As the self appointed television geek, I'm curious if anyone else is watching (or going to watch) this show. The pilot is available for free off iTunes if you missed it or at Sci-fi Pulse http://video.scifi.com/player.html?dlid=25218.

Personally, I expected to hate, hate, hate this show. I caught Stan Lee's Lightspeed the previous night and thought it was the worst thing he'd ever done. If WWtBaS was anything like it, it would be 6 weeks of misery.

The show started as I expected: a lot of groaning. People are so... sad. But then, something happened. Stan Lee started talking about what it takes to be a superhero. Then he elimated one of the contestants faster than any other reality show. The trick was that everyone was being judged the minute they walked into the debriefing room. The downfall of the unlucky contestant brought it on themselves.

The show only got better as the real first challege appeared. What looked like a simple trial of superhero hero stealth and speed, turned into a test of humanity.

Something made me feel good watching this show. I wasn't seeing contestants betray each other, I didn't see them yelling at each other, or taking their clothes off. I saw eleven morally conflicted people with identity issues on a show that could potentially make them better people.

As of the first episode, I'm hooked. I only hope the show retains this morality standard as the next five episodes air.

SPOILER FREE SUPERHERO THOUGHTS:
Feedback: Bland, bland, bland. Seems like a preppy prick.
Fat Momma: Love her. At first, I thought she was a bad choice to have on the show, but she has a delightful personality and a heart of gold. If she can underplay stereotypes, she'd be my ideal winner.
Iron Enforcer: Love him. He's all about killing and he's built like a tank! However, someone said it best when they said he'd be better off on "Who Wants to be a Supervillain".
Creature: Hate her.
Lemuria: Ah, the fan selected sex symbol of the show. I have neither a reason to love nor hate her yet. I keep worring about her running in her "costume". Not very "tight".
Major Victory: I love to hate this guy. I wanted to hate him for his attitude, but the fact is he is the most "Tick" like person on this show. How can you hate him?
Monkey Woman: My idea of a sex symbol, but if she were a real superhero, she'd get her tail whooped.
Ty'Veculus: I like his poise, voice, and attitude, but boy is he bland.
Nitro G: The token fanboy, nerd, film student. I hate them all.
Levity: The openly gay superhero. Kinda wish that I knew more about him than that.
Cell Phone Girl: For some reason she reminds me of a Phoebe Cates wannabe... She gets a zero for superhero creativity, but a ten in that "girl next door" department. Gotta like the superheroine that wears pink.

Greetings, True Believers!

WWtBaS is officially my new favorite reality show. Of course, the previous two were "Project Greenlight" (the one about making a low budget Hollywood studio movie) and "Murder in Small Town X" (the one where the contestants are trying to solve a mystery in a town full of actors). Kinda obvious to tell why I like those shows, huh . I wonder why "Superhero" has become the new favorite? Could it be Stan Lee? That's a major part of it. But, after tonight's episode, I think the real reason has reared its head.

SPOILERS FOR THE SECOND EPISODE

If Iron Enforcer isn't a plant, then the show is very lucky. And did he admit to taking steroids?

The dog challenge was entertaining as hell to watch. I found myself cheering the contestants on. Especially, Major Victory and Monkey Girl. Holy #$%^, they win the eProps tonight!

So, Cell Phone Girl got booted off. Yay to losing the socially awkward, most teen like girl there. I was shocked Iron Enforcer didn't get booted off that round...

until...

The epilogue. This show has suddenly turned into a story driven reality show. Not only are we testing virtues, but we're making the show like a real life comic book!? That's what I'm talking about. No gay Batwomen, no 52 weeks in real time, no Civil War, no alternate universes of zombie superheroes eating other superheroes, but old school comic book gimmicks. Give me a team of heroes and a villain any day. Not to mention it's my man, Iron... er DARK ENFORCER that's taken the mantel. I saw the twist coming, but I was still happy beyond words when I saw it play out in front of my eyes.

Another thing I love about this show is the fun they seem to have. I'm refering to the 'cheesy special effects' and 'camera gimmicks' like the new costumes. What other "reality show" has fun with itself and does these things? They don't do them to be cool, but just to keep things light. I respect that tonality of the show.

My only problem is those damn melodramatic moments before a commercial. You need to have them thanks to the television structure, but they're too overplayed. I also didn't like the six minute recap at the start of the episode, but I understand why they needed that too. Nitpicks, as always, from me.

I know some people have problems with the contestants, but compared to other reality shows, they're not bad at all. Oh Lord, thank you for nost casting this show with "Real World" people... that would really be hell. I love these mentality unstable cast members. They're actually fun to watch.

My character thoughts... after four episodes...

