We could all use some “Heroes” (NBC photo).

It seems like an obvious marriage: NBC’s comic book-like adventure series, “Heroes,” hitched to the pages of a graphic novel. Well, it’s finally about to happen.

DC Comics, home to Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, has announced plans to publish a hardcover graphic novel based on “Heroes,” the Emmy-nominated series created by Pittsburg native Tim Kring.

The collection will be pegged to 43 comic-book vignettes that appeared on the “Heroes” website last season. It will also feature the artwork of legendary comic book artist Tim Sale (“Batman: The Long Halloween”), whose work was featured prominently throughout the first season of the series via the visuals created by a drug-addled painter with apocalyptic visions of the future.

And that reminds us to remind you to keep it tuned to the TV Freak for plenty of “Heroes” news leading up to the second season. We recently conducted a tour of the set in Southern California, where we talked to the actors and Kring — and also met Mr. Sale, who walked us through some of his amazing artwork.

Meanwhile, here are some key upcoming “Heroes” dates:

– Aug. 27: “World” promotional tour begins (No stops in the Bay Area)
– Augt. 28: Season 1 DVD set released
– Sept. 24: Season 2 kicks off on NBC

So did you rush out and see “The Simpsons Movie” this weekend? What did you think?

I had a chance to see a preview screening while down in Los Angeles for the TV press tour, but I passed it up because my kids would have killed me. When it comes to “The Simpsons,” it’s definitely a family affair, so the Barney brood checked it out as soon as I rolled back into town.

Turns out that a lot of other people had the same idea. The film raked in $71.9 million at the box office — the third largest debut ever for an animated film. That’s not surprising, considering the massive (and almost obnoxious) marketing push behind the film. In recent days, you couldn’t turn around without running into Homer, Marge and company. In L.A., it was truly overwhelming with HUGE billboards (some animated), a couple of “Kwik-E-Marts” and other kinds of advertisements everywhere.

But what about the film itself? Did it live up to the hype? That was probably almost impossible, given the buildup and the waiting and nearly 20 years of familiarity with the Simpsons franchise. I had a great time with it, laughing throughout (uproariously at times). It was clever and witty, and, in a few sequences, it was brilliant.

That said, when the end credits finally rolled, I’m not sure I left the theater believing I had seen something that was any funnier — or better — than some of the show’s best classic episodes. A little visually richer, perhaps. But not better.

Izzie and George — looking like they just read the script for their love scene.

Death, destruction, George and Izzie.

For many loyal fans of “Grey’s Anatomy,” last season — especially the latter part of it — was one big rocky trip down Downer Lane. But the show’s creator, Shonda Rhimes, insists she has no regrets.

“Do I feel like we went wrong at the end of the season? No. I felt like we took the journey that we started to take,” she told weary reporters on the last day of the TV press tour. “I mean, I sort of said at the very beginning of the season we are going to start the season with Meredith
helping Izzie out of her prom dress, and we are going to end the season with Meredith helping Cristina out of her wedding dress. And, to me, it was the journey that we had planned to take all along. Yeah, it was a darker journey. It felt to me like the journey that these characters, after season two, really sort of needed to take.”

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Ah, my last day in Beverly Hills. The press tour is grinding to a halt with the final ABC sessions for “Samantha Who” (with Christina Applegate), “Men In Trees,” “Private Practice” (the “Grey’s Anatomy” spin-off) and “Big Shots.”

But I started the day by going “off-campus,” making a morning drive to Santa Monica to do a breakfast interview with Will Forte, the “Saturday Night Live” castmember from Lafayette. With the Pacific Ocean practically in our laps, we chowed down in a lovely hotel restaurant right on the beach called Shutters (spotted Diane Keaton in the lobby).

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I don’t make a habit of writing a lot about the network executives while I’m here at press tour. I figure you mostly want to read about what’s going on with the shows and the stars.

But every once in a while, it’s fun to hang with the bigwigs — especially if they’re spewing venom like ABC chief Stephen McPherson was this morning. After his executive press conference, a few of us gathered around him outside in the hallway. One of the first subjects to come up was NBC’s hiring of Isaiah Washington to be on “Bionic Woman” after being dumped by ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” for anti-gay slurs.

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The TV press tour is almost over and the critics are getting cranky. Today, during the ABC executive session, network president Stephen McPherson was asked about some impending “Lost” news that the show’s producers planned to announce at the ComicCon fan convention starting later this week in San Diego.

So why not announce it here, Steve? Um, no, he said. We’ll wait.

Well that obviously ticked us off. After all, newspapers, including the Times, spend lots of money to send us out here at a time when budgets are tightening thoroughout the industry. Why should we — and our readers — be denied?

McPherson tried to move on to other subjects, but he continued to be grilled on the “Lost” issue. Finally, an ABC publicist walked across the stage and whispered into his ear. A call had been put into executive producer Damon Lindelof, who gave the OK to make the announcement.

And so McPherson let us (and now you) know that Harold Perrineau, who played Michael Dawson (last seen boating away from the island with his son), will be returning this season which starts in February 2008.

