So you don't wear out your remote's pause button.
NBC is about to instill the perfect ratings slump-buster in its troubled drama Heroes: Let the show's hottest female character make out with her female college roommate. Bam! Genius! And just so we don't forget that the kiss is coming next week, they've released a still photo.
In the episode "Hysterical Blindness," Claire (Hayden Panettiere) will finally fulfill every teenage comic-book nerd's fantasy by smooching with roommate Gretchen (Madeline Zima) -- a moment that NBC has been eager to exploit through promotion. The network has already released more than a dozen stills from the episode, but what do you know -- late in the work day yesterday, they passed along one more: the one you keep peeking at above. Also of interest: the non-kissing shots that were sent to us are all under 100kb in size, but the kissing photo is 1.4 MB (full-sized version reduced to 300k is here). High-res for the win!
There has been some flack over the whole thing, with some fans and media (including TV.com) wondering if the kiss was a tactless way to boost the show's ratings. Well, turns out the liplock may have been Hayden's idea. Speaking to the press, Panettiere has been quoted as saying, "I kinda threw [Claire's same-sex relationship] out there. The writers put you in relationships and I was like, 'Can I just be with a girl or something? Let's do that.'"
Oh yes, let's.
Comments (83)
lol I just started watching this series and when I saw that kiss I just got fed up because yet another program with an unnesecery gay plot. It is silly because there is no point and 9210 did the same thing and that was just total rubbish I have never seen such a good program ruined so I am disappointed that heroes took that path.
To all of the ***phobes... Get over it. They aren't pushing Heroes as a homosexual tv show. They are just portraying the characters as realistically as possible. There are many types of people in this world. We all must learn to accept thier differences as well as our own. ...Variety is the spice of life.
Everybody just keeps saying "It'll take more than a same-sex college kiss to save Heroes", but has anybody stopped to think; does it actually NEED saving? The mere fact that so many people commented, be it positive or negative, just goes to show that this show does still have a large fan base and that it is causing controversy, which leads to discussion, which leads to increased publicity and popularity.
I thought there was a reason I stopped watching this TV show... This would be it. Why do all of these shows have to be plagued with Same sex garbage... Come on enough already.
Are any of you here actually heterosexual males? Did any of you see this chick in Californication? Will some girl on girl action save Heroes? No, but while it clearly isn't the show most of you want it to be, it's still one of the biggest shows on TV. So again, while it won't save the show, it sure as hell won't hurt my eyes any. This move doesn't insult my intelligence because I don't expect any intellectual stimulation from Heroes.Good move IMO
GAME OVER for HEROES - This shouldn't be for Homosexual TV Show. It should be about Heroes!! - I'm sadly to see this! Save Hiro more than Claire's!
What would 'The Nanny' say ?
I was unaware of the kiss before it actually happened though with the other girl's creepy attachment it seemed incredibly obvious that she was interested in her and I couldn't help but mock the stereotype of college girls having their brief same-sex fling. Consider me slightly surprised when it actually happened. I mean, yeah, Heroes has ripped off everything else (almost all of the powers and every plot other than season one was just a reworked X-Men plot), but this hoary old chestnut?It's even worse that they seem to be going for such an exploitative concept, but using such unattractive actresses. Claire is perfectly cast as a fake, uninteresting, unpleasantly tan, blond cheerleader and Gretchen is just... realistically nothing special.
I think its cool that Claire is kissing a girl...but not so cool that so many people are irritated about it. Even if NBC is desperate for higher ratings, there's nothing wrong with that. If you owned a business you would do things to boost sales. Same principle. Besides, nearly every guy out there enjoys seeing to girls get it on. And so what if Claire hasn't shown her bi or lesbian side before, anyone can be curious and people's sexuality can change.
It'll take FAR more than a female-female kiss to save this show.
- what would nanny fine say? mynameistj Posted 10/12/2009 02:30:33LOL! =D
what would nanny fine say?
This show has been dwindling a long time, but to use something like a lesbian plotline to try to spice things up seems pretty desperate to me. It also shows the show has no consideration for its audience, which consists of more than just 14 year old boys.
Some say this season is better than the last, which might be somewhat true, but it's still a failing show with only a few really strong episodes. It's been overrated for a long time now, and I really hope they give it a decent ending at the end of this season, before they lose even more of what made the first season strong.
seeing this picture all i can think is... i kissed a girl and i liked it i hope my boyfriend don't mind it...lol
*wallpapers*
OMG, this is so aw...who cares?
They should set a final date for the series to end and make a good storyline, now while they can.
Nobody cares about Lesbian Claire.