Feedback: This dude has severe mental issues. Big ones. He beats himself so hard after every challenge... Now hearing about his father's suicide and seeing the Daily Bugle newspaper in his office... Definitely has issues. However, I really do like the guy. But his psyche scares me.

Fat Momma: I still kinda like her, but her dark turn at the end of episode III kind of turned me off..

Iron Enforcer: Great villain, I hope he's the bad guy in the made for TV movie.

Creature: Still hate her.

Lemuria: Jerk.

Major Victory: Love him. At this point, I hope he wins. Great personality and persona.

Monkey Woman: Alright, but kind of had that actor attitude, even before her unveiling.

Ty'Veculus: Cocky. I liked him towards the end though.

Nitro G: My latest buddy via internet.

Levity: Huge fan base... kind of weird.

Cell Phone Girl: Wuss!

I thought "Iron Enforcer" looked familiar....

Gushoshin wrote:

I want to like this, as other reality shows, but they are TOO FAKE for me. (at least in my opinion) I saw the "inmate" challenge and the guard was holding his rifle with his finger in the trigger guard! Real armed guards (at least I hope) would never do something like that! That being said I find the show as a "guilty pleasure" of sorts.

Yeah, the convicts were actors. I've been looking for some announcement that they were. Thankfully, Sci-Fi put up the "Exit Interviews". Lemuria blew the beans on that one. Actually, most of the exit interviews tear away the "magic" and you relize there is a ton of good stuff not making it into the show. With a DVD announcement, I was sad to see that there were barely any bonus features listed. Hopefully more will be added, but we'll see.

Is WWtBaS another "fake" reality show? Yeah, but it's still fun. I admire their inventiveness. Besides, reality TV would fail if they didn't tell a story. Even those house makeover shows tell a story. It's really a credit to editing. Now if only they could not make it so obvious who will be voted off. I swear I saw Major Victory's departure a mile away thanks to the way that episode was put together.

It should be a surprise... like Robocop opening his eyes and stabbing someone with an injection to the heart or something. Who sees stuff like that coming?

Yay, Feedback won. I think we all knew that was going to happen

Seriously, I think his movie will be awesomely bad. Hopefully, "Revenge of the Ninja" awesomely bad!

You can bet I'll be all over that shit. And I do mean shit.

Tebor wrote:

Seriously, I think his movie will be awesomely bad.

Levity emailed me the other day to say that movie ain't happening. Ever. He was also pissed that the prize this year is to be an action figure,

Word from Feedback:

Feedback wrote:

Hey everyone! This Thursday, the "Who Wants To Be a Superhero?" comic finally hits the stands, with a FULL Feedback story, PLUS comic covers and summaries for EVERY character that was on the show! It's been a long wait, but I'm SUPER excited! I hope you enjoy it. I just can't believe it! STAN LEE really DID write the story! And the artwork is GREAT - Will Conrad did it, who's done all kinds of stuff, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Many of you have asked if there will be an issue 2? Well, that's where everyone on the planet comes in. I hope that Feedback will see more life on the pages of a comic, but it will only happen if Dark Horse thinks that it sells well enough to merit it's own title or mini-series. And that's as it should be, right? When Amazing Fantasy #15 was published, no one promised that Spider-Man would get his own title! It was through the interest of the readers alone that made the character immortal! I'm celebrating at 4-Color Fantasies this Saturday, July 7th, in the city where I live - Rancho Cucamonga, CA. From 12:00 to 3:00 I'll be signing the comic for free and raising money for "Make-Wish" and "Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic!" A sincere "Thank you" to everyone. This has been an amazing time in my life, a true dream come true, and no matter what happens, I'll never be able to thank you enough for the experience! The show started it all, but YOU have made it rewarding! GAME ON! Feedback

Woot!

Phew! Thought I missed it.

Why was I sad about that? I missed nearly all of "American Inventor" this summer and I'm not blue from that...

More words from Feedback:

Feedback wrote:

Tune in on Thursday to see a familiar face on Sci Fi's second season of Who Wants To Be a Supehero? Thursday night!!! After the show, check the SciFi.com website for the Superhero Aftershow where contestants who are eliminated come down to the Feedback Lounge and give me the skinny on what it was like to be on the show!!! And... the movie that was part of the prize, Megasnake, comes out on the SciFi Channel, August 25th! Bet you can't guess what Feedback battles!!! San Diego Comic Con starts tomorrow! Should be a BLAST!!! GAME ON!!! Feedback

Wait...

THERE IS A MOVIE!!! LEVITY LIED TO ME!

Update: Kind of. Technically, "Megasnake" is not a movie about Feedback... It is unknown whether Matthew will be Feedback in the movie.

My favorite this season, The Diffuser, has won. All is right in the universe.