Fall TV Blog

She’s back!

Kristen Bell will return to NBC’s Heroes in September as part of a new multiple episode arc, PEOPLE confirms exclusively.

The actress reprises her role as Elle Bishop, an agent of the Company, who harnesses electricity to zap her opponents.

“I’m just happy to be electrocuting people again!” she tells PEOPLE.

Fans can see Bell in the season premiere on Sept. 22.

The actress has also just wrapped the Disney film When In Rome, which will be released next year. – Cynthia Wang

Chris Haston/NBC

After some fans complained of a sophomore slump, Heroes cast members — like Hayden Panettiere and Greg Gunberg — are confident in what’s coming up for the hit show’s third season.

“In order to have a show called Heroes you kind of always have to have a villain,” Panettiere told PEOPLE at the Ford Flex Rally afterparty, where she bonded with new cast member Brea Grant while their costar Greg Grunberg rocked out with his band, The Band from TV. “But the villains just seem to get worse and worse. There’s always someone meaner and bigger and badder.”

Does that mean her character, the famously indestructible cheerleader Claire, will go to the dark side? “It’s awesome. I play two Claires.” One good and one bad? “Pretty much!”

Also taking a possible turn for the worse: Grunberg’s mind-reading police officer Matt Parkman. “I’m going to be leaning or going to the dark side,” he said. (more…)

Heroes fans, rejoice. NBC’s cult hit may be on hiatus but there’s another way to get your superhero fix: Mezco Toyz will soon be releasing a second (and third!) batch of action figures based on the Emmy Award-winning show.

The first set, which hit shelves in June, include characters Claire (Hayden Panettiere), Sylar (Zachary Quinto), Peter (Milo Ventimiglia), Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) and Hiro (Masi Oka). The 7-in. action figures can be purchased in specialty stores, major retail outlets, online retailers and the NBC Store but the manufacturer plans to release two more sets of collectible figures later this year.

“Mine will come out soon!” Greg Grunberg, who plays mind-reading police officer Matt Parkman, tells PEOPLE. “It’ll come out with [Jack Coleman’s Noah Bennet doll]. It’s so cool. I already saw a picture of it and it’s fantastic.”

Grunberg says he can’t contain his excitement, especially after he almost got his own action figure a few years ago while playing a CIA agent on Alias.

“I had one molded for me,” he explains, “and I took the digital scan but they never got around to launching it! But this one [for Heroes] is definitely coming out. It’s crazy. I’m on a calendar. I’m on a mug, on trading cards. It’s so weird but it’s so cool at the same time.”

Adds Grunberg, “it’s a nice advantage that [my son] Jake can go to school and say, ‘My dad’s a superhero!’” –Eunice Oh

His character Peter may have saved the world from the virus, but after Milo Ventimiglia shot the final scene of the Heroes season finale, several burning questions remained: Is Peter going to the dark side? When will Heroes be back? And, is Ventimiglia dating his cheerleading costar Hayden Panettiere? The actor, 30, chatted with PEOPLE about who’s dead, who’s going bad—and what’s his dating status.—Charlotte Triggs
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It was a shocking mid-season finale as Heroes tied up some story lines (the virus is gone, Adam is buried alive, the Cheerleader is safe), but left us with some nagging questions last night that will have to wait til 2008 to be resolved.

What will Sylar do once he gets his powers back? Will Peter go ahead and tell the world he’s “special”? With Claire’s blood able to resurrect the dead, does this mean it’s really not the end for Niki and Nathan? Yes folks, everyone’s favorite split personality bada– mother and flying politician are gone…at least, we think.
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This might take just the tiniest bit of sting out of the fact that last week’s episode of The Office is likely to be the last new installment we see until the writers’ strike is settled: NBC Universal is launching an online auction on Monday that will include the watch Steve Carell’s Michael Scott wore during his Dunder Mifflin adventures.

Among the other goodies up for grabs in the first batch of props at www.NBC.com/auctions:
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Starting today, Heroes fans can not only get scoop on what’s about to happen on the show and with their favorite characters, but the scoop comes packaged as four specially-created TV Guide covers featuring comic book renderings of Claire, Hiro, Niki and superbad Sylar!

More deets on the covers:
• Cover one features Hiro, Ando and Kensei, as drawn by artist Jim Lee, and asks the question: Will Hiro get his revenge?
• Cover two features Niki, Nathan, Matt and Mohinder, as drawn by Phil Jimenez, and asks the question: What’s Niki hiding?
• Cover three features Sylar, Maya, Monica and Micah, as drawn by Tim Sale, and asks the question: Can Sylar get his powers back?
• Cover four features Claire, Elle, Peter, Mr. Bennett (a.k.a. H.R.G.), as drawn by artist Michael Turner, and asks the question: Will Claire lose her father?

The collectible covers tease a story that includes a juicy interview with series creator Tim Kring, who, among other chatter, talks about the pivotal Nov. 19 episode.

Will you be buying all four covers? Or, are you among the fans who’ve lost interest in the once-hot drama? —Kimberly Potts

Photo: TV Guide

The first episode of Season Two was ambitious but also scattered, dipping in and out of storylines with the frenzied inconsistency of someone who hadn’t eaten in days and was given the chance to tuck into an antipasto platter.

Self-healer extraordinaire Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) is now Claire Butler and living with her family in California. Claire is determined to blend in at her new school—she’s even determined to steer clear of cheerleading. But a sensitive, Tobey Maguire-y young man keeps following her around, possibly because he’s attracted to her, possibly because (as revealed late in the episode) he floats through the trees with a Crouching Tiger dexterity. Creep alert!
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It was all about ordinary folks discovering extraordinary abilities on season one of Heroes. Now the cast—from Greg Grunberg to Hayden Panettiere—tell you what you can expect (hint: a new villain!) as season two kicks off tonight.

We don’t need another hero, goes the old Tina Turner song from Mad Max: Thunderdome. Maybe not, but it’s definitely time for another Heroes. Season two starts tonight (NBC, 9 p.m. ET), and hopefully it’s as gallopingly weird, funny and exciting as the first one.
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