As I was largely away from the computer last week, here’s what went down on the previous installment of the weekly Heroes Online Novel.  And you should check out parts 1, 2 and 3, if you haven’t already.

Chapter 42
Betty
Part 4 of 4

Teased and tormented by her fellow high school students, Betty found a way to strike back:  with the power of her mind.  Realizing she has the ability to create realistic illusions, she drove a vicious bully to madness.  But after her friend was wrongly struck down in retaliation, Betty decided to exact a terrible revenge…

This installment begins soon before the homecoming pep rally at Betty’s school.  Betty is watching the rumors spread around school, thinking to herself, “They act like nothing really happened.  One jock.  One loser.  No big deal.  Like the scales are balanced or something.  They talk about it…they gossip about it…but no one’s accountable…”

Betty overhears some of the in-crowd gossiping.  One of the jocks that beat up Ren is telling the cheerleaders, “It was just payback, that’s all.  But we sure as hell didn’t break any bones or throw him down that hill.  That was all him.”  He’s interrupted by the intercom telling all students to report to the gym for the pep rally.  One of the cheerleaders pulls him away, saying that they have other priorities.  Betty smiles menacingly, thinking, “I’ve got some new priorities now…some unfinished business.”

At the pep rally, the principal is giving a brief speech on how saddened they all are by the two tragedies that have happened at the school.  “Now, on a more positive note,” he then says, “we’ve got a homecoming game to win.  Let your buffaloes know that you’re behind them!”  As the cheerleaders come out, Betty again thinks about how fake they all are.  Using her ability, she begins to cause everyone to see horrible visions.  One of the cheerleader’s skin begins to melt off.  Some students appear to spontaneously explode.  Another cheerleader looks to be covered by terrible boils.  Then, as suddenly as it began, it’s over, and everything’s back to normal. 

“So, whatever,” Betty thinks later, watching as some of the students are carried away in an ambulance.  “I’m done with this hellhole.  Maybe they won’t soon forget how fragile they are.  How fragile we all are.  And now that I know exactly what I’m capable of, I should put it to some use, right?”  At this, she transforms into a beautiful brunette.  “From now on…they’ll all see what I want them to see.  Sometimes you just need the right name…something that sets a tone…something that goes with my new look.”

“Candice.  That’s a good name.”

The easter egg is a behind the scenes shot of Masi Oka filming in feudal Japan.

I called it.

TVWeek is reporting that Drew Carey announced that he will take over the spot recently vacated by Bob Barker as host of ‘The Price is Right’.

He made the announcement during this afternoon’s taping of ‘Late Show with David Letterman’, which will air tonight.

FOX is still searching for ways to change up the ‘24′ mix, and one rumor that’s been flying around the Internets for the past few weeks has been breaking from the tradition of the male President.

Those rumors came true over the weekend, as it was announced that Cherry Jones, who I immediately recognized from Signs and The Village, will move into the Oval Office next year.

From what I remember of what I’ve seen of her, she seems she’ll be able to really carry hard-nosed aspect of what we would expect from a female President.  Hopefully, this is just the first in a long list of steps that ‘24′ is taking toward renovation.

 The Peacock has released the debut dates of the upcoming 2007-2008 schedule:

SEPTEMBER 11
“The Biggest Loser” (8-10 p.m.)

SEPTEMBER 17
“Deal or No Deal” (8-9 p.m.)

SEPTEMBER 24
“CHUCK” (8-9 p.m.)
“Heroes” (9-10 p.m.)
“JOURNEYMAN” (10-11 p.m.)

SEPTEMBER 25
“The Singing Bee” (9:30-10 p.m.)
“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (10-11 p.m.)

SEPTEMBER 26
“Deal or No Deal” (8-9 p.m.; marks Wednesday debut)
“BIONIC WOMAN” (9-10 p.m.)
“LIFE” (10-11 p.m.)

SEPTEMBER 27
“My Name Is Earl” (8-9 p.m.)
“The Office” (9-10 p.m.)
“ER” (10-11 p.m.)

SEPTEMBER 28
“Deal or No Deal” (moves to new day, 8-9 p.m.)
“Las Vegas” (9-11 p.m.)

OCTOBER 4
“30 Rock” (8-8:30 p.m.)

OCTOBER 5
“Friday Night Lights” (9-10 p.m.)

OCTOBER 25
“Scrubs” (9:30-10 p.m.)

Hey, all. Sorry for the lack up updates this week, as I’ve been taking the week off. Expect regular updates starting Monday!

On to the news! The TCA press tour has been going on this week (again, expect a recap next week), and ‘Jericho’s producers let out some big points about what to expect when our favorite post-apocalyptic show returns later this year (via AICN).

The Cheyenne government’s army breaks up the fighting between Jericho and New Bern, but we can still look forward to some postwar scores being settled secretly.

Cheyenne will work to bring water and power back to Jericho.

Titus Welliver, who played Col. Robert Hoffman in the first season finale, was unavailable to reprise the role for the new season.

Most of 2.1 takes place a good while after all the battle with new Bern.

Stanley and Mimi get engaged.

Rob Hawkins and Jake Green go on a mission to save the world.

