While this doesn’t surprise me, and I counseled fans not to worry, our friend James Hibberd has the welcome news for fans of the show that Heroes will definitely be returning next fall, although with a smaller order of shows than typical. That could very well be part of the budget trimming I suspected would happen:
NBC plans to bring back “Heroes” for another season, said entertainment president Angela Bromstad.
The action-drama’s ratings decline has caused some media reports to speculate as to whether the show will return next fall. As part of Hollywood Reporter’s annual Q&As with the five broadcast network chiefs, Bromstad was asked if “Heroes” could be considered “on the bubble” for a renewal.
“No,” she said, and added that the network plans to order 18-20 episodes of the show for next season.
That’s fewer hours than “Heroes” first or current third season, however, with season two having been cut short due to the writers strike.
read the rest at The Live Feed.
Screw Heroes..WE WANT CHUCK BACK
Let’s see what happens in a month or so when Heroes 18-49 will be around 2.5
Um that press release talks about the importance of backing Heroes up with their “Day One” pilot. Heroes will supposedly help Day One, which the press release made it sound like they’re already ordering 13 episodes of.
So where does Chuck fall in? Certainly not Monday Nights in the fall…
Maybe Monday nights in the spring or a different weekday?
Also Heroes at 8/7c? It’s not exactly a happy family show.
“With a slightly shorter episode order, “Heroes” can then continue its usual pattern of airing with few breaks by virtue of debuting later in the season.”
So Chuck could still be on Monday in the fall. It also says “Day One” could be matched with Kings on Sunday.
18-20 episodes is more than i was expecting. I was thinking 13-15. But it’ll be back so I’m happy! Whether it stays mondays at 9 or moves somewhere else (i have a feeling sundays starting in January even though right now they’re saying fall) I will be watching.
“Save the good TV, cancel Heroes”
I can’t say any of this surprises me.
As the main article says Heroes remains tied with The Office as NBC’s biggest scripted show where it matters, the demos so they were always going to find a way to bring it back despite the falling numbers. They have however left themselves enough wiggle room here to back out should something disastrous happen over the remaining weeks of the current season. It looks to me as if this was a kill off the speculation move in an attempt to stop viewers leaving a show they don’t think will be back next year.
Best news of the day (of the week ?
)
Don’t forget that next Monday’s the first ep. w/ Bryan Fuller, the global quality can’t be worse that Volume 3 (which was a complete disaster btw)
I still think that Heroes should have been at Thursday 10/9c, after The Office. Damn Leno u_______u
I can’t get why Chuck has bad demos. Maybe ’cause of the numerous pictures of Reagan in the show ? xD
Chime in.
good news…that Day One seems like a sure pickup that is because it sounds interesting
My heart sunk when I saw this story on the front page, just because I feel like every success for every other show brings Chuck just a little closer to cancellation.
@Kikouwlol – I’m totally not a Reagan fan, but I can’t help laughing every time they show that picture in Casey’s apartment.
what is Day One?
Day One: drama which chronicles the aftermath of a global event that devastates the world’s infrastructures, leaving a small band of survivors to rebuild society and unravel the mysteries of why the event took place
t, thanks. sounds interesting from your description.
Wasn’t that Jericho’s general premise?
I hate post apocolyptic stories. I prefer stories about preventing the apocolype – not dissecting why it happened.
Chuck!! I want Chuck for another season!!
Day One sounds interesting. Even though it’ll get 80,000,000 comparisons to Jericho.
Yeah, I can spell, why to you ask? Sheeesh
Apocalypse
Apocalyptic
Ant says:
March 5th, 2009 at 6:15 am
Screw Heroes..WE WANT CHUCK BACK
ditto to that!!!
Day One sounds ok. Mostly I’m interested in seeing how they make it different from Jericho. I guess it’s supposed to be more Sci-Fi… But I dunno.
