Leave it to me to sleep in the one day that I take off from work in order to see some of the cast from one of my favourites shows.

I was aiming to be down at Yonge-Dundas Square, where the Toronto Heroes World Tour was taking place, by 11am… you know, so I could line up and possibly get a shot of getting an autograph.

As usual, I turned off my alarm clock when it beeped at 9am and went back to sleep. Next thing you know it’s 11:30. I decide to check my email just in case I get any important requests for my graphic design clients, and lo and behold I have 3 separate emails to make corrections. I managed to finish fairly quickly and got downtown a little after 1pm.

Of course by the time I got down there the autograph line-up was closed, but I did manage to see 4 of the cast members up close signing autographs for the fans who DID wake up on time this morning.  On the big screen behind the stage they were showing the unaired 73-minute premiere episode that’s currently available on the Season 1 DVD.

The good thing was that all four cast members came down to the gate and shook hands with all the fans (including myself) who were watching. Damn… Zachary Quinto (Sylar) has a really strong grip, and he has a nice sense of style. He might give Milo Ventimiglia a run for his money on my “hottest male Hero list”. Noah Gray-Cabey (Micah) is sooo adorable (don’t you just wanna pinch his cheeks in that photo?)! Dania Ramierez (Maya) is hot, and James Kyson Lee (Ando) is a cutie who seems to really care about his fans.

So, even though I didn’t get my Season 1 DVD set autographed, I did get some handshakes and got my photo taken at the Global TV-sponsored booth that will be digitally altered to look as if I’m part of the cast poster (I’ll post it when it becomes available next week. ) Click on any of the images at the top of this post to see a larger version.

I need to ease up a bit on all my DVD purchases. The hard thing is that it’s difficult for me because I get the majority of my new DVDs at a discounted rate. Heroes Season 1 DVD is no exception. Snagged a copy today and the packaging of the DVD set is really cool… a nice glossy slipcase and the digipack looks like a comic book. The on-screen menus are also comic book-like and are really eye catching. I just finished watching the Never-Before-Aired 73 Minute Premiere Episode to start with.

It’s amazing how much work actually goes into created a new show and the amount of differences that can ensue once it officially hits the tube on a regular basis. I chose to watch the audio commentary version of the pilot by creator Tim Kring. Very interesting stuff. There’s a whole storyline involving terrorists that was nixed from the final aired pilot because of the sensitive nature and the tentative airtime (Heroes had a chance at airing in the 8pm time slot instead of 9). One of the characters of this terrorist storyline (who’s story was also connected to that of police officer Matt Parkman) had a “unique” ability to radiation intense amounts of radioactivity from his hands. Sound familiar? This is how they worked in the same superhuman power into Heroes later on in the season with the character of Ted Sprague.

The commentary by Kring is filled with numerous facts about the production: How much time and effort went into each scene, the casting and location changes, the post production editing and how they effectively made the city of Los Angeles look like the streets of New York and a town in India. You’ll be surprised at how many “normal” scenes were actually shot against a green screen, only to have the background digitally added in post-production. One of the more comedic facts of the commentary on the pilot episode is Kring’s disclosure that they used the YouTube-famed “Chinese Backstreet Boys” (video at the end of this post) in one of the scenes that starred Masi Oka (Hiro) and James Kyson Lee (Ando).

I didn’t get a chance yet to go through all the Bonus Features aside from the “Mind Reader Game” (which was slightly predictable–no pun intended), but I do look forward to watching the deleted scenes of season 1 and all the episodes again. Remember, season 2 premiers on September 24th.

Here’s a complete list of bonus features and extras on the Heroes Season 1 DVD set:

• Never-Before-Aired 73-Minute Premier Episode
• 50 Deleted Scenes–DVD Exclusive
• The Making of Heroes
• The Special Effects
• The Stunts
• Profile of Artist Tim Sale
• The Score
• Mind Reader Game
• Audio Commentaries with Cast, Crew and Show Creator Tim Kring

And here are the Chinese Backstreet Boys for your enjoyment:

Okay, I’m not referring to the well-known Bonnie Tyler classic. I’m talking about one of the best prime time shows ever aired: Heroes! I’m a big comic book/sci-fi fan… used to watch X-Men religiously every Saturday morning at 11am on Fox. When Tim Kring‘s Heroes hit the airwaves last Fall, I didn’t know what to expect. I just hoped it would be 100% better than the dreadful Mutant X that came out back in 2001. I was wrong–it was a 1000% better! The show has got me hooked. All the characters are so interesting, and seeing newfound, super-human powers developed and used on the small screen by ordinary people is super-cool to watch.

There are obvious parallels between Heroes and X-Men (come on… how many unique über-cool powers can you come up with?), but Heroes relates to much more of the human-side of their characters as they struggle with their powers. It’s not all zip-zip, boom-boom (don’t get me wrong… I love action), but Heroes is almost like a soap opera in that way.

I can’t wait to pick up the DVD of season 1 tomorrow when it’s released. On Friday, August 31st, the Heroes World Tour hits Toronto. If you’re among the first 100 people to buy the Heroes Season 1 DVD at the Bay & Dundas location of Best Buy, you’ll get a wristband entitling you to have your DVD signed at the Heroes World Tour Fan Event at Yonge-Dundas Square on August 31 from 12pm – 2pm.

I can get the DVD set cheaper elsewhere (a legit copy of course), so there’s no way I’m going to shell out $50 at Best Buy. Am I going to head down to get an autograph? We’ll see. There’d be no question if I’d reach if Milo Ventimiglia (Peter) was going to show up (he’s a hottie ) But I probably will head down to Yonge-Dundas Square to check out the Q&A with the cast that will be hosted by Entertainment Tonight Canada’s Rick Rick Campanelli.

The cast members that will make an appearance in Toronto are Zachary Quinto (the evil Sylar), James Kyson Lee (Hiro’s sidekick, Ando), and musical child prodigy Noah Gray-Cabey (the adorable Micah). One of the newest cast members of Heroes is Dania Ramirez (Maya). She’ll also be signing autographs at the World Tour. You may have recognized her from The Sorpranos or X-Men: The Last Stand (she played Callisto).

Check out the official Heroes site for more info on the show and visit GlobalTV.com for info on the Toronto World Tour event.

Season 2 of the highly acclaimed show will air September 24th at 9pm. My PVR is ready!

And here’s a clip of the intro for the 90′s X-Men cartoon series… just for the heck of it.