes creator Tim Kring, referring to the iconic samurai whom Hiro (Masi Oka) will encounter this fall in 17th-century Japan. "Like Burns, we use academic professors, only ours are actors, and they share their historical insight against a background of paintings, tapestries and graphics. It's a chance to dig a little deeper into the new season. Part of the social currency our fans trade on is their kn
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Gina Holden and Eric Johnson, Flash Gordon
Space aliens have invaded Maryland. Innocent citizens are being liquefied into goo. Space-time rifts are opening up everywhere and could trigger the destruction of the universe. Yes, a whole lotta hell breaks loose on the new Sci Fi Channel series Flash Gordon (premiering this Friday, Aug. 10, at 8 pm/ET), but the titular hero — played by Smallville vet Eric Johnson — is fiercely determined to save mankind from doom. Just not right now.
On the show's Vancouver set, Flash, who is wearing a dog collar, is friskily engaged in a boudoir wrestle with Princess Aura (Anna Van Hooft). She's the spoiled-brat daughter of Ming (John Ralston), evil ruler of the planet Mongo, and she only has eyes for Flash. But
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Masi Oka, Heroes
The characters on NBC's Heroes will leap forward four months when the show returns Sept. 24 — everyone, that is, except Hiro. The time-tripping fanboy, played by Masi Oka, was suddenly teleported to 1671 Japan in the cliff-hanger of last May's finale. The Season 2 premiere will find him right where we left him, stuck in the middle of a nation of samurai who are about to wage war. TV Guide spoke with the Emmy nominee about tripping time, wooing the Japanese Kelly Clarkson and getting Smart.
TV Guide: Immediate danger aside, isn't this Hiro's dream come true?
Masi Oka: Mine, too. It's the dream of many Japanese boys. We grow up playing samurai like kids in the U.S. play cowboys. Even the crime procedurals on Japanese TV are set in feudal Japan.
TV Guide: Will you spill
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