Also I assumed they’d put Heroes/Day One in the Fall just because as of now NBC doesn’t have a lot of too promising pilots…
But perhaps if Day One takes longer to produce, they could lead with Chuck + new pilot, then replace it with Heroes/Day One. But I was hoping Chuck would be the replacement, not the show getting replaced. We all know what happens to shows that get replaced mid season.
I could see Day One + Kings, but we don’t even know if that will be successful yet.
called that one awhile back.
I also want chuck for season 3, but did i miss something or could day one replace the 10pm show instead of 8pm?
I hope Heroes sticks around for 5 seasons…like Alias. I loved Alias and 5 seasons is the perfect amount to end a show. Not too much and not too little.
HEROES BLOWS
P, Jay Leno owns 10-11 M-F. From January on, Sunday’s at 10pm are open though.
Leno will be taking 10PM during the week for NBC meaning that NBC’s primetime line-up for next season is basically down to two-hours.
Alias should have ended after season 3. Alias is one of favorite shows of all time but the last three seasons were just mediocre.
Ah, thanks Bill.
I didn’t expect Heroes to be cancelled, it just seems stupid for them to do it. BTW, I still love Heroes and will watch it to the end…unless something really really really really stupid and bad happens.
I hope they do the same as LOST and 24 and wait until spring 2010 with it
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU NBC
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *tears*
I agree with the crowd that feels this is odd. 18-20 episodes screams Lost model: Jan/Feb-May series with 2 hour premiere and finale. But Winter is exactly when the schedule turns ugly for NBC: with 24 on Mondays, AI on Tuesday & Wednesday, NBC’s own comedies on Thursday, and Fri/Sat wastelands, this would only leave Sundays. Except that there are only 13 post-Olympic Sundays, meaning the order count doesn’t fit there either.
So apparently Heroes is being thrown to the Mon 9pm 24 wolves again next year. The only hope the show has is that 24 sucks next year, as it did in Heroes’ first season. Heroes won’t be back in 10/11.
Forgot about the Olympics. They will almost def. run Mondays @ 9pm, starting January 11th 2010 through Feb 8th, two week break for the Olympics, then straight through from March 1st to May 24th. That’s 18 episodes, with one or two extra if they decide to go with a two hour premiere/finale. Hence their 18-20 order.
“…unless something really really really really stupid and bad happens.”
Too late.
Seems like a lot of new good shows are coming next year. I’m looking forward to see what it will look like!
Thank you NBC! Heroes is BACK!
[“…unless something really really really really stupid and bad happens.”
Too late.]
Ha-Ha! I was thinking the same thing.
Someone previously mentioned that the next episode will be Bryan Fuller’s first since he rejoined Heroes. I wonder how that episode will do – will past viewers tune back in?
I don’t think will watch Heroes only because Brian Fuller is back.
Maybe NBC can do a promo like “From the creator of the canceled Pushing Daisies, Bryan Fuller is back to Heroes”
I am NOT suprised at this announcement at all. I really never doubted it would be back. But I stil have to say…WHO CARES ABOUT HEROES!? What about CHUCK!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!
It will be interesting to see if NBC will stick to this plan if Heroes were to drop below 7 mil viewers and below a 3.0 demo – fingers crossed that this happens.
As for Chuck, I think NBC will not make any decisions until the season wraps up in April. This past weekend at Wonder Con, Fedak & Schwartz mentioned that they will be meeting up with NBC execs in 2 weeks to pitch the plan for season 3. Hopefully, NBC will loved their pitch and Chuck continues to build upon its audience in the coming weeks.
I hope so Agent!!!
I think season 4 is clearly going to be the last season if ratings continue as they are. Heroes is lucky its getting a 20 episode order tbh…if NBC was in a better state I don’t think heroes would actually be back for season 4. But at least it has a chance to improve…
I had never wished for a show to be canceled before, but there’s a first time for everything. PLEASE GOD MAKE NBC CANCEL HEROES.
To all of you who think Fuller will have an influence over the remainnig episodes you are wrong. Both Kring and Fuller know that Fuller was brought for next season but mainly he was brought to please the hard-core fans who were 1 or 2 episodes away form leaving the show for good back in November/December.
