The Forge

The past 48 hours or so have found my eyes almost permanently fastened to my computer monitor. Actually, my family's computer monitor, because my computer wasn't capable of running smooth video and flash advertisements at the same time. And I blame said optical fixation on, of all things, the NFL.

For quite some time, I've considered myself a part of the "geek" demographic, based on intelligence and a fairly obvious dearth of personal hygiene. As such, my leisure activities have consisted almost entirely of eating, drinking Mountain Dews, and hopping aimlessly around the world wide web while carrying on meaningless conversations in the realm of Internet Relay Chat. This busy schedule has left little time for "non-geek" activities, such as jogging, showers, and watching football. Last weekend, I changed this a little, and watched not one but FOUR football games. I even managed to comprehend what was going on, most of the time. However my purpose is not to recount the tossing of the pigskin that took place seven days ago. You have ESPN reruns for that. Instead, I mean to tell you about the series of events put in motion because I decided to watch so many football games in such a short period of time, specifically because of the commercials.

As you have probably figured out if you are an American, when the Superbowl comes around it brings with it a slew of egregiously overpriced advertising campaigns and market ploys. Every company has as its primary goal to be the topic of water cooler conversations nationwide the following Monday morning. And last year, youtube.com made it easier for those commercials to be the topic of water cooler conversations for weeks. But whether you are watching those ads on your computer at work or your television as they air for (hopefully) the first time, the point is you expect them and you expect them to grab your attention. I know of entire groups of people who only watch the big game for the purpose of seeing good commercials. What these people don't seem to realize is that, for months before the Superbowl takes place, the number and quality of advertisements during football games is steadily increasing. Some of these are actually better.

Of course, if all that corporate entities accomplished on Superbowl Sunday with their advertising was a large number of pointless conversations for a fortnight after the game, they'd likely keep the millions of dollars it costs to buy a spot and spend them on a new water cooler for their own employees. Obviously, as the name implies, advertisements are created to pique interest in the community for a company's products or services. Even when those products and services aren't the main focus of the ad (they may not even be in the ad), the company hopes that the next time you see or hear their name, a response will be triggered in your brain to somehow do business with them. Sometimes the response is more immediate: a debate over which fast food restaurant will receive a family's services may be instantly settled when a conversation for KFC's family bucket comes on boasting "everyone gets what they want."

Chances are I haven't told you anything new or useful as of yet, but I'm one for giving background for my stories. So hear I am, watching almost ten hours of football, half commercials, all aimed at grabbing my attention and perhaps the content of my wallet, too. Oddly enough, it wasn't the automobile commercials that snagged my eye. Nor was it the insurance ads, the directTV marketing, or the newest comic book-to-movie adaptation. Although, of the four, the last is probably the closest. The commercials that piqued my interest were those that intriguingly asked, in plain print, "Are you on THE LIST?"

By the third or fourth time, I recognized the advertisement for NBC's somewhat new hit show, Heroes. And I wanted to watch it. But this desire met with the sinking realization that I hadn't seen any of the episodes, and here was supposed to be a major plot twist--what good would the names on "the list" do me if I didn't know any names to begin with? The answer being very little, I dejectedly headed to my computer and went back to IMing people and browsing facebook.com.

Until Tuesday. Tuesday I got a random desire to google Heroes, which led me to NBC's official site. As I scrolled down the main page, I noticed a little box on the righthand side. It said something along the lines of "Can't wait? All episodes streaming online now. Click here." Needless to say, I clicked there, and have not regretted the decision. Since Tuesday, whenever I had free time (and especially last night into this morning), I have watched all eleven episodes of Heroes and enjoyed them to an almost ludicrous extent. From the twisted, unpredictable plot to the extremely likable (yet troubling) characters, this real-life comic series is simply amazing.

I really can't say any more. So I'll repeat that, for emphasis: From the twisted, unpredictable plot to the extremely likable (yet troubling) characters, this real-life comic series is simply amazing. Go. Watch it. Now. Seriously though, I would not hesitate to say that this is one of the greatest things to come to television for years. It rivals House for the position of my favorite series. I'm fairly certain I'll be buying Heroes on DVD first, anyhow. And now, at the threshold of new episodes, I am urgently awaiting the next turn on this cinematic rollercoaster. I've seen the result of the 'Save the cheerleader, save the world' story. Now I must know- are you on the list?