Sprague Grayden will be back as schoolteacher/fix-it girl Heather Lisinski.

Gerald McRaney is not expected to appear in any flashbacks during the seven hours.

The seven hours begin shooting Monday and should be wrapped by September.

Heather will return to Jericho find Jake and Emily coupled up.

Heather will get another potential romantic interest, but there will still be some “pull” between Heather and Jake.

Had the show received a bigger second-season order, a big part of the action would have been set in New York. As it is, the stories will again be largely confined to the title municipality.

I kind of hate to see the war that left us all on pins and needles just being pushed to the side…hopefully it’ll get a little more service before the cavalry steps in.

Also, New York?  I guess the Big Apple survived…or did we already know that?  I don’t remember, it’s been so long.  That’s what the DVD’s are for.

Anyway, it’s great to see that a show that just weeks ago we thought was gone for good is back up and rolling again.

A&E has announced the lineup for the upcoming miniseries ‘The Andromeda Strain’, based on the Michael Crichton novel, which is produced by Ridley and Tony Scott, and directed by Mikael Salomon.

Zap2It has the complete listing, along with their respective roles:

[Benjamin] Bratt (”Law & Order”) plays Dr. Jeremy Stone, lead epidemiologist on the investigating team. [Christa] Miller (”Scrubs”), [Daniel Dae] Kim (”Lost”) and [Viola] Davis (”Traveler”) play other scientists, with [Ricky] Schroder (”24″) as a virologist with the Army’s Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease. [Andre] Braugher (”Homicide: Life on the Streets”) plays General George Mancheck, a US Biochemical Research officer. Complicating things, we assume, is [Eric] McCormack’s (”Will & Grace”) Jack, an investigative reporter.

‘Andromeda Strain’ was one of my favorite Crichton books, so I can’t wait to see this one roll around, especially with a fairly star-studded cast.  Stay tuned for more info!

Laura Vandervoort will take on the role of Supergirl in CW’s ‘Smallville’ next season, People is reporting.

You may know Laura from the Canadian series ‘Instant Star’ and an episode of ‘CSI’…and that’s about all I recognize from her IMDB listing.

The future Supergirl will be known as Kara, Clark’s cousin from Krypton.  She’ll one up her cousin, though, as she already has the ability to fly.  Sparks may also fly between her and Jimmy Olsen.

Chapter 41
Betty
Part 3 of 4 

A social outcast, Betty was teased mercilessly by her fellow high school students.  Discovering her power to create illusions, Betty quickly turned the tables on her tormentors, even driving one bully into a state of permanent dementia.  She soon learned, however, that her actions would have dire consequences…

At the end of last week’s installment, the blame for Betty’s successful attempt to drive the bully Crash insane had landed on her best friend, Ren.  As we closed, several of Crash’s friends were prepared to take revenge into their own hands.

This week, we open with Ren walking through the forest at night.  Suddenly, four of the bullies jump him, beating him badly.  He manages to break free and gets away from them, but, while trying to hide, he tumbles down a hill, leaving him unconscious.

Later, Betty comes to visit him in the hospital.  Nervously, she tells him everything…about her new power, and about how she used it to push Crash over the edge.  To prove herself, she transforms herself into Ren.  The sight of himself is too much for him to handle, and he goes into shock.  As we close out, Betty is in the hall sobbing as she hears the doctors yelling that they’re losing him…

The easter eggthis week is a glance at how they achieved the exploding man effects with physical makeup on Milo Ventimiglia.

Anyone who watched ‘24′ this season knows that the show is due for an overhaul.  Some storylines came around suddenly with no real exposition…some storylines, like the Logan subplot, were killed off before they could even get started…and a majority of the storylines were just rehashed from the earlier five seasons.

The show is overdue for a change.

TVGuide has the story that FOX pulled the plug on the idea of the show’s seventh season shooting in Africa, citing the expense of an overseas shoot.  ’24’s producers also attempted to find a location stateside that could stand in for Africa, but the idea was eventually scrapped as a whole.  So, the production that would normally have begun at the end of July has been pushed back to mid-August.

Is that a bad thing?  I don’t think so.  Sure, at face value, it seems like FOX is stemming the show’s creativity.  But everyone involved knows what’s at stake if the show doesn’t undergo some sort of a reinvention.  I feel like this will serve to push the developers to dig even deeper, and develop a show that will be once again worthy of the ‘24′ mantle.

This falls into the “why the crap are you even bothering?” category.

A casting shakeup on ABC’s upcoming comedy ‘Cavemen’ has resulted in Dash Mihok leaving the show and Sam Huntington (Superman Returns’ Jimmy Olsen) replacing him. As the original pilot earned quite a few deplorable reviews, it should come as no surprise that ABC will not premiere with it, choosing instead to shoot a new pilot and air the original one (sans Mihok) later during the show’s (extremely long, I’m sure) run.  

At this point, is there really even any point in trying to salvage this?  I mean, is there really anyone who thinks that this can still be a successful show, despite how many rewrites and recasts it goes through?  It’s cavemen…in the present.  And it’s based on a commercial that’s only moderately funny.

We lost ‘Knights of Prosperity’ for this…*sigh*.