Bill or Robert, in your opinion if heroes demo will be in very close range of Chuck’s season average (Heroes lost almost 20% in a month, if it will continue at the same pace next month it will be around Chuck’s demo average) will NBC change its mind (if Heroes does reach Chuck numbers they’ll hve no where to go but down).
TomSD, once an executive says something like this, and make no mistake this was not an off the cuff mistake, the chance of it being reversed is effectively nil.
My perfect scenario: Both Chuck and Friday Night Lights coming back for another season. I will kill NBC if they cancel both. Don´t take Chuck away from me! It´s the only show on tv that makes me smile these days.
Yeah TomSD, the most they would probably ever do if things really went downhill for Heroes, would be to shorten the order of episodes, or do some more budget cutting. There’s pretty much no way they would go back on the renewal now. It’s DONE.
I hear you Geri. CHUCK is the only thing that makes Monday (less) depressing!
I have a smile on my face and am engaged throughout the entire episode. Of course they can move it to another night if they like, that’s fine with me!!
Whether I watch Heroes next season will depend on what happens to Chuck. If Chuck isn’t brought back, I’m mostly done with NBC. Nothing could stop me from watching The Office and 30 Rock, but that’s it. Chuck needs to be renewed.
If Heroes is getting a shorter episode order, does that mean NBC is looking to wait until January to air the episodes?
If they do, that certainly opens an extra hour during the fall for NBC to debut one of their new shows.
Maybe they can pair Chuck with a new show come fall, I don’t get why NBC likes to stick Chuck and Heroes together. They don’t even have the same audience (the ratings obviously show that).
chuck NBC monday’s fat kid… medium is dong well, and heroes sounds like it passed snuff. so if somebodies gotta go to make way for leno……
djm,
Medium may get more viewers than Chuck, but they did identical in the demos this past week. As for Medium’s ratings in recent weeks, it went up against CSI: Miami repeats.
Regardless of what happens to Heroes or Medium, there is no way Chuck returns on Mondays at 8pm.
Who cares about Heroes, is Chuck coming back? When will we know?
Not surprised at all. The Renew/Cancel index has had Heroes in the green all season. I think next season will be the make or break season for it. If it’s gradually losing fans all season, then next season it should start off with fewer fans. But, since NBC is also desperate for programming that pulls numbers, I suspect it will be around for quite some time to come.
But hwere does that leave Chuck! Someone give an educated guess please!
Does anyone know how much NBC gets for a 30 second ad during heroes?
I reckon if they get like $4m per ep and the budget is around $2.5m then it is profitable (the DVD sells pretty well too and lets not forget worldwide success)
p.s. next season MUST be the last one so enjoy it while it lasts.
yea im with everyone here i want to hear whats going to happen to chuck or we can unleash the casey on nbc and see how that turns out.
The full article wasn’t posted. The Executive stated they are planning an end date for Heroes but she said next year is to soon for it to end.
Well, I’m happy about this news. And Day One sounds interesting.
But man… there’s so many haters on this site…
Jenna
I told agree, Chuck is the only thing that makes Mondays less depressing! Not only that, but it actually has me looking FORWARD to Mondays the way that most people look forward to the weekend.
*TOTALLY agree, oops. :p
I love Heroes and the current volume (4) is totally awesome!
I agree Hudson.
I totally understand not liking a show, but just going all out in bashing it? seems a little uncalled for.
This was a horrible NBC decision. They’re bringing it back with less episodes? That is admitting defeat. That is admitting you realize it will never get better.
The show is a JOKE. It has lost millions and millions of viewers and is expensive. Less episodes and less cast/staff are definite, but NBC should have just cut their losses.
Everyone i know there is alot of heros fans on here and sorry if i took any offense to anybody.But i just wanted to know where Chuck fell into things thats all.Sorry again
Zee, a 30 sec TV spot during Heroes this season cost $198,379, which is considerably down from last season’s rate of $296,000. The ad rate for Heroes will most likely take another huge tumble when/if it returns next season.
