THANKS to the success of such shows as "Alias," "Lost" and "Smallville," serialized television programs became all the rage last year. Many were made; few survived. And only one — "Heroes" — conquered.
So how did it prevail? It was the mix of a good premise — a wish fulfillment fantasy of average Joes who discover superhero powers — and a creator obsessively devoted to studying and tackling the myriad challenges that have plagued serialized TV in the past.
"I think most writers, if given the choice, have a real interest in telling continuous stories," said Tim Kring, explaining why he wanted to work in the serial genre. "I was interested in doing a very long saga."
But he also saw the problems inherent in that. Audiences need to feel that the stories they watch have a beginning, middle and end. If they stretch on into eternity with no end in sight, the viewers lose faith in the writers and stop tuning in. It happened with "Lost" and "Alias." Kring was determined to keep it from happening on "Heroes."
To solve the problem, he decided to follow a comic book structure. Comic book stories are told in volumes made up of several books (episodes) but with one overriding story arc. He called the first season "Volume 1" and thought of each episode as a chapter, thereby letting audiences know that a resolution will be forthcoming. "When J.K. Rowling told the world there would only be seven Harry Potter books you knew where you were," he said. "It allowed people to wrap their minds around the story instead of getting lost in a big lumbering thing."
The one season-one volume formula is not a lock, however. "The audience can look for Volume 2 to end in the middle of Season 2," he said.
Kring has been diligently working through other problems as well. "One of the things we committed to early on was there are no secrets too precious that we can't give them the answer," he said, addressing the "Lost" issue in which mystery piled on top of unsolved mystery leaves viewers frustrated. "If you have kept a secret for too long no answer can be satisfying."
He is also committed to not pulling the rug out from under the viewer — no it-was-all-a-dream or that-was-an-alternate-future tricks.
Moving forward, Kring is already anticipating more difficulties. "This show is succeeding partly because it defies expectations every week about where it is going," he said. "If Season 2 is just a rehash of Season 1, that will be the death of a show like this."
If that sounds bleak, it shouldn't. It means he's working on a solution.
