Looks like I might've been the only one to see the unaired version of the Heroes pilot.

I saw an unaired pilot for Heroes, but i don't remember the van scene you mentioned. of course that was months ago and i watched several pilots at a time. so maybe i've just forgotten it.

Profile of Masi Oka, who not only plays a geek on TV, but is one in real life, too.

I think P-C saw an unaired version of the Heroes pilot, too -- maybe at Comic Con. The one he saw had a different ending with Peter.

I think even ordering a mind to forget everything after noon on Oct. 23, 2006 or pink bunnies, or what have you, is still telepathy. It's non-spoken communication. And actual mind reading (which would be a kind of telepathy) on MBG's part, although there's no specific proof for it yet, seems to be the simplest explanation for the ability to selectively erase. It's not the only possible one, but still seems the most likely.

I don't know what I think about possible don't-notice-me type projections. I haven't paid enough attention to those scenes. Claire's dad seems to be everywhere the action is anyhow, so it didn't seem odd to me that MBG could just pop up, since Claire's dad almost just pops up.

One of my friends has a sister who watches BSG exclusively through itunes.

Her sister just got a message that said that given that BSG is planning to air 3 less episodes than originally planned they were refunding her some money.

3 less episodes? That does not sound good.

I just re-read my friend's email: it was reduced by five episodes. Five.

From 20 to 15? Does itunes count 2 hour presentations as 1 or 2 episodes? I ask because Comcast On Demand counts the two episode premiere as one episode.

And actual mind reading (which would be a kind of telepathy) on MBG's part, although there's no specific proof for it yet, seems to be the simplest explanation for the ability to selectively erase.

Even if he's deleting by time?

The Chicago Tribune's TV reviewer takes a new look at Heroes and unfortunately, doesn't change her mostly unfavorable opinion from the pilot. She does like Greg Grunberg's cop and Hiro, but the rest of it gets a big @@ and "meh." Even Hiro can rub her wrong sometimes:

I do like the scenes with Hiro and his pal from Japan, though I really wonder if, in those scenes, the character of Hiro skirts dangerously close to the stereotype of the Asian nerd (thank heaven for Daniel Dae Kim of “Lost,” for showing that an Asian TV character can be sexy, flawed, handsome and not at all nerd-tastic. And it must be said, the Hiro from the future who appeared briefly seems to be very different from the Hiro we're seeing now).

She does plan on sticking around to watch, though:

Anyhow, I’ll keep checking in on “Heroes.” I am a charter member of the nerd nation, so this should be right up my alley. I’ll keep waiting for the good parts of the show to outweigh the bad parts.

I'm looking forward to next week, because it looks like we'll actually get to see some asskicking.

Even if he's deleting by time?

To me, yes, because of a few reasons.

First of all, if MBG can't read what's going on in someone's mind, how would he, or Claire's dad, ever have realized he (MBG) has whatever powers he does have? Secondly, he can block someone else from mind reading, and in the scene where he blocked the cop from mind reading, he seemed to know he was doing so and to whom. Thirdly, he can wipe other people's minds both selectively and entirely. All of those are forms of telepathy, in the sense that he's giving commands to other people's minds. Additionally, Claire's dad seems to be able to be where he needs to be, which makes me think they know what the supes are up to.

It seems a bigger stretch to assume MBG has 3 kinds of telepathic powers (blocking; full wipe; selective wipe), but not actual mind reading. If he can't read their minds (I do think that's possible, just highly unlikely), there are going to be times that he and Claire's dad won't be privy to what timeframe they need to wipe out of someone's mind.

It seems a bigger stretch to assume MBG has 3 kinds of telepathic powers (blocking; full wipe; selective wipe), but not actual mind reading.

Given that the telepathy is all being made up, I disagree strongly with this statement. Now, I'm not saying that he can't read minds. I'm just saying that I've seen no evidence he can. And in such an author-constructed reality, Occam's razor doesn't work so well. There isn't any experience-derived statistical base to assume that any measure of telepathy implies another.

To me, MBG does what we've seen him do. Period. He may also have command over pink elephants and the ability to know what underwear you're wearing. But he does what I've seen.

I realise it makes me something of a story-projection buzzkill, but it looks like fanon in the birthing, and I don't see why the extrapolations are safely acceptable--if it's a what-if-he-mind-reads, that's one thing. But a since-he-mind-reads? Gonna whip my head around every time.

Also, note my use of the term mind reading. We can all have different definitions of telepathy. But I hope mind reading is clear and unambiguous.

Also, why are you making a distinction between full wipe and selective wipe? It's like saying I have the power to eat half a candy bar and the power to eat the whole thing--it may just be simpler to say I have mad candy-eating skillz instead of getting that granular.

there are going to be times that he and Claire's dad won't be privy to what timeframe they need to wipe out of someone's mind.

How is this possibility eliminated by what we've seen? A cop's ability to investigate a crime is hampered by them not knowing who did it, but they still stumble through. I don't see the requirement of your proposition.