Masi Oka in NBC Universal's "Heroes" as Hiro Nakamura.

Recently, we took part in a conference call with "Heroes" creator Tim Kring and star Masi Oka and spoke about the DVD and much more.

For those of you unfamiliar with the prized show, here's what's in store on the DVD:

Product Details (Note, prices will change over time) HEROES: SEASON 1 (HD/7DISC) List Price $99.98 Our Price!  $79.99 HEROES-SEASON 1 (7-DISC) List Price $59.98 Our Price!  $47.99

RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 28th, 2007 FORMAT: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)| DISCS: 7 AUDIO: English Dolby Digital 5.1 SUBTITLES: English SDH, French, Spanish RUNNING TIME: 2 Hours 54 Minutes M.P.A.A. RATING: Not Rated SYNOPSIS: Discover the phenomenon that is sweeping audiences everywhere as Heroes: Season 1 comes to DVD! Experience the suspense, mystery, and electrifying twists as this astonishing series follows seemingly unconnected, ordinary people around the globe who discover they have extraordinary powers. As they come to terms with their unique abilities, their risky decisions will affect the futures of everyone around them …and the world. Join their epic journey in this seven-disc set packed with hours of fascinating and revealing bonus features, including the never-before-aired series premiere from show creator Tim Kring. INCLUDES: • Unaired Pilot: The Tim Kring Cut With Audio Commentary By Show Creator Tim Kring • Deleted Scenes • Audio Commentary • Making of • Special Effects • The Stunts • Profile of Artist Tim Sale • The Score • Minder Reader (Interactive Activity)

The Interview:

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Question:

Tim Kring is asked about how he thought of the concept of Masi Oka's character of being the world non-reluctant superhero.

Tim Kring:

"Well it really -- you sort of landed exactly on it. When I read the first draft of the script -- and the character actually didn’t exist. And it was sort of a preponderance of characters who felt that these powers were an affliction. And the accumulative effect of it -- at the end of reading this first draft -- was that it was kind of a downer. Nobody seemed to have any fun with it.

And so the character was really created to lighten up the initial script. Now you have to understand, it wasn’t a pilot at the time. It hadn’t been green-lit to be made as a pilot. So it’s still trying to sell the script. And that’s kind of where it came from. I felt I needed one character who embraced it in a very enthusiastic way."

Masi Oka:

I thought it was phenomenal -- because it wasn’t one note. Tim Kring created -- an amazing, beautiful world with such rich characters. Hiro embodied the sense of the everyman, in many ways -- and how we all dreamed as a kid of wanting to be a superhero. And he’s someone who kept his dream. He believed in it, believed in it, believed in it -- and finally his dreams came true.

And to be able to live that -- live vicariously of his dreams -- of my dreams of becoming a superhero through his dreams, it’s just fantastic. And I’m just very fortunate to have been part -- and having Tim entrust me with the character.

Question:

A question for both on NBC Universal promoting "Heroes" overseas and more.

Tim Kring:

Well it really -- I didn’t have any awareness of whether it was ever done or not. The idea was sort of hatched by -- when we took the cast to the NAFTI convention in Las Vegas -- and met many of the overseas buyers, who all said -- who all asked the same question, “Could you guys -- is there ever a chance that you could come visit us?” And we just sort of politely nodded our head and made small talk for a while.

But the truth was that we started to hatch this idea of wouldn’t it be great to -- since the show is rolling out all around the world and premiering everywhere ‑‑ it would be really terrific to be able to take this show on a -- to some of these countries -- or take the cast to some of these countries, and sort of play up the idea that the theme of the show has this big universal, global quality to it – it’s sort of an embodiment of what the show is -- the message of the show.

So that’s where it came about. And it happens to coincide with the release of the DVD on August 28th. And it’s really to sort of talk about that -- and to bring the show to these other countries -- just as the show is rolling out in all these various territories.

