45 thoughts on “Tech Universe reviews Happiest Days”

1. Speaking of stopping time, is anyone else totally over Heroes this season? I haven’t been this disappointed by a series since the third season of Lost.
   I don’t know; I haven’t seen it. I must say, though, I’m really digging “Chuck”. It’s really getting good quickly considering this is its first season.
   I was intrigued by “Heroes”, but that was Before DVR at my house, and it’s at the same time as Monday Night Football, so I didn’t watch it. Alas.

2. Tim Kring pretty clearly didn’t learn any lessons from Lost, most important of which is “Don’t introduce a whole new set of characters in the second season, idiot.” And yes, the pacing was WAY off. They’re wrapping things up in last night’s and next week’s episodes that should have been played out over four or five shows.

3. Last nights dissapointed me. I felt it was rushed (probably due to writers strike) The two before me had restored my faith, but then it fell flat. There are some holes that I dont think they can close correctly by seasons end. (especially since the comics are not being written either due to strike)

4. Wil,
   Good luck with the writing assignment. Remember:
   “I am not a number,
   I am Wil Wheaton.
   I will not fear,
   fear is the mind-killer.”
   Can’t wait to hear about it. Good luck! May the luck of the seven pillars of gulu be with you at all times!

5. @Craig
   Chuck is my new favorite. I hope they can make it last.
   @Andrew- I heard on the 9th Wonder Podcast that Tim Kring realized his mistakes, but due to the strike, I don’t think there is enough time to save it before a lot jump ship.

6. I’m not totally over “Heroes”, but if the pace hadn’t picked up with these last few episodes, I probably would have been. I really think the writers should have opened the season with the threat of the virus and ran with it, instead of giving us episode after episode of characters running for the border or tripping through time or forgetting themselves, etc., etc. Now, they have to wrap everything up faster than they wanted to and have to leave a lot of questions unanswered. If there’s another season, I hope it’s better paced.
   Oh, and I’m with everyone else who loves “Chuck”. It’s full of awesome and win!

7. Well, good. As a person who recently discovered Heroes, I am almost finished with the 1st season thanks to the magic of DVD. It seems, however, that the consensus is that the second season sucks. Maybe that is good, though. When I Tivo the second season, which is sure to repeat thanks to the writer’s strike, I will be pleasantly surprised. By that, I mean that I’ll expect suckitude in the neighborhood of “Joanie Loves Chachi”, so the second season won’t be so bad.

8. I’m totally with you on both Heroes and Lost. I’m still interested in Lost, but I’ve sworn to wait until the end and then just dow…er…watch it all at once on…um…DVD. I can’t handle the pacing on a week-by-week basis, and anyone who willingly sits through all those commercials these days is a screaming idiot. Sad but true.
   As for Heroes…after the season 1 ending, the writers are lucky I didn’t personally kick them all in the nutballs. Worst. Ending. Ever.
   Perople really need to take a cue from Battlestar Galactica. Killing people off makes for damn good TV, and characters you can actually care and fear for.

9. I just got my hardcover today. DEFINITELY worth holding out for, and I’m proud to be a member of the Wheaton 300.

10. P.S. For some strange reason, I’m quite fond of the TV show Chuck myself. 🙂

11. @BMG: I don’t think the second season sucks, but it’s certainly not up to the quality of the first, and I think a lot of that is due to the Nikki-and-Paolo effect. The writers have new characters that they have cool ideas for, and they don’t realize that their ideas are long-term and don’t translate well to the audience. The result is fan resentment and discontent. A young show can’t make that mistake.

12. Wil– I totally agree with you about Heroes. I posted in my blog that the writers’ strike is actually doing Heroes a favor, because it should give everyone time to think about the importance of writing and figure out why so many of the scenes from this season read like canned dialogues from acting class textbooks.

