According to a story in Daily Variety last evening, Kristen Bell has shunned CBS' Lost in favor of joining NBC's Heroes for its upcoming second season. She won't be a regular, but will take part in a multi-episode arc. Is that good news, or bad news? I've never seen Veronica Mars before so I'm not familiar with Bell's acting abilities, but there is a world of difference between a little show on UPN/The CW and biggest new drama of this past television season.

"This was not easy to pull off," said "Heroes" creator-exec producer Tim Kring. "But since we're an ensemble show, with many arcs playing out through the year, we found a way to jump into a small window in (Bell's) schedule."

I wonder why Kring would go to so much trouble to land a TV B-star. And I don't mean that as an insult to Bell and I may be underselling her a bit here, but I don't buy into hype because it never results in a payoff. Everyone "wants" her for their TV show/movie right now just like "everybody" was excited about the Next Big Movie, Snakes on a Plane. Anyone remember that one?

I don't see Veronica Mars as terribly successful, in fact, it just got canceled after its third season. How does that turn you from lead on a netlet show to everyone wanting you and then landing a part-time role on Heroes? I don't know. If she does well on Heroes it would certainly go a long way towards helping her move from B to A on television, but the girl has a long way to go before she makes her mark in film.

Just ask Jennifer Garner.

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