As for its DVD sales, the season 1 generated $70 million in sales while season 2 generated somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 million. Based on this season’s ratings, the season 3 DVD sales will take a huge dip.
With its current downward-spiraling trend in ratings and DVD revenue, why would NBC come out and announce a renewal, yet alone a 18-20 episode renewal?!?
2008 TV Ad Rate:
http://tvbythenumbers.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/10-spotcost-100608.pdf
2007 TV Ad Rate:
http://adage.com/images/random/0907/2007_Ad_Age_TV_Price_Survey.pdf
@Agent StraHOTski: If you read the full article, the executive stated that NBC is aware that Heroes does well globally, and don’t forget, it’s online content does very well (and I think they won an award for it last year).
I think you just have a vendetta against Heroes due to your love for Chuck.
Ok I just have to say the ratings dont take into account all the people that watch heroes online, me being one of them, and i remember reading that heroes is in the top 3 for most watched online
@Hudson: Is Heroes globally following the current trend it is here in the U.S.? There must be significant dip in viewers/sales just based on the quality alone.
BTW, my dislike for Heroes is due to its quality and not due to my love of Chuck. I watched season 1 over the summer and didn’t see what all the hoopla was about. It started out intriguing but by the end of the season it became predictable and lame. I was going to check out season 2 on DVD but decided not to based on all the negative reviews from fans/critics.
Nothing against the fans of Heroes, it’s just my opinion of the show. Not everyone will like the show, just as not everyone will like Chuck.
Until the networks start making significant sums of money off of online viewers (and that day isn’t anywhere close) online figures aren’t going to matter. And illegal online downloads won’t ever matter.
“As for its DVD sales, the season 1 generated $70 million in sales while season 2 generated somewhere in the neighborhood of $30 million. Based on this season’s ratings, the season 3 DVD sales will take a huge dip.”
Season 1 DVD revenue vs. Season 2 DVD revenue is an awkward comparison to make for Heroes given the difference in length of the seasons and as a result the difference in price for the DVD’s. My guess is that the season 2 sales did drop but not to the extent that the $40 million revenue fall suggests. As far as this year goes, revenue will be up but I’d guess sales will fall.
On the subject of Bryan Fuller his return to the show isn’t really going to make any difference at all to this season/volume and I doubt his name is going to have much effect on ratings. Any creative input he’s had at this point will be minimal to say the least although I‘m interested to see how the episode he‘s written (I believe its 20) turns out. With that said Fuller being hands on in the crafting of season 4 more very well creative some more positive vibes heading into the premiere next year though.
Yeah, the s1 and s2 comparison may be a little skewed due to the price difference(s1: $59.99 s2: $39.99).
Season One generated $61.8 million by the end of 2007 and sold roughly 1.6 million units.
Season Two generated $22-23 million by the end of 2008 and sold roughly 900,000 units.
If you assume the 900,000 units would have carried over to the full price DVD that’s about $54 million, NBC will probably be pretty happy if they come anywhere near that for season 3.
You can’t really do that Alex, even season one’s average price was around $40 (if you do the math) regardless of the MSRP. the trend is most definitely not Heroes’ friend though as the DVDs for both years were released at very similar times, so the comparisons are pretty fair. Word of mouth for this year has not been particularly good, so unless there is some OMFG! between now and the end of the season, no reason to expect that the trend doesn’t continue.
Is the office the number one show on dvd?
I am glad Heroes is back. Now keep it away from Mondays.
The Office season 4 DVD set was the number one selling TV series of 2008 with 1,057,620 units sold generating $32,359,990.
