Rarely does network television come up with anything worth watching - even with the power of Tivo... The only network show I've watched in a very long time is
Smallville, and that's a love-hate relationship that will come to an end soon if they don't sh*t or get off the pot (preferably by killing off the Lana character).
But I can now say that I'm hooked on an NBC show:
Heroes (
wikipedia).
(Though at the end of each episode thus far I've said (and I quote) "I sure hope they don't fuck this up." because I fully expect NBC to totally ruin this show. But not so far, and thus hope remains)
I'm a huge fan of JMS - creator of
Babylon 5 - and absolutely loved the
Rising Stars comic series he authored. And I love
Astro City.
Heroes, thus far, has the darkness and gritty realism (if you can use that term with comic fiction) of both those comic series, but created entirely for the small screen. Unlike attempts to translate existing comic properties to television, Heroes appears created for the medium. Coupled with good production values and decent special effects, the result is very compelling.
I'm not ready to say it is up there with Babylon 5 or the new
Battlestar Galactica, but it is (thus far) better than the best Smallville has had to offer in its 5+ seasons.