NBC Saying Goodbye To Heroes?
- Posted by Matthew Meylikhov on Thursday, November 19, 2009
Alright, this is a total late pass on my part, but apparently this happened about a month or so ago. I've been complaining about Heroes' performance for a while now and how much I think the show has gone downhill, yet NBC wants to keep it around because of how well the show does in ratings.I guess that's not the case anymore! A website called Airlock Alpha reported two weeks ago that NBC is thinking about pulling the plug. The entire article/press release copied and pasted past the cut for your perusal.
This could be bad news for "Heroes" fans. Real bad news.
Sources at NBC have told Airlock Alpha that the inevitable is finally happening: Networks executives will ask "Heroes" producers to wind the series down, according to rumors, possibly with an overall finale by May.
"There isn't much happening with this show in terms of audience, and giving it a 'final chapter' feel is something the network is considering to help allow the show to go out with a bang," said the source, who asked not to be identified.
NBC, however, has denied such conversations are taking place. "There have not been any discussions about this being the last season," according to a network spokesman.
"Heroes" began in 2006 as NBC's most buzzed show, and wowed both audiences and critics through the first season. However, Season 2 took a slow start creatively, likely not helped with the departure of producers like Bryan Fuller (who had left to run "Pushing Daisies" on ABC).
While the audience stuck it out in the beginning, that started to change by mid-season when the audience erosion began. It finished its second season with a 6.6 rating/10 share, however, second only to "Lost" among averages of overnight ratings from The Nielsen Co. for network genre shows.
However, by the 2008-09 season, "Heroes" fell to fifth among network genre shows, with a 4.7/7 average, down nearly 29 percent from the year before.
This year after seven episodes, "Heroes" is averaging a 3.6/5, more than 23 percent off from last year, and 45 percent off its pace from the second season. It's currently averaging as NBC's lowest-rated outing on Monday behind the 3.7/6 average of the now-canceled "Trauma" and the 4.4/7 of "The Jay Leno Show."
Of course, in the "Jay Leno" instance, his numbers were artificially boosted by an 11.0/18 premiere the week before the fourth season of "Heroes" started, and fell to a 3.8/6 the following week, and has hovered just above the 3.0 household rating mark ever since.
"Heroes" might not be the only one saying good-bye this season. With NBC looking for a firm finish in fourth place among all the networks once again, the new guard coming in is looking to really change things up, including possibly a completely revamped lineup that could include the reduction of hours devoted to "Jay Leno."
According to this source, "Heroes" is just not part of that mode.
"To keep a show like this going despite its numbers requires some nostalgic connection to it, and while there are a lot of people here who were part of bringing 'Heroes' to the air, they are not in the decision-making capacities," the source said.
One thing to stress, however, is that no final decision has been made yet, and likely won't be made until closer to mid-season. The source was not even clear if a wrap-up directive had been issued to "Heroes" quite yet. If it hasn't, it will.
"I don't think this should surprise anybody," the source said. "The writing has been on the wall for some time."
None of this has been confirmed by NBC quite yet, and should be treated as any rumor would. (Read our story rumor policy)
"Heroes" airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
So what do you guys think? Personally I think it's about time. Heroes has been spinning the drain for quite a bit of time now. What started out as a great premise/show quickly dwindled due to lack of direction and everybody generally not caring about what happens anymore, which brings us to the most recent episode which I need to watch and review and have been putting off since I don't enjoy watching the show anymore. Huh. How about that? Well, let rumors be rumors, and let's hope that this is true. I'd like to see Heroes cut off the air before it ruins itself anymore.





4 comments:
I was never a fan of heroes, so this has been a long time coming from my perspective. Even the first season I felt had one or two good episodes, but overall just didn't reach the level of quality it probably could have. It's the only ensemble show I know where barely any of the cast gets good development.
I actually recently wrote an essay on comic books in America in the 1960s and 70s, and in doing research for it read that the reason Superhero comics flourished after the whole industry seemingly crashed was because it was the only genre that didn't transfer over well to the new medium of television. I guess maybe that still holds true, that traditional superheroes can't function well on television?
I agree with that statement to a degree. Current comics you could get a lot of TV series out of, such as AMC bringing The Walking Dead to screen and HBO optioning Preacher once upon a time, but in terms of superhero comics, it gets far more difficult. Perhaps Peter David's X-Factor, I think that could really work, but still, its origins are more in detective shows and noir than it is in comics, even with the X-Men ties.
Heroes biggest problems are related to the fact it never really had an identity after the first season ("save the cheerleader, save the world") and its cast was too sprawling to allow for real development (as you said). The most interesting character from the first season didn't have a real name until far into the season and mostly existed as this mythical villain known as Horn Rimmed Glass man. Then they neutered him and pretty much killed everything interesting about him.
I've been done with the show since part way into season 2 though, so I'm not exactly an expert.
No less, thanks for stopping by Nolan. Great comment.
I'll be completely honest : I think the show just needs to go. It's making the rest of us look bad. I don't think comic book related shows have to be bad because there have been great animated cartoons and, from what I hear for people who watched it from the beginning, Smallville has had it's hayday. Heck, I'm looking forward to the 100 Bullets and Walking Dead adaptations. But Heroes? Yeah. I've given up. I only watch it to review it, and I'm slacking on the last episode because I honestly have no interest.
I agree it just needs to go. While not the worst thing on tv it isn't close to the best either. It is a sad shell of the first season which was awesome.