This press tour hasn't exactly been good for my already-expanded waistline. Between the meals each network serves the critics and the snacks the hotel sends up on a daily basis, I seem to just graze all day long (by the way, the Ritz-Carlton has one of the best $15 cheeseburgers I've ever had. Of course, anywhere else, the burger would be $8. Still good though).

Case in point: NBC provided candy bins for the critics, giving them a chance to create to-go bags of various sugary snacks. Through all the afternoon press conferences -- for The Apprentice, the Grease reality show, Andy Barker, PI, and Raines, I absent-mindedly grabbed from the bag because, to be honest, outside of those great Rosie digs by Donald Trump, not much went on (even the Andy Barker session wasn't all that interesting, despite the presence of Andy Richter and Conan O'Brien).

But the Heroes session that closed the afternoon? That one made me take notice.

Creator Tim Kring was asked most of the questions, mainly centering around how he's written the show. For instance, he was very grateful to NBC for telling him when the breaks in the show would be so he could write cliffhangers that would occur before each break. "It's a great way to break story, because its like having a three act structure to a play," he said. "It's been really fun for us. I hope this kind of scheduling continues." He also knew that they'd get 23 episodes instead of the usual 22 in enough advance to space things out appropriately.

About what may happen next season (remember, we found out this morning that there will be a season two), here's what Kring said: "The idea behind the show is what happens to these characters and their lives. Season one posits an apocalyptic event; we will deal with that in season one, then season two will have another story attached to it. There won't be a central mystery with the show, so we don't have to deal with a large complicated storyline."

When asked who their favorite comics were growing up, we got these responses:

Milo Ventimigila: "My favorite comics were not so much the guys who had super abilities but the (normal) guys who exerted themselves. Like Batman, guys who were a little nuts and took things out on the slime on the world."

Tawny Cypress: "My brother forced us to watch the Justice League (note: she meant the Superfriends). I've got to say, the Wonder Twins were my favorite because they had each other." When asked what she'd like to be in the shape of (a Wonder Twin trait), she replied "I'd love to be in the shape of a squirrel," to which Leonard Roberts replied, "I love how an ice cube and a squirrel can save the world."

Leonard Roberts: Spider-Man and Batman, because of their secret identities.

Hayden Panettiere: "Girl power is always nice. My dad was also a lieutenant in the fire department in New York, and he retired 6 months before 9/11 happened. He was a real hero to me."

Sendhill Ramamurthy: "I like the Six Million Dollar Man. He ran in slow motion and had that cool sound effect."

Other funny lines:

• When asked about Kring's assertion that he will kill off characters, Hayden said: "I die all the time, so that's not a big deal. I feel like Kenny in South Park."
• When talking about coming up with new slogans akin to "Save the cheerleader, save the world," Kring said they'd do so if it was a natural outgrowth of the show, to which Masi Oka added that doing so "also helps t-shirt sales."
• More about killing off characters. The ever-chipper Ventimiglia said that you do your best work possible every week because "it might be the last scene you're ever in."
• When a reporter asked Noah Grey-Cabey about whether his character, Micah, knows about the situation with his mother's character, the two-sided Nikki, and her contentious relationship with his father, he replied, "I think he knows something funky's going on, and he's a little freaked out by mommy right now." Roberts chimed in with "It's like Kramer vs. Kramer on crack."

Finally, when asked about the increased Monday competition in the spring (24 and Dancing with the Stars), Kring responded: "I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't worried about it. I hope that it brings more viewers to the night and expands both shows (his and 24). It's unfortunate... to the viewers it's disappointing if you want to watch both shows."

More on NBC's TCA session tomorrow, including when Ann Curry and Meredith Vieira caught me when I almost fell off the stage at the main ballroom.