UPDATED: Time Magazine's James Poniewozik offered on Thursday a pointed rebuttle to Tim Kring's recent assertion that DVRs somehow make it harder to watch serialized shows, and that people who watch "Heroes" live on NBC are "saps" and "dipshits." Now comes word that Kring has apologized for maligning a mammoth segment of his show's audience. (Though he still doesn't explain how he came to the conclusion that serialized dramas don't work as well when people watch them on DVRs -- when the experience of many suggest the opposite is true.) His apology:

I need to strongly apologize for the slightly mangled quote of mine that is making it’s way around the internet. It was made while trying to explain the rise in DVR and online audience for the show. I was making the point that these platforms now offer a superior way to watch the show (without commercials, with extra content, commentary, at the audience’s convenience, etc.) And went on to say how it’s getting to the point where “watching the show on the air is relegated to the poor saps and dip****s who can’t figure out how to program their DVR’s”. (Or something close to that) It was a boneheaded attempt at being “cute” and making a point. Instead, it turned out to be just plain insulting and stupid. I know now how it sounded, but I truly never meant to suggest anything negative about our audience. No one cares more about the fans than we do at Heroes, and no one appreciates them more than me. We are grateful for whatever way people are finding our show. Now more than ever. I want to take this opportunity to say that I’m very sorry for this careless, lame remark. The best way to make it up to you is to live up to my promise that the upcoming episodes of the show are fantastic. I think you’ll agree we’re really on a roll and we couldn’t be more excited about the last four episodes of “Villains” and the upcoming volume, “Fugitives”, which we feel will be a huge hit with the audience. Thank you for hearing me out. Humbly Tim Kring

ORIGINAL POST: I am – Hercules!!
It sounds like “Heroes” creator Tim Kring may have joined the millions of fans who have grown bored with his series. He told last weekend’s audience at the 2008 Screenwriting Expo:

"I was primarily fascinated by the origin story. Once the original story is over, and the character has no more questions about what's happening or existential drama, then the questions become just about plot, and then it becomes harder for me personally to connect to."

Don’t expect Peter to ever again reference his season-two love interest, whom the super-compassionate male nurse abandoned to a nightmarish alternate future. From IGN.com’s report on the presentation:

When the fan asked if Peter would ever acknowledge Caitlin or express any grief over what seems to be her dire fate, Kring replied, "No, we passed it. We leapfrogged it." He added that when the idea of returning to Caitlin was brought up, they asked, "Really? Are we going to risk that? We have enough stuff to [deal with]."

And though Kring employs time travel constantly in the series, he advises others to avoid it:

"It's a minefield that will make your mind explode. It will just drive you crazy. That's been something we've tried to use with a certain amount of rules - Not being able to change the future unless you go back. That device has been one of those that's just been so complicated for us."

You can read all of IGN’s story on Kring’s answers here. Tonight’s episode stars Seth Green as a comic book nerd:

After reuniting Sylar (Zachary Quinto) and Elle (guest star Kristen Bell), Arthur (guest star Robert Forster) orders them to find Claire (Hayden Panettiere) and bring her to him. Matt (Greg Grunberg), Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson Lee) team up together and follow Daphne (guest star Brea Grant) to her hometown of Lawrence, Kansas to discover what she’s been hiding. Meanwhile, Nathan and Peter Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar and Milo Ventimiglia) travel together to Haiti in search of the only man that can stop their father from destroying the world, the Haitian (Jimmy Jean-Louis). Jack Coleman and Ali Larter also star. Robert Forster also guest stars.

9 p.m. Monday. NBC.
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