Tim Kring insults Heroes fans

Oh dear, dear. This is not the way to improve the show, Mr Kring!

At Creative Screenwriting’s 2008 Screenwriting Expo this weekend, not only did Tim Kring make the scary suggestion that Heroes should stop its serial storytelling and go (gasp) episodic, Kring also said:

“So [watching it] on air is related to the saps and the dipshits who can’t figure out how to watch it in a superior way.”

Wow, way to go to insult your most loyal viewers – those that bother to watch it live. Chicago Tribune’s Maureen Ryan is furious. In her post: Tim Kring: Heroes viewers are saps, she says:

How absolutely infuriating. How does Kring muster the gall to insult anyone who’s still watching his show? What arrogance. What cluelessness. Not only is his argument weak and without merit, he stoops to calling “Heroes” viewers names.

The only sap here is Kring. Any and all insulting terms should be directed at himself. After all, who is responsible for two seasons of mostly muddy, incoherent storytelling? It wasn’t the saps at home on their couches.

He also blamed the new way of watching TV (via DVRs and Tivo) and says that serial teleivision is a “bear” to do. Basically he says that new technologies, and viewers’ very short attention span is causing Heroes’ failure, which is why shows like True Blood and Dexter are such hits, of course. Time’s James Poniewozik, who suggests that:

Yes, you can blame technology for siphoning all the smart viewers away from your series. You could try revamping your show so that it becomes the complete opposite of what it was conceived as. Or you could try, you know, not sucking.

 If anything, new technologies like DVRs and broadband TV are encouraging the growth of serialised TV shows like Lost and True Blood. Viewers can rewatch the show when they can do it instead of fitting their schedules to ensure their bums are in the couch at an appointed time. So Kring is talking nonsense.

So much has been written about Heroes sucking this season. Personally I found season 2 watcheable, even if I rolled my eyes at the “Hiro goes to medieval Japan” leg of the season. But season 3 was insane, and not in a good way. 

It’s almost as if all the characters have collectively lost their marbles. Nathan has a religious conversion. Peter is good/bad/whatever and Sylar is suddenly Mr Mum. I feel as if I was watching a bizzaro alternate dimension of Heroes.

It got to the point where I couldn’t bear to watch another episode – only because I couldn’t bear to see it suck any further. Heroes’ spectacular fall from greatness – its first season is probably the most stellar in TV history, and I even hosted a Heroes TV party at my home with friends – was painful for me, an arden fan, to watch.

Now with Tim Kring insulting the 7mil American viewers who watch it live … oh dear, someone hand him a pink slip before its too late!