Question:

Masi Oka is asked abouy how much fun he had working with George Takei and casting in Season 2.

Masi Oka:

Oh, George Takei was phenomenal to work with. He’s just such a generous -- not only a generous actor, but a generous person. He’s an icon in every aspect of Asian-American TV and American cinema. You have your ‘Star Trek’, everything -- you learn so much from him.

And if you were to ask George Takei he would say, “Well I found working with Masi to be quite an experience. He’s quite a young and talented individual. And it’s nice to see the sci-fi generation get passed on from the older to the younger -- and the legacy being kept alive. Ha ha ha.”

Question:

Next is on the release of the DVD at the same time as a lunar eclipse and whether this DVD will bring new people in.

Tim Kring:

Well it is amazing to work for a big company like GE that can actually manipulate these huge astronomical events like that -- so what an amazing coincidence. And as far as the second part of that question -- yes.

Clearly with a show like this, there are so many people, I think, that felt that they couldn’t jump on to the show mid-season -- because they felt that they would have missed too much. Or people that just wait now for the DVD to come out in order to catch up with what’s on television.

And it’s those viewers that we’re really hoping to attract and gain a new fan base for the opening of the second season -- which is three weeks -- about three weeks later. So it could work out very nicely for us.

Question:

Do you have any real life heroes?

Masi Oka:

Well, my real life hero – as sappy as it makes me sound -- is definitely my mother. Growing up -- being raised by a single mother who came from Japan to America to provide for our entire family and give me a better life in America. She gave up pretty much her entire life for me. So it’s going to take not only my lifetime but my lifetime after that to repay – you know, I’ll never be able to repay what my mom has done for me.

Tim Kring:

It’s an interesting question. Because right now I’m -- I have two small kids that I’m trying to involve in charitable works that our family’s involved in. And so this topic has come up quite a bit in our family lately. And we’ve been involved in a few charities here in Los Angeles that we’ve spent some time with on weekends -- and donating our time to.

And seeing the people that are working in these very obscure ways -- doing tireless work to help the community -- we’re surrounded by these people. And they’re anonymous and giving. And many of them -- most of them -- want to stay that way.

And I’m just sort of struck by how many people out there are heroes -- especially in a world today where celebrity is so ephemeral and temporal -- where people come and go very quickly in our consciousness. It’s just really fascinating to see people that are dedicating their lives to helping others. So that’s sort of how I feel about that question.

Question:

What about Emmy nominatiuons and their changes; what could win, etc?

Tim Kring:

This is Tim answering. I was just thrilled, obviously, to be nominated. I had talked myself out of any chances of getting a nomination before it was announced. So I came at it very thrilled and surprised by it. Clearly in the category of Best Show, we’re up against very stiff competition of a show like ‘Sopranos’, that was crowned this year with so many accolades. And it feels like that’s the one to beat.

But obviously winning a few Emmys really helps with a show like this. Because this is a show that many people I think -- many viewers dismissed early on as a fantasy show or a genre show or sci-fi show. And those kinds of shows are not always associated with critical acclaim or with awards. And so I think for a show like ours, it’s very important. Because it stamps the show with a certain mark of quality that will attract new viewers, I think.

Masi Oka:

Well I’m just definitely floored and humbled. And I’m definitely proud of our nomination. Personally, it’s definitely an honor -- to have Tim entrust us with his characters, and be able to work hard -- to make sure I now portray the character in the best way possible, that kind of enables him to be approachable -- and kind of the average everyman that viewers can imagine themselves being.

And to be just part of this ensemble is just absolutely amazing and a gift. And to have an Emmy -- just like an Emmy nom is definitely a cherry on top. So the nomination is fantastic. And we’re all proud of it. And just really proud to have our Emmy nom kind of like reflect the hard work that we’ve all put in on the show.

Question:

Masi Oka's asked about working his creative job on helping out the special effects guy on occasion and the fact that he can jump between acting and his tech side.

