18. HEROES (2006-Present)
Created by Tim Kring
A living, breathing comic book about a collection of people whose genetic evolution has led to extraordinary powers, Heroes takes the supernatural and both rationalizes and humanizes it. Thus does the office drudge (Masi Oka) bend time and space, the politician (Adrian Pasdar) learn to fly, and the cheerleader (Hayden Panettiere) become indestructible.
POP CULTURE LEGACY If the hallmark of serial sci-fi on TV is its frequent inability to finish what it starts, Heroes is at a defining moment in its run. Will it end as it began — as a heady, mature look at everyday superheroics — or will it succumb to the mediocrity that has enveloped it for the last season and a half?
THE BEST BIT The first season rolled out flashy effects, gory dismemberments, and doomsday visions, but Oka's gleeful cheer when he managed to teleport to Times Square trumps them all. It was the cry of a normal dude who just realized his entire world was forever changed...and it's that transformation that gives us hope for the future. — Whitney Pastorek
