Variety reports:
Big shakeup on the staff of NBC's "Heroes" came down on Sunday with the axing of co-exec producers Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb.
Both scribe-producers had been with the show since its first season and were known to have led the day-to-day production operation under the direction of creator/exec producer Tim Kring. - Read the rest on Variety
The story goes on to say that the Peacock brass wasn't happy with the creative direction of the show. It's nice to hear that they are taking fan feedback to heart, though we're pretty sure that it wouldn't care if the ratings hadn't turned south. NBC claims it doesn't worry about ratings, only margins. But in most cases ratings and margins are correlated, especially when (according to Variety) there are budget overruns and each episode is budgeted at a hefty four million dollars to produce.
Despite the ratings downturn, Heroes still has been one of NBC's best performers among 18-49 year olds.
Seems like Kring should be the one fired.
Haha, though what you suggest, Robert, is definitely true, it still is news for the week for me.
That being said, they should hire back people who were behind writing during first season and nuke all the zombies they hired afterwards. At least that’s how *I* described myself the actual possibility of a downfall such like this.
Fire Loeb, but keep Kring? Kring IS the problem. It’s funny because you know they did the move to impress someone, and it’s not even a real move. Firing Kring is about the only thing that could save Heroes.
What I’d do is fire him, and hire new people that get it, and reboot. That would be really easy to do.
What a bunch of idiots! Loeb writes the best episodes on the show and actually has comic experience (including penning quite a few good Batman stories). He shouldn’t be fired, he should be the showrunner! Kring has done a terrible job and should be fired. He’s the one making all the major plot decisions, not any of the producers. Does anybody at NBC have an IQ over 10? Way to screw up again guys!
NBC being stupid?! Shocking!
I watched the first season, I loved the first season, but the season finale was horrible and it’s been going downhill from there.
And 4 million dollars?! Maybe if the cast wasn’t 10,000 people they could save some money!
10,000 people and I care about — let’s see — Ando and . . . . . nope, just Ando.
Its so disappointing. Because the show did have seemingly unlimited potential. And last year we got . . . . the Wonder Twins. And this year we got a bunch of new ones — I can’t even remember their names or keep straight what their powers are.
I keep watching because I figure it HAS to get better — the beginning is always slow . . . . . and because its on right after Chuck.
Loeb’s writing was only the inspiration for the Dark Knight script. NBC is being incredibly careless here.
Four million per episode? What a budget.
David4, exactly what I have been thinking all along! At last someone else who thinks the same.
HEROES is headed down the same road as THE 4400. HEROES this season got really desperate when they stole plot devices from THE 4400 – malovent group of power hungry people with powers/abilities and the rip off of the adrenalin formula = promicin that gives regular people powers. I dont think theres anything that can save it now. It will not be axed before the end of this season but likely after 13 episodes next season. Hopefully they wrap thing up better than THE 4400 did, where it left everyone hanging after Seattle fell under the control of the Jordan Collier cult – regular people either developed abilities or died. They did produce a novel after USA cancelled it, but thats just not the same as live TV.
HEROES downfall can be traced the Season 1 finale which was poorly received by fans and usually rated as the worst episode of Season 1. Season 2 then sealed its fate. I guess it will replaced by a dancing show? Ugh.
Rofl, Yeah. NBC needs it’s very own dancing show and all will be well in the world.
You give good points in comparison with 4400, TM. Though since the finale of Season 1, clearly bad writing isn’t the only thing I personally find negative. First and foremost it’s the attitude – they try really, really hard to make it a “next gen” sci-fi show with supposedly “tight” and “well-considered” plot lines. However, they keep failing miserably because they keep screwing up little details – Hiro fake-killing Ando and stopping time, while Speeder stands next to them (regardless that few episodes back Speedster was able to stop Hiro from stopping time), totally mindless killing of Parkman’s dad who was clearly seen in one of mrs Petrelli’s visions about future (though you can argue here that future “isn’t set in stone”) and last but not least, present Peter and future Peter seeing each other face to face and transporting together into future or something (rule #1 in sci-fi: never create an ultimate paradox where one person meets their “double”) and so on. None of the “time travel/future” aspects are treated even with slightest care (good comparison here is Lost, where they actually put several weeks into Desmond’s episode which obviously turned out perfect).
