Okay, let me preface this by saying that I'm not a morality policeman typically when it comes to television, movies, media, etc. I think most people are smart enough for themselves to make up their minds about what they should/shouldn't watch/listen to, etc. I'm basically a morality policeman when it comes to my children. So, part of this opinion is based on the fact of protecting your own children. The other part is purely reactionary thoughts...

We like to watch TV. We don't do it necessarily that often - in fact, one of the reasons we love TiVo so much is because it affords us the ability to watch what we want, when we want. Each year we 'try out' a few new shows if we feel like they are worth watching. One such series that premiered this fall that we didn't initially watch was Heroes on NBC. We began to hear good things about it, however, and decided to download the first few episodes to watch & see if we wanted to start watching it.

We did just that - watching the pilot episode this weekend. Very intriguing series. I'm a hook for pretty much anything science fiction & still love the idea of superheroes/comics, etc. depicted on the small screen or big screen. So Heroes appeared to be right up my alley. We were hooked by the story from the first episode. Then came the second episode. I have to say that I was taken back by the outright gore depicted. Honestly, I sat there thinking, "I can't believe they're showing this on TV." I'm not talking "people getting shot"/wartime drama kind of gore. Nor am I talking "realistic surgery" drama kind of gore. I'm talking "graphic horror movie, people getting their heads sawed in two" kind of gore.

I'm normally not affected by violence. Don't know if I've just become de-sensitized to it over the years, or what. All I know is that this stuff bothered me. I jumped online after watching it, desperately looking for some news that this was a one-episode fluke, because I really wanted to watch the show - I still loved the gist of the storyline & they way they were handling the series for the most part. Unfortunately it looks like this wasn't a one-time thing and the gore is going to continue.

At least NBC chose to put it on later in the evening when most children aren't going to be watching it. But, I guarantee that there were kids & families that were pulled in because of the superhero-ishness and subjected to the violence & gore.

Sad, really. I can't help but feel like if we didn't have the TV ratings system in place, the V-chip, etc. that there is no way this stuff would be on TV. So, my moral convictions win out over my own selfish desire to watch probably one of the most original & captivating series on TV this fall.

What do you think? Anyone seen this thing - am I over-blowing things? Guess I'll be sticking with Battlestar Galactica - at least Cylon robots don't bleed (that is, the non-human looking ones).

UPDATE: Okay, totally only slightly related news that I think is worth sharing... Looks like the Sci-Fi Channel/NBC are going to be working on a new Battlestar Galactica series called "Caprica." Check out the details here