I am – Hercules!! I’ve just watched the second and third episodes of NBC’s “Heroes,” and the show’s still got me. I’m definitely in for episodes four and five, and probably those well beyond. Subsequent to the pilot, the producers have added more pretty girls. A very blonde Clea DuVall (“Carnivale”) joins the cast next week, as does the gorgeous big-eyed brunette who was in the ubiquitous tampon commercial before she played coma-boy’s sister on “Everwood.” The cheerleader’s idiot mom stays offscreen after episode one, hopefully for good. The superpowered terrorist I read about in the pilot script is gone, replaced by a much cooler superpowered serial killer. And Hiro demonstrates an important new superpower in episode two. And notice please which comic book the stripper’s kid is reading in the principal’s office; it will play a much more important role as the series soldiers on. For those unfamiliar with “Heroes”? It’s a scifi hourlong, from “Crossing Jordan” creator Tim Kring, about people from all over the United States (and one guy from Tokyo) who suddenly learn they have superpowers. The guy from Toyko discovers he can teleport himself, just like Nightcrawler. A cheerleader discovers she can heal herself, just like Wolverine. A cop discovers he can read minds, just like Professor X. A nurse thinks he might be able to fly, just like Storm. An artist thinks he can see the future, just like Destiny. A stripper thinks she can kill people with her brain, just like Phoenix. There’s even a professor with device that can, a Cerebro-like, find the superpowered people. But nobody demonstrates powerful optic blasts. It stars Milo Ventimiglia ("Gilmore Girls"), Adrian Pasdar ("Judging Amy"), Hayden Panettiere ("Ally McBeal"), Ali Larter ("Final Destination"), Greg Grunberg ("Alias"), Noah Gray-Cabey ("My Wife & Kids"), Santiago Cabrera ("Empire"), Tawny Cypress ("Third Watch"), and Masi Oka ("Scrubs"). The first episode is both highly flawed and fascinating; subsequent installments prove stronger as the series seems to find its feet. Variety says:

… has cult hit potential but will need a heroic confluence of events to extend its appeal beyond that narrow core. Very little in "Heroes" is clear after the extra-long pilot -- indeed, even through three episodes -- which ask viewers to embark on an open-ended journey fraught with the threat of world annihilation, strange powers and talk of mutation toward a "next evolutionary step" that won't sit well with those convinced the Earth is only 6,000 years old. … Although the powers are interesting, most of them aren't visual in the Justice League mode, which will conspire to both keep the budget down and the "wow" factor limited … as some storylines become more interesting, others look more pallid by comparison and slow the narrative … one of those concepts seemingly destined to leave a small but outspoken fan contingent grumbling next summer at Comic-Con about its cancellation. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… Part sci-fi, part mystery and wholly unique, "Heroes" is one of TV's most imaginative creations and might, with luck, become this year's "Lost." Its mix of danger, humor, drama, romance and science creates a unique and surprising flavor of programming. At the same time, it fills scene after scene with characters that wouldn't or couldn't easily fit into any other show. …

Entertainment Weekly gives it “B-plus” and says:

… Masi Oka is pure delight as a wage slave who’s broken the space-time continuum, and Alias’ Greg Grunberg shines as a telepathic cop …

USA Today gives it three (out of four) stars and says:

… You can practically hear the Heroes cult forming. Dense, dark, a little dreary and yet oddly intriguing, Heroes seems destined to attract an audience that is more loyal than large. … It isn't always clear whether the show is being intentionally mysterious or is simply unintentionally confused. Heavily serialized fantasies like Heroes are particularly hard to carry off, and you don't leave the first three episodes convinced that the actors and producers are up to the challenge. Yet you don't leave bored, either, and that's no small accomplishment. If nothing else, Heroes shows an early knack for coming up with the kind of surprise, episode-ending cliffhangers that will keep some viewers coming back for more. …

The Associated Press says:

… fascinating … "Heroes" is, on the one hand, a meditation on unsuspecting humans who, to their delight or horror, are vaulted to extraordinary levels of potential. How will they cope with it? How will they make use of it? Is this some sort of legion of superheroes in the making? At the same time, their process of self-discovery appears to be unfolding in an apocalyptic context. Something bad seems to be on the horizon. Are they meant to be a global rescuing force? There seems plenty in just the first hour to snag a viewer's interest — and start the questions flowing. And at least one dandy twist will whet the appetite of conspiracy theorists in the audience. The expansive vision and population of "Heroes" offers boundless promise for what may lie ahead. It's a show whose freeform, existential mysteries could trigger scores of fan sites. Something fresh and skillfully executed, "Heroes" is like nothing else on TV. …

The New York Times says:

… “Heroes” tries very hard to spook viewers with hints of science fiction and dark conspiracies. But its main appeal is the curious link among complete strangers. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… It's not the first such show to do away with the tights and capes — at least two others are running right now, "Smallville" and "The 4400" — but there is very little new under the sci-fi sun, after all. … The challenge in such an open-ended situation is to keep from becoming preposterous, and "Heroes," created by Tim Kring ("Crossing Jordan"), stays mostly on the right side of that line. It does get a little pretentious at times, especially during the opening and closing narrations, but its pretensions are very much comic-book pretensions, and therefore allowable in what is, fundamentally, a comic book. … Not every thread is equally well realized, but the rest of the show could stink pretty bad (and it doesn't stink at all) and I would still show up for Oka, its bumptious comic relief and old-fashioned pure heart. (Science fiction needs a little seltzer now and again, or it can disappear down its own wormhole. And some room has also wisely been left for romance.) As the one character who actually sees himself as a superhero, as answering a call, Oka turns in a performance of utter, unbridled joy quite unlike anything else on TV.

The Washington Post says:

… One problem is that the show is so slow-moving that even by the end of the third episode, some of its far-flung superfolk still won't concede there's anything unusual about them. … how many viewers will have the patience to tune in week after week while the unknowing superheroes scratch their heads and wonder how it is that a hippopotamus could sit on their head and they'd still feel peachy -- peachy but grouchy, of course. …

The Portland Oregonian says:

… "Heroes" doesn't fly. … Nor does it teleport through the space-time continuum, turn invisible, read your mind or see into the future. Its characters do all that, of course. But not in a way that makes you care about them or their travails. … the producers have invested so much energy in the super-fantastic aspects of the tale that the characters who should be at its heart feel more like types than real people. …

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

… NBC's "Heroes" is the best pilot of fall 2006. Whether it continues to soar in future episodes remains to be seen. …

Ain’t It Cool News gives it three (out of five) stars and says:

… far closer to "Unbreakable" than it is to "Mutant X." … As the pilot draws to a close, there are at least four really interesting reveals that will make it impossible for you not to tune in for episode two. …

9 p.m. Monday. NBC.

Herc's pal Jane Espenson has a brainiac comedy-writer boyfriend who wrote a book about "Jeopardy”!! Read the great reviews and buy it!! Jane’s all over chapters 14 and 19!!