You can find such examples quite a few, just those few were the ones who jumped into my head first. And come to think of it, Season 1 was so flawless… Oh well.
If only someone could have foreseen this…or could go back in time to stop these terrible events…
Clearly, there is more to this story. They are making room for Bryan Fuller to return after the inevitable cancellation of Pushing Daisies.
Haha Frank, maybe it is Kring who had that power and used it to save his job
Robert, no thoughts on a possible Fuller return? It seems to me that the writing is on the wall with PD, NBC brass know it, and would want the writer of the best-ever episode to come back on board, so are trimming Loeb, who could never really translate his comic-book mentality effectively onto the small screen.
I’d get rid of Pokaski and Coleite too. Their snarky interviews on CBR are so annoying that for those alone they should be fired.
One thing I do need to say is that Heroes needs to plan an exit strategy. Plan out the final seasons just like ABC’s “Lost” after its first three seasons. The writers strike did throw a monkey wrench into the details, but still the best way to make this show make money for years to come is to let people know you are going to end this in three years. It will need six seasons of at least 22 episodes to go over the 100 episode mark. Since Lost did three seasons of 22+ episodes the final seasons can be shorter for that respected show.
No wonder Sci-Fi is doing better in Britain. They don’t have to focus on the quantity of episodes unlike here. Granted Doctor Who has lots of quantity from both the classic and current series (and their were jerks at BBC who chucked out many DW episodes pre-1975) but looking at the success of spinoffs Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures.
BBC’s longtime rival network ITV decided to get into the act by picking up Primeval. All three shows just mechioned went beyond a First Series (they use that term instead of season). TW just aired two series and will have a 5 episode third series and TW will air for the first time on BBC’s main TV channel BBC One. As for Primeval the first series had six episodes, the second had eight, and the third will have ten. It looks likes their will be no room for filler or lots of it. DW and TW had filler for their own but not a lot of it.
On the other hand Sci-Fi Channel has its share of Sci-Fi hits that will not go over a 100 episodes. Battlestar Galactica and Eureka for sure will not hit that mark. It only got a 21 episode pick up for season three because of the writers strike. Otherwise it would have been a 13 episode season once again.
KellyH — no thoughts at all. I really don’t follow show development closely, but know our readers are interested in it. I watch Heroes and its ratings (and do think the show’s creative direction and ratings are at least somewhat linked). I didn’t even know there was a writer working on Pushing Daisies who used to work on Heroes because I don’t follow that stuff. I do follow the ratings though, and I’m as sure as I can be that if Fuller works on Pushing Daisies he should have some available time soon…
Bryan Fuller is the creator and show runner of Pushing Daisies. Also responsible for Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls. He worked on Heroes during the first season and penned the “Company Man” episode, widely regarded as the best of the season.
Ah, so he has a history of creating highly regarded shows that few people watch.
I enjoyed the Company Man episode a lot. Ah, the good old days. I guess the question becomes what are his options absent Pushing Daisies? Would he want to work on something where he wasn’t executive producer/showrunner? Would he want to work at all for a while in the aftermath of PD?
One other question, Robert, and I know this isn’t the right thread for it, but your Pushing Daisies piece is kind of buried now. What role do Emmy nominations/awards play in cancel/renew decisions? It has been my understanding from various sources that Emmy wins were the reason that Arrested Development got as many as 2-1/2 seasons and the reason why The Amazing Race, with its much higher production costs and much lower viewership than other reality shows, wasn’t axed a long time ago.
Somewhere, I think it might have been Berman, there was some talk that ABC really can’t cancel all three of Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, and Dirty Sexy Money and that they will have to keep at least one for a full season. Pushing Daisies has been pegged as the most likely cancelled, but some are also saying that the 12 nominations and 3 wins (including a major one for directing) might give it an edge over DSM, which apparently costs more, and Eli, which was given the gift of a post-dancing slot and endless promotion and squandered both (and which has no awards to show for it).
I know that expecting a back 9 for PD is a pipe dream at this point, but is there any credence to this award talk or any “advantage” it might have over the other two shows if cancelling all three is not an option for ABC?
And to bring the thread back on topic, Fuller would be an idiot not to go back to Heroes, and I believe he has every intention of doing that. I don’t see another network taking a chance on one of his created shows anytime soon if Daisies dies ignominiously.