13. I haven’t completely given up on season two of Heroes. Even though Tim Kring himself has said he’s disappointed in it, I don’t think it’s too bad.
    That said: I did feel that they really dropped the ball at the end of season one. They suddenly started making a lot of mistakes typical for the genre. Which was a shame as they had held it together so well for the first half of the season. So I guess my expectations for Season 2 were somewhat subdued.
    Kring has said that they have an alternate ending planned for this (half) season and that he will learn from the mistakes he made if/when season 3 starts up.

14. Wil, can I have a copy of that “X reviews Y” macro? My wife’s also a writer, it could come in useful.

15. I’ve been over Heroes since literally the first episode of this season but it was going as far back as the tail end of last season. Its like watching a bad 90s comic book.
    Though Chuck, is probably my new favorite show. Its like Alias meets the 40 year old virgin but without the risk of bodily harm. Like I can’t see anything bad happening to any of the characters. Its a parody of the spy genre not really part of it. So, we’ll see how long they can make it last.
    But Friday Night Lights…rocks!

16. Couldn’t agree more on HEROES. Lost me early this season. Also, you need a big-ass RSS button on your page… can’t find a way to put you into my reader.

17. I’ll tell you exactly why I like this book: My life is so fracking stressful with work, new baby, wife’s new job, work, work, the people at work, and how much my work stresses me out.
    Then I read this book, and it just reminds me that life wasn’t always this way, and maybe doesn’t have to be, either.

18. I guess I’ll throw myself on my sword and be the lone voice of dissent.
    I’m really enjoying this season of Heroes. In fact, I thought last season was a little messed up wrt the pacing and timeline.
    But then, I also liked the third season of Lost more than the second – so what do I know? 🙂

19. Speaking of TV shows…are there any monkeys here from Portland (OR) who have a recording of Wil’s Numb3rs episode? I was traveling and forgot to tape it and I don’t want to watch online until the writers are getting fairly paid for it–but I would love to see it. Find me thorugh my link. Thanks.

20. I am thoroughly hacked at Heroes. I don’t know how a show that was the epitome of awesome has lost its way, but it certainly has. I read an interview Tim Kring gave and he said that he has listened to the viewers and will make the vital changes necessary for the remainder of the season. I hope he means it.

21. Yep, Heroes is pretty mediocre this season, but a mediocre Heroes is still loads better than a “good” Desperate Housewives or American Idol.
    Life and Journeyman are my new faves. Did anyone catch last night’s Journeyman? Holy cat, was it good! And Bionic Woman is finally getting rolling now, too. Hopefully the writer’s strike won’t kill any of my shows. (Journeyman is threatened, I hear.)

22. Yes, exactly, see you agree with me. Heroes sucks so much this season that I missed the last two episodes and DIDN’T CARE. I’m pretty much just watching The Office and that’s it (wish TDS and Colbert would be back on… sigh).
    In other news… yes, see, that’s exactly how we feel about you, Wil. We feel like you’re an old friend that we can have a few beers with and talk about old times. Even though we’ve never met. At least that’s how I see it.
    *Cheers, dude* (though I have cheap Wal-mart Black Friday wine today instead of my standard brew. It’ll suffice. 😉

23. Can’t comment on Heroes because I’ve tried very hard (so far successfully) not to get sucked in.
    But I spent today in a haze of my-sinuses-hate-late-November-in-the-Northeast headachiness, and decided it would be the perfect opportunity to enjoy THDOOL.
    And I was right. It was like sitting with Wil telling me stories while I curled up under my blanket. It was hawesome incarnate.
    Except for the story about Felix. I had my own Felix many years ago, and your story cut right to the bone. I lived my memories of Felix all over again, thanks to you.
    Although the tears seemed to have helped my sinuses a bit …

24. Yay! Wheaton 300 member checking in with a big thank you. I just want you to know that it is KILLING me not to be reading this book right now, but it’s a holiday gift for my boyfriend, and he’ll be extra happy knowing his eyes are the first in our house to read your words.
    Coolest thing, though? When I opened the book to see our esteemed number, I could still smell the Sharpie ink. Hee.
    *I still love Heroes. Claire is turning badass and Sylar was extra creepy last night.