Masi Oka:

Well definitely it’s really nice to be able go back. I have a lot of respect for what goes -- not only in front of the camera, but what goes on behind the camera. I remember like spending months and months just to get about 200 frames out. And what it takes -- a show is as good as its weakest link.

And whether it’s from the caterers, the effects folks -- we have fantastic people all around. And our effects folks is doing a bang up job. And it’s great to be able to just talk to them on set and just say, “Hey, why don’t we try to -- how do we (hot) archive this matte process?” or “Where do we need to put -- particles to work?” or “Where’s the 3-D virtual…” You know, it’s really cool to be able to talk that on the set -- and have kind of a camaraderie there.

And recalling my first TV job in Los Angeles -- was actually for a pilot called ‘Straight White Male’. It was for the FX Channel. And it was a pilot that didn’t get picked up. But I recall it pretty well, because that actually -- getting that job allowed me to fulfill the contract I had with ILM at that time -- and allow them to agree to -- for me to stay in Los Angeles and continue working for ILM in a telecommuting capacity, while pursuing acting down in Los Angeles. So that was definitely a memorable role for me.

Question:

I understand there are plans for a hardcover graphic novel?

Tim Kring:

Yes. Well we -- as I think a lot of the fans know, we produced -- I believe it was 22 online comics that ran concurrently with the show. They were five or six page ancillary storylines that ran online, along with each episode of the show. And some of the best graphic artists in the business were involved.

And some of the best writers in the business were involved. And we are compiling all of those into a hardbound book that comes out in the fall. The hardbound covers will be done by Alex Ross and Jim Lee – the two covers. So it’s as state of the art quality as there is in the comic book world.

Question:

They're asked about whether they planned to have this on DVD from the beginning or just once the show took off.

Tim Kring:

No. We knew early on that we would -- that this kind of show especially is designed to – nowadays, to be able to watch on DVD. And so we started our planning of the DVD pretty much right at the very beginning -- in terms of a lot of the behind the scenes footage that we shot, the commentaries. And so it was something that was certainly planned for.

And the core audience of a show like ‘Heroes’ is very savvy about these kinds of things -- and wants a DVD that reflects the nature of the show -- which is always surprising and always state of the art. So we are aiming very high with this. We are doing an HD-DVD release that is for obviously very serious DVD fans.

                               

Masi Oka:            

Yeah, DVDs are great because it gives us an opportunity to -- give fans more as well. Not only just recap the episodes they’ve seen, but there’s like 50 deleted – extended and deleted scenes, we even have the 72-minute premiere of our pilot episode.

'Heroes’ is a great success online through the iTunes, but even those fan bases -- they can -- they have extra value by purchasing the DVD. Because first of all, it’s like a huge seven box set -- but you get to see the behind the scenes things, the making of, Tim Kring’s commentary on the 72-minute pilot that we premiered at Comicon.

And there’s also like – yesterday, actually, I got a chance to see the DVD content. And there’s some really cool stuff in there with the special effects -- in particular, the scoring. I think Wendy and Lisa are absolutely amazing, what they do for our show. And to get even -- sense of insight into that process was so enlightening. And they’re always, like, the “unsung heroes”…in many ways. Because what they add to this -- without them, the show just doesn’t stand. What they add is so subtle and you don’t see it, but you hear it. Well of course you hear it. What they do is absolutely amazing and it enhances the show and experience. And to get an insight of that -- I learned so much just watching that segment. The 50 deleted scenes are really awesome, by the way.

Masi Oka and Tim Kring talk about the fact that there are commentaries from around Episode 13 onwards.

Question:

What was your experience like at ComicCon?

Masi Oka:

It was absolutely amazing. Just to go back -- it was a homecoming – it’s kind of like winning the Super Bowl and going back to your home city. And it was just a great parade and celebration of the phenomenon that we’ve all created together -- the fans, the writers, the cast.

