Shreveport apparently has its own 'hero'

The following is from Jeff Benson and David Wright, The Times' resident "Heroes" superfans:

Local fans of the new fall NBC television series “Heroes” may have noticed something familiar about the list of special people unlocked by genetics professor Mohinder Suresh (actor Sendhil Ramamurthy) in the Nov. 20 episode of the series, “Chapter 9: Homecoming.”

Throughout the first eight episodes, Suresh has struggled over whether he will follow his murdered father’s work on the radical theory that there are people with extraordinary abilities living among us. Last Monday, he decided he would continue tracking down these individuals around the world. Accessing his father’s computer, Suresh finds a file listing names and cities. As the camera moves in for a close screen shot, the name Teresa Hue Pham is visible beside -- Shreveport, LA.

A real person? Probably not; however, the last name does exist in the Shreveport telephone directory. Of the characters listed on the screen alongside the Shreveport name, at least six of them are known characters, opening the possibility that more are yet to be introduced. Maybe one from Shreveport?

And what would her special ability be? So far, among the known talents: telepathy, telekinesis, regeneration, time/space manipulation, precognition, flight, power mimicry, superhuman strength, super intelligence, irradiation/burning, matter phase-shifting.

Aside from the possible local connection, the meaning of the list has stirred a number of speculations on forums across the Internet in “Heroes” discussions.

RPG.net: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=297454&page=4

Spacecast Community: http://forums.spacecast.com/forums/285519/ShowPost.aspx

Heroes -- Patient Zero: http://heroespatientzero.blogspot.com/

You can watch the “Homecoming” episode and others online and learn more about the characters at http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/.

Thanks, Jeff and David.