25. Tim Kring did an interview with Entertainment Weekly that was in their issue 3 weeks ago. This might be the one that people read: http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20158840,00.html
    Personally, I appreciated him listening to his fans and acknowledging his mistakes. That’s made me stick with the show more than anything else. Oh – and I also love Chuck! I’m getting pulled into Journeyman, too, though no one else that I know watches it.

26. Hmm, I thought Chuck became pretty repetitive and annoying after a few episodes. Pushing Daisies is where the good tv’s at, imo.
    Except for Maya who I want to kill and Sylar who ought to be dead, I’ve been mostly enjoying Heroes this season. (Ok, I’d be happier if Peter and his bro were dead too.) Kristen Bell has me coming back to assuage my Veronica Mars withdrawal.

27. The beginning of this season of Heroes was disappointing. But the past 3-4 episodes has been exciting and I’ve gotten more into watching it again.

28. Hey Wil! I just read THDoOL and it was amazing. I couldn’t believe that I read it straight through without stopping. These stories really brought back some good memories and you are the man at doing this! Thanks again for making another amazing book! I will cherish this book forever!

29. I gave up on Heroes a few weeks ago. My husband was so annoyed with the finale that he didn’t watch any of the current season. Maybe I’ll catch the episodes I’ve missed in re-runs, but I think I’m probably done. Someone mentioned “Chuck” in their post – I LOVE “Chuck.”

30. Wil…
    About the “In Exile.” You know, you’ve got a pretty sweet deal here at typepad. It seems almost a waste to not really use the wilwheaton.net domain anymore. While your site is still “in exile,” why not just redirect your old domain to this new site until the old one is ready to go back online? No pressure… just curious… you would still get to use your name as your domain and you could work on the old site on your own time.

31. Yeah, “Heroes” has cool moments and a lot of potential, but in general this season has been a big let-down. I’d say the letting down started with the finale last season, where we were expecting an epic finale and instead got something less. Ah well…it’s still better than a lot of shows.

32. Keri–I’ve been totally into “Journeyman” since it started, too! Suddenly, this season, I’ve found a line-up of prime-time shows that I look forward to watching: “Chuck”, “Heroes”, and “Journeyman”. I really hope the latter hangs in there for at least another season, but I can see how it may not be as high in the ratings as the two former shows. “Chuck” is just too awesome for words, and if “Heroes” can continue to bring great episodes like these last few, then, I think it may go on for another season. Hopefully, Tim Kring will live up to his word and keep the fans’ suggestions and complaints in mind when (hopefully) future episodes are written.

33. Another member of the 300 checking in! (I almost, but not quite, ran to my mailbox after work today. I’ll admit it… I could barely wait to open it.)
    I think that all your books have that very conversational style (while still being concisely written and edited). I don’t feel like you’re one of the “really funny and famous and therefore unaccessible” writers. Your voice is warm and funny and touching.
    What I liked about the stories (and after I got over the fact THDOOL is a collection of short, independent stories and not a book like JAG I found myself loving each story) is that they are so identifiable, even if I have nothing to identify with, really. I don’t know if I’m part of Generation X but I know I didn’t grok Star Wars figures in ’77 at KMart. I *did* grok TNG figures in ’93 at KMart. I didn’t go to liquor stores to play video games and have never played Galaga but I remember my local arcade where I played TMNT and The Simpsons. I have no kids but I know one day my kids *will* shame me for rocking out to the 80s and I’ll sing “Mr. Roboto” to them in the car anyway. (P.S. Your Aunt Val’s Christmas gift to you… F.T.W. Dude, I screamed the first time I read that passage. Sooo awesome!)
    The point is you’re genuine and your voice sounds like that of a friend because you are, in a “we don’t really know each other so don’t try to find my address” kind of way, every geek’s friend. You’re just a geek, like the rest of us. And that’s cool.
    And I’ve never seen Heroes and stopped watching LOST after the first season. I’m horrible, I know. I watch “How I Met Your Mother” and “Big Bang Theory” on Mondays. The rest of the week I tend to not watch tv. FWIW.
    Cheers!

