Want to know what science-fiction touchstones inspire Heroes creator Tim Kring? Behold: He tells us the 15 TV series and movies that, through the years, have changed the game (or in one case, his love life).

I grew up with it, the art of the short, concise morality tale. I can’t tell you the number of times it comes up as a reference point in the writer's room

I saw it in the theater when I was a teenager, and it blew me away with its scale and surreal epic quality. Extremely influential to an impressionable mind.

It's similar in the pantheon of childhood to Twilight Zone. A little campier, but some amazing episodes.

Master suspense filmmaking that holds up to this day. One of the scariest movies I've ever seen.

Audacious and uncompromising storytelling. Its success in the first season paved the way for Heroes.

Great writing and filmmaking. I also really admired the deftness of the serialized storytelling. Trust me, not easy to do.

I saw it the weekend it opened at the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. Still remember the cheers for the opening crawl — "In a galaxy far far away…"

A classic formula for episodic TV. TV keeps trying to recapture that magic.

Brilliant filmmaking and effects on a frugal budget. All of us at Heroes admired it for that.

It set a new standard in the art of heart stopping pace.

It proved that you could mix tones of comedy, horror and sci-fi. Something we paid homage in Heroes.

The mind-bending plot set the bar for a whole slew of copycats.

Not a great movie, but it's notable because it's the first movie I saw where I held hands with a girl.

It proved that most movies, if looked at from the right angle, are only ten degrees from broad comedy.

Shameless? Oh well, what can I say