Now, Steve, was that so hard?

Mmmmmmmm, lethargy.

When the marathon press tour reaches its final days, weird things start happening. Your eyes go red and bleary. Your typing fingers become brittle. Every press conference begins to blur and your head begins to echo with one TV-actor cliche after another (”I just follow the writing!”).

That’s when you know you have to get off the hotel premises, if only to preserve the last remnants of your sanity.

But while you can get away from the TV people, you can never really get away from TV. Case in point: I was driving along Sepulveda Boulevard the other day and what should I spot, but a “Simpsons”-esque Kwik-E-Mart.

It wasn’t a genuine Kwik-E-Mart, of course, but a 7-Eleven dressed up like one in order to hype the “Simpsons” movie that arrives this week.

Of course, I had to stop.

Turns out, the place was busier than a Saturday night at Moe’s Tavern. So busy that a guard was on hand for crowd control. Inside, “Simpsons” action figures, games and toys lined the shelves. But I was more interested in “Simpsons”-inspired refreshments. You could buy Buzz Cola and Squishees, the show’s slushy rendition of Slurpees.

It was all very cool, aside from two major disappointments: There was no sign of Apu behind the counter and no Duff Beer in the fridge.

Still, I couldn’t leave without buying something (Yes, I’m a sucker for marketers), so I grabbed a “Sprinklicious” doughnut (Homer’s favorite!), which was excessively slathered in pink icing. Outside in the hot sun, the pink stuff gunk melded to my fingers like rubber cement … D’oh!

It’s amazing how an 18-year-old show still has a way of connecting with people. When customers weren’t waiting in line to get through the doors, or backed up in front of the counter, they were snapping photos of the merchadise and of the big “Simpsons” character cut-outs all over the store.

Moments after leaving the faux Kwik-E-Mart, we drove past a 7-Eleven that didn’t do the dress-up thing. Its parking lot was virtually empty.

(Incidentally, there is one Kwik-E-Mart in the Bay Area, but you’ll have to go to Mountain View to find it).

Amy Sherman-Palladino says she never saw the final episode of “Gilmore Girls,” the show she created but then left after a contract dispute.

“I didn’t watch it,” she said. “I think I just got very drunk that night and sat in a corner. I couldn’t watch it because it wasn’t going to be my ending. It wasn’t going to be what I had in my head forever.”

Amy, who dropped by the press tour to promote her upcoming Fox sitcom, “The Return of Jezebel James,” was asked how she would have ended “Gilmore Girls.” She replied that the final scene would have had Rory in the shower and Lorelai walking into the bathroom to utter these two stunning words:

“You’re adopted.”

It was only a joke, folks.

I really wish I could bring all of you to our annual TCA Awards night during the press tour. It’s the one night we critics get all decked out in suits and dresses (some of us actually clean up pretty well) and take on an air of hoity-toityness in order to hand out some hardware (actually clunky glass plaques).

As for the awards ceremony itself, it’s very low-key, very scaled-down event. We have only 11 awards categories — which allows us to get poolside for cocktails all the faster. There are no big production numbers, no filler and padding, no cue-card reading, no windy speeches from Price-Waterhouse dweebs, etc. etc. … No wonder we’re not televised!

Still, it’s a fun evening full of memorable moments. Alec Baldwin, for example, told a great story at Saturday’s gala about how he always wanted to meet David Chase and be in “The Sopranos,” but never could make the connection. Then, it just so happened, that on a very hot day in New York, Baldwin was in a restaurant restroom drenched with sweat, so he takes off his suit and shirt trying to air them out and is actually topless when who should walk in? David Chase, of course.

Speaking of Chase, the “Sopranos” mastermind was in the house, but wasn’t about to go into any long dissertation on the controversial ending to the show. He did joke, however, that in New Jersey, it’s not all that uncommon to be sitting in a restaurant and then suddenly have everything stop. “It’s not that big of a deal,” he said with a sly grin.

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Like the rest of the Bay Area journalistic community, I find myself stunned and saddened by the death of KGO anchorman Pete Wilson, from a heart attack at the age of 62.

I knew Pete only casually — through a few interviews and some face-to-face meetings over the years. So I’ve got no great insightful anecdotes and/or words of wisdom that immediately spring to mind. What I’ll mainly remember about Pete is that he was always very gentlemanly and professional in our dealings. The man also had a very sharp mind. It was clearly no fluke that he rose to the heights that he did.

And what I think about as I ponder Pete’s TV news legacy in the Bay Area is that he was the dean of local broadcasters — a holdout from a television era when anchors were “stars” with forceful, larger-than-life personalities who dominated their newsrooms and their markets and had the power to sway ratings.

We’re now living in a world of media fragmentation with hundreds of channels (and other platforms) offering news and information to viewers around the clock. And so our local newscasts — while still a highly essential part of the mix — don’t carry nearly as much clout as they used to. As a result, the anchors themselves — barring a few exceptions — simply don’t have the influence, or profile, or “star power” that Wilson had. And chances are, they never will.

My only other thought is that 62 is too young. Way too young.