Episode commentaries/Season One

This article contains an archive of episode commentaries from Season One. For current episode commentaries, see the main article. For episode commentaries from Season Two, see here. For episode commentaries from Season Three, see here.

Godsend

Commentators

• Leonard Roberts, who portrays D.L. Hawkins
• Jack Coleman, who portrays Mr. Bennet
• Sendhil Ramamurthy, who portrays Mohinder Suresh

Trivia

• The television news reporter is named Angela Bromstad, after the president of NBC Universal Television Studio.
• Jack Coleman jokingly refers to the Haitian as "the Haitian Sensation That's Sweeping the Nation".
• Noah Gray-Cabey played the piano for some cast and crew during filming of the pilot.
• Sendhil Ramamurthy was very ill during filming of the episode and almost lost his voice, causing production to wrap five hours early one week.
• The conference room and visitation window in the Women's Correctional Facility were built in a rehearsal room where cast and crew screenings are normally held.
• Janice Parkman was originally supposed to be Australian, to allow for Lisa Lackey's natural accent.

The Fix

Commentators

• Greg Grunberg, who portrays Matt Parkman
• Hayden Panettiere, who portrays Claire Bennet (parts 1 & 2)
• Natalie Chaidez, co-executive producer, episode writer (parts 3 - 6)

Trivia

• The cockroach in Sylar's cell was controlled by blowing on it with a straw in the direction it needed to move.
• Thomas Dekker's dentist is Dr. Supertooth, who is called this because he dresses as a superhero.
• During filming of the episode, Lestat was unavailable, so another dog portrayed Mr. Muggles.
• Ali Larter was very allergic to the material used to make the padded cell, so much so that it came to be known as "the itchy set".
• A comic relief scene involving a plumber was cut from Matt's storyline.
• Lisa Lackey revealed to Greg Grunberg that she was pregnant just as the writers were in the writer's room, discussing making her character pregnant.

Distractions

Commentators

• Zachary Quinto, who portrays Sylar (parts 1 - 4)
• Milo Ventimiglia, who portrays Peter Petrelli (parts 1 - 3, 6)
• Greg Grunberg, who portrays Matt Parkman (parts 4 & 5)
• Jeannot Szwarc, episode director (part 5)
• Jack Coleman, who portrays Mr. Bennet (part 5)
• Michael Green, co-executive producer and episode writer (part 6)

Trivia

• The set for Sylar's cell was right next to the set for Nathan's office.
• The scenes involving Hiro's dad were actually filmed overlooking the ocean, no special effects were used.
• Zachary Quinto and Milo Ventimiglia have trouble shooting serious scenes with little dialogue together because they tend to laugh during the intense pauses.
• Zachary Quinto was supposed to keep wearing the Primatech uniform boots in future episodes but he opted for sneakers, which he regretted when he had to shoot scenes in snowy Montana.
• Baby food was placed on Zachary Quinto's shoelaces to get Lestat to try to eat them.
• Jeannot Szwarc was going for a Kurosawa-influenced style in Hiro's scenes.
• With the exception of Saemi Nakamura as Kimiko Nakamura, no casting needed to be done for the episode as every character had appeared previously.
• Milo makes a mistake when he says that Meredith Gordon lives in Odessa, TX.

Run!

Commentators

• Kevin Chamberlin, who portrays Aron Malsky
• Greg Grunberg, who portrays Matt Parkman (parts 1 - 4)
• Adam Armus, episode writer (parts 5 & 6)
• Kay Foster, episode writer (parts 5 & 6)

Trivia

• Greg Grunberg mentions he is not allowed to explain why he is wearing white clothes and a Primatech jacket. Matt Parkman wears this outfit in Parasite.
• Greg Grunberg drove in a "loop on the 10 and 110 near the Staples Center" during the filming of the scene where Matt drives Malsky to the diamond merchant.
• The building used to shoot the scenes inside Ridgway Jewelry is located in the "Diamond District" of downtown Los Angeles. This small neighborhood stretches from 5th and Olive Street to 8th and Broadway and features over 5,000 jewelry merchants.
• The building does not actually have ceiling tiles; Heroes production added them for the episode.
• Zane Taylor's "Ramones" T-shirt was written into the script and is a nod to executive producer Allan Arkush, who directed Rock and Roll High School (1979), which features the "Ramones".
• Zane Taylor is the name of writer Adam Armus's nephew.
• The real world location of Meredith Gordon's home is a trailer park in Santa Clarita, CA.

Unexpected

Commentators

• Zachary Quinto, who portrays Sylar
• Sendhil Ramamurthy, who portrays Mohinder
• Greg Beeman, episode director (parts 1 - 4)
• Jeph Loeb, episode writer (parts 5 & 6)

Trivia

• The commentary was shot and recorded in the set of Niki/Jessica's bedroom. After the pilot they built a replica set of the room directly to scale, accidentally resulting in a very small set.
• The placement of the episode title is a challenge among the different writers.
• The actual hotel that was used for the Montana hotel Sylar and Mohinder stay in was a disgusting place to shoot.
• The commentators poke fun at the frequent product placement in the series, including the Nissan Versa.
• Hiro and the Dinosaur mistakenly shows up in Isaac's apartment during Isaac and Peter's fight.

