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Posted: May 14 2010 11:08 am

nymag.com's Vulture wrote:

For weeks, even in the face of Heroes' bottom-dwelling ratings, conventional wisdom among TV-industry insiders has been that NBC was leaning heavily toward bringing back its once-mighty superhero series for a fifth and final thirteen-episode wrap-up season. But as NBC has become more confident in its slate of new shows, all indications are that our Heroes are dead.

Believe it or not, this is actually something of a surprise. Even though less than 5 million die-hard fans bothered to tune into last February's season-four finale (down from a peak of just under 17 million viewers who were watching at the start of season two), observers had figured NBC would find a way to keep Heroes around, if only as an insurance policy in case all of its new offerings flopped this fall. And since the show is wholly owned by NBC Universal, some speculated that the money generated by DVDs and international sales of the show would be enough of an incentive for NBC to give the show one more shot.

But when NBC executives got a look at the new pilots they had ordered (five have already been commissioned as series), they fell in love with their own handiwork; the network felt far better about these new shows' potential than they did about Heroes'. Even though there's no guarantee that any of the newcomers will work, there's a lot more upside to giving a new contender such as J.J. Abrams's Undercovers the time to find an audience rather than yanking it off quickly and begging viewers to give Heroes one more shot. As a result, according to agency sources and chatter around Hollywood, Heroes has started looking less like a backup plan and more like a waste of money.

However, NBC (which declined to comment for this story) is nothing if not appreciative of the few Heroes fans who still care about the saga and doesn't want to leave them hanging. While a half-season appears to be out of the question, we hear there's a good chance the network will at least try to find a way to fund a two- or four-hour movie event in order to give some finality to the franchise. Those discussions haven't taken place yet, however, since NBC still hasn't officially told Heroes creator Tim Kring his show is canceled. Networks like to hold on to as many cards as possible headed into their annual upfront announcements (NBC's is on Monday), in case some last-minute development suddenly shifts the scheduling equation. This time last year, for example, the obits for Joss Whedon's Dollhouse had already been written when Fox stunned TV types by giving the show another (futile) shot.

In the case of Heroes, however, you can probably stick a Kensei sword in it: It's done.

tl;dr NBC thinks it has several better shows than Heroes this coming season and won't likely bother with it anymore.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

The show was great during season one. It was new, people were into the realistic take on what a super hero might be like in our world. For me, the plot fell flat after season two and season three if I recall had the split time due to the writer's strike. The show died right there for me.

Posted: May 14 2010 11:36 am

I say give it a final season, if only on Syfy. Syfy airs crap. Complete crap. It would be better than anything Syfy airs right now, especially Caprica and Stargate Universe.

Also, if NBC needs room in its schedule for Heroes, cut Mercy or Trauma. Both those shows are awful.

Posted: May 14 2010 11:56 am

GPFontaine wrote:

The show was great during season one. It was new, people were into the realistic take on what a super hero might be like in our world. For me, the plot fell flat after season two and season three if I recall had the split time due to the writer's strike. The show died right there for me.

I didn't realize this show was still even on the air. You're right GP, season 1 was fantastic and compelling, season 2 was a bit meh, but still interesting, but holy shit, season 3 was a total clusterfuck. I'd never before witnessed a TV show fall so far so quickly in quality.

Posted: May 14 2010 12:27 pm

Same story with me. I gave this show a lot of leeway since I'm a sucker for anything superhero-ish, but in the middle of Season 2 I just couldn't justify wasting an hour a week to follow the meandering plot and watch cheesey acting. At least it helped launch Zachary Quinto, who I think is solid. They should probably do a 2 hour final 'movie' to wrap whatever they can up, or Syd's idea of putting it on Scifi (I refuse to call it the other thing) is a good one. It would fit in nicely with shows there.

Then again, I don't really care since I'm not going to watch it anyway.

Posted: May 14 2010 03:12 pm

Season 4 was actually really good.

Posted: May 14 2010 11:18 pm

Season 4 was probably the best season since the first. I also remember reading it was the most pirated show and watching it legally on Hulu does not help the ratings which sucks because I had to watch it there. I usually work Monday nights when the show airs so I have to use Hulu to catch up.

A final TV movie that could wrap it all up would be nice though.

Posted: May 14 2010 11:29 pm

It was announced late this afternoon that Heroes is indeed cancelled. And honestly, as much as I'd love another season, it may be for the best.

The show ends with Sylar finding redemption, Samuel being defeated, Nathan dead, and Claire & Parkman accepting who they are. The show ended on a positive note, and there's nothing that really needs to be wrapped up.