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Who might be the new nemesis for Heroes' cheerleader: A college roommate?
When NBC's Heroes returns for its fourth season this September, it will be back-to-school time for Hayden Panettiere's indestructible cheerleader Claire Bennet: After three years (in TV time), the blond superhero will finally graduate high school and head to college, the actress told reporters.
"She's in college, and she's got a great roommate," Panettiere said in a group interview over the weekend in Santa Monica, Calif., where she was promoting the film I Love You, Beth Cooper. "You kind of don't know about [the roommate] in the beginning."
Claire won't be left alone at school, though. The Company may be out of the picture, but there's always someone butting in with people's special abilities. "So there's this new group of people called the Carnival," Panettiere said. "They're kind of the opposite of the Company."
The Heroes writers' room is still smarting from the recent abrupt departure of original writer Bryan Fuller, who had returned to the show briefly following the demise of his ABC series Pushing Daisies. Panettiere said she has been less personally affected by the change.
"You know, since I haven't read all the scripts and haven't been involved in the writing process the way, obviously, the writers are," Panettiere said. "We work hard. We work hard, but everyone's great, and we have a blast together. He's going off, and he's doing some great stuff, so we're all just really proud of him."
Fans have been complaining about character arcs since season two. I mean, Hiro as a 10-year-old, honestly? Panettiere doesn't know what everyone's looking for, but she said she still has faith in the show.
"I think it set a very high bar for itself, and I think it's very scrutinized now because of just the demand," Panettiere said. "You know, it's not an easy crowd to please all the time, but I still enjoy watching the show."
Heroes returns Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
By Facepalm at 5:27 AM ON 06/29/09
My least favorite character of all time. Even beating Kim Bauer for the title. Best known for arbitrarily alternating between "I want to save the world" and "sorry daddy for what I did, I thought I could save the world" at least three times each season.
By Hellking at 6:51 AM ON 06/29/09
Kill the cheerleader, save the show.
By Kyle Nin at 10:16 AM ON 06/29/09
She's not my least favorite character of all time (candidates for THAT would be Winn Adami, "Deep Space Nine"; Laura Roslin, "Battlestar Galactica"; and Dr. Kavanagh, "Stargate Atlantis"), but she is definitely annoying.
By nate9111 at 2:42 PM ON 06/29/09
Daddy i dont trust you daddy i trust you daddy i dont trust you. Urrrrrrrr
Same story jesus why not just bring in Lana Lang and have done with it
By foster1 at 4:12 PM ON 06/29/09
i cannot stand rachel melvin (new roommate)! she was on days of our lives and she is the whiniest annoyance on nbc since claire bennet. they seriously need to kill everyone and make it the petrelli/ali larter show. and by petrelli, i mean the brunettes! i love peter!
By BlueMoon at 7:59 PM ON 06/29/09
"Daddy I don't trust you, daddy I don't trust you." Gee, I wonder why. It couldn't possibly be that HRG has consistently lied to her.
The storyline is repetitive but I still like the character. I can't blame her for wanting to be proactive in face of everyone lying to "protect" her.
And the roommate is Madeline Zima. Rachel Melvin is only in one episode as far as we know.
By Tiffany at 1:40 AM ON 06/30/09
We all want Peter and Claire to be together
By A5J4D X at 9:42 AM ON 06/30/09
not bad cant wait!
By Ultimate Toronto at 11:41 AM ON 06/30/09
I agree, burned out on Claire for a while...
By Weirdo at 3:02 PM ON 06/30/09
@ Tiffany
Er... I hope you're joking?! Clare and Peter are relatives. He's her uncle!!! You are promoting incest! :-P
By Dan at 6:48 PM ON 06/30/09
Tiffany wrote: "We all want Peter and Claire to be together"
You're kidding right? He's her uncle.
By Dave at 7:28 PM ON 06/30/09
actually that could change Dan and Weirdo if the writers gets some sense so i agree Tiffiany
i dont think she is promoting Incest I just think it's what majority of the fans want
By tina at 6:38 AM ON 07/27/09
I do hate Claire's story arc on the show; they need her to do something different besides constantly being a victim and as you guys said - her daddy issues.
butttt instead of peter / claire, i like sylar / claire.
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tina:
I do hate Claire's story arc on the show; they need her to do something different besides constantly being a victim...More »