For a while, I thought that BSG was probably going to be the best sci-fi show since Babylon 5... or at least Farscape but as it continues in a somewhat melodramatic rut, Heroes grows ever more in my very limited affections.

Many shows claim to be about extraordinary things happening to ordinary people but I don't think any of them come close to Heroes... I suppose, in many ways, Heroes is like a superhero story for people think that comics are all a bit silly... And really, comics are a bit silly. It seems to be assumed that upon discovering superpowers, will decide good or evil, don tights... arm themselves with a suitable array of one liners and off they go.

Heroes offers us something more believable... it's a lot smaller in some respects... but it's better for that. We don't have fooling around in alternate dimensions, two dozen alien races, uber advanced technology or that kind of nonsense... we've got a bunch of people who discover they have amazing abilities. Some of them use them for good, some for evil... most just try and get on with their lives. We're sixteen episodes in, I don't think I've heard a single Spidey-like quip and I'm pretty sure that we've not had anyone in spandex.

No, beyond the fact that we've had abilities ranging from the manipulation of time/space and telekinesis to metal melting and superhearing, this hasn't really adhered to any kind of comic clichés... well, they sneaked a cameo from Stan Lee but then that wily bastard sneaks in everywhere. No, we've got a drama that manages to provide action and characters and of course, superpowers. It all links together - but not in a rubbish Lost, OOO MYSTERIOUS! way - just in an interesting intersection way.

The danger I foresee is that of an Orson Welles - peaking too early. The standard is so high that when we wrap up the first season... well, if it's sensible it won't be wrapped but that danger is that the next arc can't match the first... Still, let the good times role, eh? This show is easily the best thing anyone could watch these days and to compare it to Lost... well, that's a real insult... a lot better than Lost ever was and Lost hasn't been good for getting toward two years. Don't mar it with that comparison, this show is WUNDERBAR.