Save the Cheerleader, Save the World.

Isn't that a neato tagline. I caught up with Heroes last week, all the episodes so far. ANd I'm hooked.

Although I haven't the faintest idea what's going on beyond the broad brush - ordinary people are waking up with superpowers & spurning lycra (so far anyway). We have a cheerleader who can't be killed, a Japanese tourist who can travel in & manipiulate time & space (without a tardis!), a congressional candidate who can fly, and an online stripper with super strength & fighting ability, amongst many others.

And somehow they have to save the cheerleader to save the world.

It's cute. And let's hear it for Ali Larter in a thong!!

The other appointment viewing I caught up with was Life on Mars. This concerns a 2006 British detective, Sam Tyler (John Sim) chasing a serial killer, who gets run over while listening to David Bowie on his car stereo & wakes up in 1973 where he finds he is a policeman investigating an eerily similar killer, and STILL listening to David Bowie on the car stereo... can he catch the baddie in 1973 & save his girlfriend in 2006? Is there life on mars?

Sam also has moments when the future intrudes on his consciousness, so that we & he suspect that it's all a dream & he's actually in a coma in hospital. Although the show plays with us sometimes & these voices & noises have valid 1973 reasons for being audible to Sam.

The really fascinating thing about this series, is that our man appears to have woken up in the middle of an episode of the Sweeney. And if we needed anymore reminding that policing a few decades ago was a different kettle of sexist, racist, corrupt & low tech fish... this series provides it. Although it's not as black & white as that, anyone who fondly pines for the old days will find that these sexist, racist dinosaurs do have some redeeming features.

Oh, and the music is great.

Wanda Harland: Martha at Webstock