Category Archives: NBC

9
More Trouble for Heroes

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NBC announced its midseason lineup yesterday, and while the network has stated Heroes will return in February, no start date was attached.  Compare that to Knight Rider, which is getting a series reboot, and a confirmed January 7th start date.  There are a couple of reasons both Chuck and Heroes are being vaguely scheduled for a February launch; the first being two reality contest shows the network wants to try out, and the other being those really low ratings.

On the plus side, it looks like Pushing Daisies may get the axe from ABC, which means show creator Bryan Fuller might be able to make a return to Heroes.  Fuller is currently exclusive to Daisies, and if the show is cancelled, he has expressed intrest in returning to NBC.

via THR

6
Knight Rider Retools

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NBC is really scrambling to fix its lineup of shows that are not delivering as expected.  First it was the firing of Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander from Heroes, and now it has been announced the studio is going after Knight Rider.  Reports from Hollywood indicate the show is going through a retooling process to bring it back its ’80′s origins.

“It’s a reboot,” “Knight” executive producer/showrunner Gary Scott Thompson said. “We’re moving away from the terrorist-of-the-week formula and closer to the original, making it a show about a man and his car going out and helping more regular people, everymen.”

In the process three of the series reglars — Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Yancey Arias and Bruce Davison — have been given their walking papers.

I’m surprised the execs didn’t come to this conclusion sooner, and why this show is still on the air.  Is anyone watching it and liking it in its current form?

via THR

9
Loeb and Alexander Out of Heroes

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It was only a matter of time before fan and reviewer trashing of the third season of Heroes led to changes in the show.  The first casualties of the shakeup find co-executive producers Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb being shown the exit.

It’s understood that Alexander and Loeb were let go because of Peacock execs’ frustration with the creative direction of the show. The show is also said to have been grappling with hefty budget overruns this season, that are going well beyond its already sizable $4 million per-seg pricetag.

I can’t say that I’m not surprised, but I axing two-thirds of the team that understood how hero stories should be told is a bit odd.  Expect the rest of the season to feature more teen oriented melodrama and sappy love stories before the show is axed in May.

via Variety

12
Heroes Slips Once Again

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Another week, and another week of tumbling ratings for NBC’s Heroes.  Once on of the best rated show on television (can you believe it was only a short two years ago?), Heroes has slumped into the red warning zone following Monday night’s ratings.

Not to gawk at the overturned semi-truck on the freeway, but that “Heroes” number is startling — a series low by far (as is “Chuck”) and marking the drama’s third week of decline. “Heroes” was NBC’s strongest scripted series the past couple years and its now fading quickly. It’s a clear problem without a clear solution. Episodes this season have continued the show’s dense and sometimes difficult-to-follow mythology, but they’ve still been readily superior to last season. One can only hope the show has now established its third-week ratings bottom.

A clear problem without a clear solution?  How about giving the story some direction, where something actually happens in an episode?  What about removing some of the bloated characters and slimming back the cast?  What about having them actually team up X-Men style, or having the mutants actually come out to the public?  I would really like an episode that is a done-in-one without the constant dragging week after week.

What are your thoughts?  Can Heroes be saved, or was the first season the best its ever going to be?  Anyone want to take bets on if the show gets picked up for a fourth season?

via Hollywood Reporter

1
Beaming Beeman Brings Behind the Scenes to Heroes

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I think I mentioned Greg Beeman’s website about this time last year (yeah, it was during THAT time), and I think it needs to be mentioned again.  If you are a fan of Heroes, or if you are someone that digs the behind the scenes look at the process of making a television series, then the Beaming Beeman website is worthy of checking out.  I love reading Director/Producer Greg Beeman’s take on each episode of NBC’s Heroes, not only for the behind the scenes stories, but for the behind the scenes photos.

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A site worthy of checking out.

14
Heroes Fumbles Third Season Opener

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There were a lot of complaints about the second season of NBC’s Heroes – from the lackluster storyline to the writer’s strike causing the season to end abruptly, fans were less than amused with the sophomore trials of the series.  Unfortunately, those feelings are still reverberating into the third season.

The Hollywood Reporter has viewership for the season three two-hour premiere down 25% from last year.

The “Heroes” debut (9.9 million viewers, 4.9 preliminary adults 18-49 rating and a 12 share and matched its lowest original episode rating ever. (“Heroes” was actually down even more, 33%, if you include NBC’s heavily protested move last fall to roll its Saturday encore rating into its premiere). Clip show lead-in “Heroes: Countdown to the Premiere” (6 million, 2.6/7)  placed third in the hour.

If the ratings don’t pick up, you can expect some heavy changes and shuffling to occur as the network scrambles to save the show.  I did get a chance to watch the premiere, and while good, it felt a lot like season one mixed with the remake of the Fly movie.

via Hollywood Reporter

4
Heroes Promo Images

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NBC has released a series of promo images hyping the upcoming third season of Heroes.  While season 2 ended up being rather wonky, I’m hoping the third volume of tales gets the action up and moving in the first two episodes.

The season premiere of Heroes: Villains kicks off on September 22 at 9:00 PM EST.

More After the Jump >>

2
Chuck Up For Full Season

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NBC has given the go ahead for a full season of Chuck, ordering nine more for the second half of the year.  Unfortunately (or fortunately depending), that only brings the total number of episodes to 15 for the year, which makes no freakin’ sense to me.  I remember a time when a full season of episodes amounted to 23-30+ shows a season. And it isn’t just Chuck that goes this shortened season route – Burn Notice anyone?

The second season of Chuck returns to NBC on September 29, 2008 at 8:00 p.m.

via THR

1
SDCC’08: The Office Panel

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Mahalo Daily was all over Comic Con, and covered The Office panel. Even though it is so far away from comic books, I’m putting it up here, because I know there are a few of you that are into this kind of thing…

Rainn Wilson (aka Dwight) moderates a panel of The Office cast and writers, B.J. Novak, Greg Daniels, Michael Schur, Gene Stupnitsky, Lee Eisenberg, Mindy Kaling, Anthony Ferrel, Ryan Koh, Justin Spitzer, and Jennifer Celotta at Comic Con 2008.

Part 2 after the jump.

More After the Jump >>