However, Lost – The Complete Fourth Season has sold 977,866 units generating $36,171,263 as of 01/11/2009 (thru 5 weeks). I am assuming that it has already surpassed The Office’s sales in units by now. So Lost, I guess, is the number one selling show on DVD.
agent, where do you get your numbers? And where does Chuck rank?
http://www.the-numbers.com/dvd/charts/annual/2008.php
First weeks numbers for Chuck:
Chuck – The Complete First Season: 38,122 units sold — $990,791
I don’t know how it performed in following weeks because it fell off the top 30 charts. However, I did read somewhere that it generated like $5-6 million off the DVD sales while the Blu-ray version also did relatively well.
I still have hope for Heroes! but I kinda feel sorry for the show when I watch the new episodes of season 3 its just not good.
Why can’t anyone let those of us who love Heroes be happy that our show has been picked up for another year? Can’t you bashers just keep your feelings to yourselves about how much you hate the show and let us revel in our victory?
I love Chuck too, but how would you like it when it gets renewed if the haters come crashing in making uncalled for comments about your show? Heroes has it’s problems, but so does Chuck. And for that matter if it does get cancelled, it would certainly piss you off if people come in there celebrating it’s loss!
Just let us be happy for one day that Heroes has been renewed! If you don’t like the show DON’T WATCH IT! But don’t take your misplaced anger on those of us who love the show just because Chuck hasn’t been renewed!
“You can’t really do that Alex, even season one’s average price was around $40 (if you do the math) regardless of the MSRP. the trend is most definitely not Heroes’ friend though as the DVDs for both years were released at very similar times, so the comparisons are pretty fair. Word of mouth for this year has not been particularly good, so unless there is some OMFG! between now and the end of the season, no reason to expect that the trend doesn’t continue.”
As I said previously I expect total sales to fall for Season 3 but revenue to be up vs. Season 2 (given the the bigger price tag). My $54 million was more to put the 900,000 sold for Season 2 in to a different context vs. Season 1 sales. Having said that I don’t expect the drop to be as big as it was (percentage wise or actual numbers) Season 1 to Season 2.
Season 1 – loved it
Season 2 – hated it
Season 3 – struggling to give a crap about it
Season 4 – I’m done
Outside the diehard fans who just love having Sci Fi on a network in primetime, I don’t see who can carry this show. All of the non-nerds out there (men and women) sampled this show and probably enjoyed the first season, but Season 2 killed that off. I find the entire Maya story line to be about as interesting as hearing some lady on E.R. moan about Mobalage for a dozen eps.
[nymets says:
March 5th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
instead of watching heroes people should just read the x-men comics their talentless writers steal all there material from. it takes less time and they are better]
AMEN!
HEROES IS WAY BETTER THEN CHUCK HALF THE REASON CHUCK HAS VIEWERS IS BECAUSE PEOPLE FLIP IT ON TO WAIT FOR HEROES!
DON’T CANCEL “CHUCK!” It’s the most entertaining, enjoyable hour on TV. Give it a better time slot – give it better promotion (like how about Zach and Yvonne hosting SNL – it IS an NBC show after all – rather than having a competing show’s star, like Neil Patrick Harris, hosting it. It’s like sleeping with the enemy). RENEW CHUCK!! Go to http://petitionspot.com/petitions/renewnbcchuck to add your name to the SAVE CHUCK petition!!! Just is too good to get rid of!!
I would be so heartbroken if Chuck got cancelled. It is the best thing on TV ever, and I have watched a lot of TV. And it keeps getting better, the writing has been excellent. And every character is awesome, I love every single one of them, but especially Chuck. Zac plays him perfectly, the right combination of sweetness, comedy and sexiness. You really care about what happens to him. My whole family gathers every Monday to watch Chuck. Hope it last ten years !
Karen, I agree 100%. If Chuck got cancelled I would be vety upset. I keep hoping that NBC will announce Chick for a renewal, hopefully a 22 episode renewal, but I would be satisfied with an 18-20 episode renewal like Heroes got.
Heroes does NOT deserved to be renewed. That show has jumped the shark so many times, they’ve run out of sharks.
Creatively, Chuck is far stronger than Heroes was ever and (quite possibly) will ever be.
SAVE CHUCK. SAVE THE WORLD!