The Producer, the Writer and the Liveblogging Experience

Posted on September 26, 2006

Tim Kring, the creator of the new NBC series, Heroes, was online during the premiere last night and liveblogged during the episode. He took viewer questions about the show and talked a little about the greatest challenge of doing a show like Heroes.

The Most Difficult Aspects of Making a Show Like This
The breaking of the stories is a huge part of my job. This is a big, giant monster of a show, and that monster needs to be fed constantly. While it is difficult, it has been a lot of fun as well. Trying to maintain the balance of plot and character is also a challenge. You don't want the engine of the story to overwhelm the character moments. Striking the right balance has been a process of trial and error. I think you'll see that we are really succeeding on that front.
As for the budget, yes, this is a huge show to produce. There are so many characters and so many locations. Of course, by bringing these characters together (which we really begin to do by episode 4) the logistics start to get easier. The other challenge is doing a show about people with special "abilities" and figuring out how to show those given our budget. We can't compete with a 200 million dollar feature in terms of special effects, so we are using them sparingly.

The bottom line is this: if you want to be the next J.J. Abrams, Aaron Sorkin or Tim Kring, you better brush up on your blogging skills. Because it's not enough to write a hit show anymore. You have to interact with fans online, liveblog events and be ready with the pithy (yet not too revealing) commentary. Writing for tv sure isn't what it used to be.

Oh, and by the way -- Heroes is a great show, with great writing. If you missed the premiere, you can see it online for free. Just follow the link from the main Heroes page at NBC.com.