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Thanks Hayden! You've finally given me reason enough to quit watching the show! I've been needing that for three long years...
And why would we give a damn? I thought this is Heroes and not some Teen College Show??
What crap! While this episode might give them good Nielson numbers, the show itself has been in the toilet almost since the end of the first season. If network execs think cheap gimmicks are going to save the show and their jobs, they're in for a very rude awakening. Nothing beats quality writing and this show is sorely missing that.
I love the show but I'm not crazy at all about the lesbian image. Do we have to go there? I mean, really? not another one!!If Hayden is lesbian, let her keep it to herself. I hope she throws her out the window.
Wouldn't that kiss be considered "too gritty" as NBC would put it? Maybe Duchovny will guest star next and they'll have a threesome.
and the plot thickens once more.
This is so cheap. The season started out much better than the last one ended. But once you're out of puberty such a plot cannot be interesting anymore...
hope heroes does well.fingers crossed :) i really hope they can keep improving in each episode.
I don't quite see how exactly this is big news.
To quote Comic-Book Guy
"Greatest Idea Ever."
no one would be making a big deal out of this if it were her kissing a guy! If people don't like watching Heroes, they shouldn't Leave the people who do to enjoy it.
I was surprised by Madeline Zima's performance in "Californication", but adding her to the "Heroes" cast will not boost the amount of non-TiVo viewers. I hope that "The Kiss" will not be the same mistake that bad writers in other TV shows have made: adding sex to try to sell, killing the suspense of a good, intriguing storyline.
Lol. This could be why Claire from the other timeline was acting like such a dike. Anyways, I could careless if claire makes out with another female, I'm 25, so I see this every time I hit a club up here in NYC.
Claire happens to be my favorite character, But I don't agree with this kiss at all. It's just a pathetic way to boost ratings.
I'm honestly not sure why they're doing this. I have no problem with gay storylines (being gay myself) but I just don't think it'll work with Claire (who is a pretty well established staple character in the series).The preview made it look like Gretchen sort of "attacked" her with the kiss, taking Claire off guard, but this still shot makes it look like she fully consents to it.Seriously; the few episodes that have run so far this season have been pretty good (and the storylines seem to be getting better as it goes on) without a ratings ploy.
If it is was done well and made sense, then I couldn't care less that it was a publicity stunt. But its not really believable that Claire is into girls. This isn't something that was planned out, just them kissing is a blatant stunt.
Can we get some real storylines, please... ?
such a 'jump the shark' plot device, I just won't even comment on it except to say... there is NOTHING Zima is not ready to do on tv to get publicity, is there? Ok she could have picked worse things than doing Duchovny or kissing Panettiere but honestly, she starts to be a little too Paris Hiton to be taken seriously as an actress, not to mention she's as awful as she was back in the Nanny except not cute anymore.
Biggest EW ever
So far off the mark, netgoddess, that it's almost comical. Not everyone is perverted even though society likes to think so. And society only thinks that because it doesn't want to be alone in its perverseness and lucid nature so they'd rather throw everyone in the same boat. Also, here's a good guideline to follow. Would you have two college girls kissing in your living room with your kids watching? No, you'd toss them out in a hurry. This is tasteless junk that is a picture perfect example of all that's going wrong in society.
I think it's just a gimmick to try and get more viewers. It's no substitute for good story lines and it doesn't impress me one bit.
Looking forward to this episode!
Now we have whiny perverts crying about it. Secretly loving the idea, you may wish. Wishing is not forbidden. Obviously the pervs haven't figured out that not everyone is corrupt and perverted like freaks themselves are. Weirdos are amusing.
When i thought its coming back the Exciting series HEROES. this comes up so next episode already down into the drain:(
Way hot!
What is this, a board full of whiny prudes? It may very well be a publicity stunt, but really folks, it is 2009. It is normal for bi college girls to make out. What's the big freaking deal (for all you prudes), and how many of you are faking your disgust while secretly loving the idea? We need more bi characters on screen, we are real people too and we actually exist and it is not such a big freaking deal. The only valid complaint is that Claire's character has exhibited no hints whatsoever of same-sex attraction, so it does seem like a ruse given that her character so hetero.
Ratings stunt. Pointless, fruitless, and dumb with no real connection to the show.
Yuck, and jump the shark. Hey shocker, yeah you can add jump the shark. In fact heroes was jump the shark from the get go. I always thought of it as an x-men ripoff.
I wonder if Jump the Shark can add a "homosexuality" category without starting a riot.
totally hate it ! to up rate *save the sinking ship* the show needs more than a lesbian kiss .
The other chick is ugly anyways