Company Man

Commentators

• Allan Arkush, episode director
• Jack Coleman, who portrays Mr. Bennet
• Bryan Fuller, episode writer

Trivia

• According to director Allan Arkush, this episode is largely based on the 1955 film noir thriller The Desperate Hours starring Humphrey Bogart. Arkush also cites other films including Martin Scorsese's thriller Cape Fear (1991), as well as the film noir features Out of the Past (1947) and T-Men (1947) as having an influence on this episode.
• The shot of the Bennet family SUV pulling into the driveway was filmed using a false wall and window on the front lawn of the house.
• Scenes at the Texas bridge were filmed at Big Tujunga Narrows Bridge, located about 30 miles NNE of downtown Los Angeles.
• Two houses were used during Ted's meltdown scene: the original house seen through out the episode as well as an additional house used to film the house as it became severely damaged.
• Production members refer to the cell at Primatech Paper as "Sylar's Lounge". The commentary was also recorded in this room.
• Jack Coleman was the one who envisioned the flashback scene where Mr. Bennet tries on glasses.

Parasite

Commentators

• Allan Arkush, executive producer
• Jimmy Jean-Louis, who portrays The Haitian
• Chris Zatta, episode writer

Trivia

• The episode commentary was filmed on the set of the Burnt Toast Diner.
• Actors auditioning for the role of Candice were asked to perform the scene where Candice joins Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet in their hotel room.
• The Texas airport was filmed in the Long Beach Convention Center.
• Around 300 extras were used for the airport scene.
• The kitchen of the Corinthian Casino was filmed in a "large hotel across the street from the Long Beach Convention Center". The Long Beach Renaissance Hotel and The Westin Long Beach fit this description.
• The films Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and The Constant Gardener (2005) are cited as influencing the editing style of Heroes.
• Jimmy Jean-Louis sometimes dances after a successful take, reflecting his background in musical theater.

.07%

Commentators

• Timm Keppler, graphic novel writer/assistant to Dennis Hammer
• Chuck Kim, episode writer
• Andrew Chambliss, graphic novel writer/assistant to Tim Kring

Trivia

• The same set for the Primatech cells was redressed and reused to depict separate cells for Matt, Ted, Sylar, and Mr. Bennet. Ted's cell is lined with lead.
• Other powers were considered for Mr. Linderman, including the ability to control his age.
• Around 250 people work on each episode.
• For the scenes where Matt follows Mr. Bennet's telepathic commands, script supervisor Robin Anderson read the lines out loud for Greg Grunberg to react to.
• Pierluigi Cothran wanted to play the courier fanboy.
• The scene with D.L. and Jessica was staged outside the Sanderses' home because the rental furniture used in the home had already been returned.
• Malcolm McDowell's scenes in the archives were filmed all in one ====teen hour day.
• The scenes in the hallways of Primatech Paper Co. were filmed in the actual hallways of the studio.
• Nathan's sons Monty and Simon are named after Jesse Alexander's sons.
• The Burnt Toast Diner is named after a restaurant in Boulder, CO owned by Tim Kring's brother.
• Kristin Veitch's spoiler about Sylar being pushed out the window was in fact in the script--for once, the story really did change.
• The Japanese translation used for Hiro's reference to Sylar as "the brain man" literally translates to "the head-cut-off man".

Five Years Gone

Commentators

• Jack Coleman (Mr. Bennet)
• Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman)
• Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder Suresh)

Trivia

• The commentators refer to the episode as "String Theory".
• For their future characters, several of the actors began to make changes to their appearances early. Sendhil spent several weeks growing his beard (and Mohinder's stubble is evident in earlier episodes). Milo Ventimiglia began working out weeks before production began to make Future Peter more muscular than his present incarnation.
• Jack Coleman points out that Mr. Bennet is no longer wearing horn-rimmed glasses; they're wire-rimmed.
• According to Sendhil Ramamurthy, the Oval Office set from the movie Dave was used for Nathan's scenes as president.
• Adrian Pasdar had Zachary Quinto record all of Nathan's dialogue so he could use it as a reference for his performance as Sylar masquerading as Nathan.
• The effects for Future Hiro and Future Peter's time-stopping effects are all done in-camera. Frozen actors simply remain still.
• Joe Pokaski and Sendhil Ramamurthy attended college together and were in the same fraternity.
• The commentary is filmed in Isaac's loft. The Symbol paintings are visible in the background, and the commentators point out a pool of blood on the floor.
• The Department of Homeland Security building was in an abandoned Northrop Grumman aviation building. The building was also used in Genesis.
• The commentary for this episode was originally meant to be done with Masi Oka and Joe Pokaski, but Joe's wife had gone into labor the previous day.

The Hard Part

Commentators

• James Kyson Lee (Ando Masahashi)
• Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah Sanders)
• Ian Quinn (Stunt coordinator/Officer Ramsford)

Trivia

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Landslide

Commentators

• Masi Oka (Hiro Nakamura)
• George Takei (Kaito Nakamura)
• Matthew John Armstrong (Ted Sprague)

Trivia

• The scenes at Kirby Plaza were shot at ARCO Plaza.

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