34. I’m not over Heroes yet. This season has spent a lot of time on characters I don’t know, but it took me some time in the first season before I liked all of *those* characters.
    I’m willing to wait to see how these new plots are going to work out before I give up on it.

35. @Danielle: I had that experience, too! After I read the letter and carefully examined everything on the dust jacket, I opened up the book to find my number (95!) and immediately caught a whiff of Sharpie. The scent dissipated almost instantly… but it was too cool to feel like my book was “just signed” and delivered directly into my waiting hands 2500 miles away.
    I’m so glad I waited for the limited edition. It already feels like Christmas!
    Rather than racing through, I’m taking the time to savor these stories, and let my own mind wander backwards in time. I agree with angie k completely. My memories are different than yours, but the very real and personal way that you tell them inspires me to try and really think back and remember how I felt growing up. You have such a gift for creating a scene, with such sensory detail and emotional sincerity, that makes the reader feel as if they have been transported directly into your past. I spent an hour last night lying in bed, just journeying through my own mind and trying to recreate my own scenes with the same depth and intensity that you seem to do so effortlessly.
    Thank you, again, for sharing these memories with us.

36. I just finished the book, and I am all smiles. 🙂
    #128. The first thing that came to mind was the fact my computer was a Laser128!

37. > Life and Journeyman are my new faves. Did anyone catch last night’s Journeyman?
    > Holy cat, was it good!
    Yes, I’m disappointed with Heroes this year. But am definitely a fan of Journeyman. Monday night’s episode was so good, my wife and I were on the edge of our seat the entire show.
    I’m not hearing anyone around me talk about it though, I hope that’s not a bad sign. Journeyman’s just too good of a show for it to suffer premature cancellation.

38. I have to say that after a rather dismal start to the season, I’ve actually enjoyed the last 3 or so episodes of Heroes. Ever since the “Hiro in feudal Japan” arc finished it seemed to be getting better and more like it was last season. It could just be that everything is finally coming together so there are less separate story lines (that’s were the first part of this season failed). I did read somewhere that Tim Kring did have to slightly change the ending so that it could all be filmed before the writer’s stike, so that’s why some of it seems a bit rushed. Still, I’m really looking forward to next week’s final episode. We’ll see if they can keep the momentum up.

39. They didn’t have to speed it up because of the strike. These episodes were shot and done months ago. They did have to speed things up because, as Tim King noted in an interview, fans were leaving the show because it was sucking our wills to live.
    The writers botched this season more than I could ever imagine. It was the most boring, regurgitated piece of slop to appear on my phosphorous screen in years. It had the same letdown for me that many felt after the final segment of The Matrix. The worst part for me, however, was that it took them this long to even come out and say, “Ok, we messed up. We changed the storyline and are just going to wrap it up quickly so that we can try and do better when we come back after our break.”
    And while the last few episodes have been marginally better, they still have sucked. The thing that I hate most about this season is it was the same thing. It was like watching Season 1 unfold all over again, but watered down and muddled. Sylar tries to acquire his powers, we try to figure out if the company is good or bad. The Heroes are all scattered once again and do not know where to find one another. We suddenly have more future paintings. Hiro enters into some subplot that seems absolutely pointless. We have two Mexican immigrants that obviously have some sort of power, but fulfill no real role in moving the plot along, except the female character plays a stereotypical idiotic teenage role as she falls for the bad boy that just knifed her brother. Sylar lacks motivation for being evil. Nikki vacillates between good and evil it seems, again. We don’t know if Claire’s dad is good or evil, again. And Claire finds the woman that is supposed to have killed her father and does nothing except threaten to go to the media? Where was my brawl? And how did the Mexican brother know how to speak a sufficient amount of English to research Sylar’s past and say that he wasn’t taking his sister moments before his last breath, but not enough to understand when Sylar threatened him to his face?
    It has just been a waste of everyone’s time.