And for me it was like -- because of that, it was an homage back to the -- our first appearance there. I wore the ‘Hayden Is My Hero’ t-shirt, because that’s a throwback in appreciation -- a show of appreciation to the roots. It’s where Comic-Con -- that’s where it was started. And it was just so phenomenal.

I was there from Thursday night. And I even got a chance to walk through the floor and interact with some of the fans. And it’s just great. There’s so much love and so much passion for our show. And just to be a part of that celebration -- it was phenomenal to be a part of that.

Tim Kring:

Yes. This is Tim. We really looked at Comic-Con this year as a big giant thank you -- our trip to Comic-Con. We were very committed to the idea of bringing everybody that we could from the show down -- to show our appreciation to the fans -- who I am convinced were very instrumental in making the show a hit last year when we launched.

Question:

What else is on the DVD?

Tim Kring:

Well again there’s -- I think a couple of the big items are the original uncut version of the pilot. As many people know, the pilot was originally designed to air as a two-hour pilot -- then re-cut and taken down to an hour. And a couple of storylines were taken out of it that were never seen by anybody, other than the Comic-Con audience last year.

And I think it gives tremendous insight into where the original -- what some of the original impetus of the story was really about -- that I think the fans are going to really find fascinating. And obviously the commentary is always a really fun and interesting way to watch the show.

There are also the 50 deleted and extended scenes, which will give people a tremendous amount of new information. There is a -- again, I can’t stress how cool -- enough how cool the HD-DVD is, that allows the viewers to -- through a device called U Control -- allows them to follow various threads in the show.

As you know, the show has a symbol that is found frequently in many of the scenes. And it highlights that and shows it to you -- even in the most kind of hidden places in the scenes. There is even an extension -- that allows you to look closer at all of the artwork that Tim Sale did for our show -- all of the paintings and all of the various artwork. So there’s just a tremendous amount of extra stuff for the fans to watch.

Masi Oka:

And if that’s not enough -- there’s also the making of documentary, the special effects documentary, the stunts documentary…

Question:

Tim, who came up with the idea of asking Kevin Smith to write and direct and episode of 'Heroes: Origins'?

Tim Kring:

Yes. No, I did. It was -- the show is -- the idea of the six episodes is it’s an anthology series. Each episode will tell a stand-alone story concerning various characters that are not on ‘Heroes’ -- who are out there in the world experiencing these transformations and discovery of power.

And each one of these stories is intended to feel and look -- and be different from one another ‑‑ and to have a different tonal quality to it. And it really lends itself to the idea of unique voices coming in and doing these episodes. So Kevin is the first -- in a hopefully very interesting line of writers and directors -- that we are going to attract to this show.

Question:

Tim Kring is asked how he created the show to begin with and whether he had a muse of some sort.

Tim Kring:

I’m beginning to think that it must have. I’ve talked a lot about the inspiration of where it came from -- in a kind of real world way -- for a while now, in terms of wanting to do a show that was a large ensemble cast and a large, unfolding saga -- and looking for ways to connect with the audience that I thought would be meaningful in the world today -- given all of the problems that we have and the scale and size of the problems that we have -- needing to have protagonists that could actually affect some of these huge changes.

So it veered me away from a cop show -- or a law show or a medical show -- because I felt that the problems I wanted to talk about were just too big. And that’s what lent me - or led me toward the idea of superpowers. But I have to admit -- and that’s something I don’t talk about very often, lest people think I’m a kook  -- but I really did feel like it was an idea that was -- that sort of came from someplace else. And I kind of percolated it and channeled it -- because it felt like an idea that wanted to be told. And I’m not sure exactly where it came from.

There is always that strange muse that touches you. And you do wonder where it comes from. And this one was definitely one of those ideas. It wouldn’t go away -- as much as I tried to suppress it and push it away -- because I knew it was complicated and difficult to pull off. But it just kept coming back and coming back.