A Steaming Pile of Information

“Heroes:” Plagiarizers?

Monday’s episode of “Heroes” struck me as a bit of a crib from the acclaimed ’80s graphic novel “Watchmen,” but I was too lazy to dig up my old copy and confirm the similarities. Fortunately, these guys did.

On the show, Linderman (Malcolm McDowell), a wealthy casino owner and collector of ephemera who boasts super powers, decides that in order to save the world, Manhattan must be blown up. In “Watchmen,” Ozymandias, a wealthy industrialist and collector of ephemera who boasts superpowers, decides that in order to save the world, Manhattan must be blown up.

In “Heroes,” it’s intimated that Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) – or, perhaps, Sylar (Zachary Quinto) – will, inadvertently or otherwise, detonate himself and cause the devastation. New York magazine (second link above) notes that drafts of the latest screenplay for “Watchmen” (the film has been in development for nearly 20 years) deviate from the graphic novel by having a character likewise blow himself up.

So “Heroes” cribs from “Watchmen,” which in turn kind of plagiarizes “Heroes.” I suspect this to be the work of Hiro (Masi Oka) and his time-space-continuum-bending ways.

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Nobody’s watching

It seems a number of high-rated shows haven’t been as highly rated in recent weeks.

“Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Heroes,” “Ugly Betty,” “Jericho,” “24,” “The Unit,” “CSI: Miami,” all the “Law & Orders,” “ER,” even “American Idol” – and the list goes on and on – have tumbled, some precipitously, from their halcyon days.

Plenty of finger-pointing in the article: The trend blame-games daylight savings time, too many repeats, protracted hiatuses for serialized shows, DVRs, global warming, even the timid, inept manner in which most Washington journalists covered the run-up to the war with Iraq. (OK, those last two: not so much.)

Or maybe the movie studio moguls in the ’50s were right, after all: TV is just a passing fad.

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Baldwin rocks “30”

“Extra” is reporting that “The View” snagged another coup: Alec Baldwin pre-taped a segment for Friday’s show saying he doesn’t want to do “30 Rock” – or television, period, for that matter – anymore. (“Extra’s” website only has junk about the phone-mail kerfuffle, not this breaking story.)

Perhaps this is Baldwin’s weary, emotional response to the unseemly embarrassments of the past week, but if true, NBC will no doubt have to seriously reconsider its renewal of the clever but low-rated sitcom. Baldwin’s easily the funniest guy on it, and his departure would leave a huge hole in the show’s comic structure. And should he stay on but be unhappy – well, we’ve all heard in explicit detail just how much you don’t want to make Baldwin mad.

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“Survivor: The Internets”

“Survivor” mastermind Mark Burnett is going political, sort of: He’s cooked up a show employing MySpace to get its young social networkers to cook up virtual political campaigns advocating, well, whatever they want, I guess. The most successful may get face time on TV.

So: Politics contingent upon whoever has the coolest friends, can create the most distracting eye candy and can divert us away from the real issues of the day? Sounds about right.

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Howard gives it away for free

Howard Stern, perhaps a smidgen dispirited over abandoning his position as a cultural force with his move to the rarefied air of satellite radio, is offering free footage of his Sirius radio show through April 29, and even longer if he can persuade you to subscribe to digital cable. So if you haven’t yet managed to satiate your need for Internet porn, have at it.