40. Had the writers been able to complete this season of Heroes it could have been better by far than season one. I think Kring had laid a good foundation for the remainder of the season and was forced to shut it down prematurely, thus killing a potentially awesome storyline for this season. I just hope the early end to the season doesn’t permanently kill the show.
    The only other really good show still on the air at this point is Chuck.

41. But am definitely a fan of Journeyman. Monday night’s episode was so good, my wife and I were on the edge of our seat the entire show.
    I agree completely. My fiance and I saw the teaser at the end of the prior episode, where Livia confronts Jack in the elevator, and we both yelled out, “OH MY GOD!” We weren’t disappointed on Monday night, either. Best. Episode. Ever.
    And yes, it is on the verge of being canceled, so please, Wil’s Posse, start watching Journeyman and save this show!

42. First, I totally agree with the reviews of your book. You definitely have a knack for writing in a very conversational, friendly tone. Also your life experiences mirror so many of mine (and similarly aged geeks) that those friendly conversations resonate tremendously.
    Second, Heroes.
    I was SOOOOO excited about this show when it started. I was even able to overlook the cliche writing because I saw so much potential.
    Now we find ourselves in season two…with a virtually identical plotline (prevent x from happening in the present to prevent y form of destruction in the future) and a VERY overused danger (the mutant virus unleashed upon the populus) with virtually no significant character development.
    I attribute this to one thing: Writing for the mass audience will never produce the depth, realism, and sophistication necessary to appeal to a ‘geek’ audience. I believe firmly this is why BSG is so very good. They haven’t had to cater to trying to appeal to 99% of the market. They have accepted their audience for what it is, and have been given the freedom by SciFi to do this and continue to produce a solidly written/directed/acted show.
    So did you see the Razor ‘episode’ just released? It’s got me on edge for the last season starting in the spring.

43. I’m 11 years younger than you Wil, so of course my memories are different. Mine, like AngieK revolve around TNG figures. I never spent too much time at the arcade (my parents couldn’t afford the game money) but I do remember going to a friend’s house to play Nintendo before we got one of our own. My D&D dice came from my brother who got me into everything (except Star Trek I got him into that). He is only a year older than I, so we shared a lot of the same geek friends and he was and still is my gaming buddy.
    Now I haven’t watched Heroes. I remember I wanted too, but I kept forgetting to set it up in the DVR box last year, so after missing the first few episodes I just gave up trying. Now I do have to say I love Chuck. It is funny, action packed, and mostly geeky. Come on, this week’s episode they speak Klingon (not very well though). Plus it always helps that it is produced (and some episodes directed) by Star Trek alumni Robbie McNeil (Tom Paris).
    ~~TARA~~

44. Hey, Wil.
    Just got my copy of HDoOL in the mail yesterday (paperback, not hardcover, but that’s okay 🙂 ). Been a long time since I’ve gone through a book in one sitting. Awesome job, man! A lot of stuff in there I can relate to (in another time and another place, I think you and I would have made great friends). 🙂
    It’s also been a long time since a story brought tears to my eyes. The story about Felix… Man… You could feel the emotion coming off the page.
    An incredible job, Wil! I even put a posting about it on my own blog.
    Please, keep the books coming!

45. Heroes…As everyone says it’s been slow going this season and despite the rushed episodes that have been on these last two weeks I can’t help but want to see how the closing scene of this weeks episode pans out. Even if I had gave up on the show but had caught the last two minutes of that episode it would have drawn me right back in.
    As for Chuck…it was a good idea but as far as geeks go it’s like watching the film Hackers and believing thats how simple it is to do. I just can’t believe in it enough to get into it. Much the same as CSI Miami’s holographic laser controlled computers really grate on me whenever I see them.

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