Fuller’s Return to ‘Heroes’ Confirmed
Thursday, December 4th, 2008
Pushing Daisies mastermind Bryan Fuller is about to sign a two-year deal with NBC Universal, and his first job will be working on the final three episodes of Heroes‘ current season.
Fuller wrote the best episodes of Heroes’ first, best season, including the Noah Bennet-centric “Company Man.” Fuller left Heroes late in its first season to create Daisies — and Heroes has been a confusing mess ever since, confounding fans and critics and currently garnering about half as many viewers as it did during Fuller’s tenure on the show.
Despite Heroes’ substantial declines, there are still few shows as popular on NBC, whose current slate includes even lower-rated fare like My Own Worst Enemy, Knight Rider, Crusoe, Life, Lipstick Jungle, My Name Is Earl, Kath & Kim, and Law & Order.
As a result, the network seems likely to renew the sci-fi drama for a fourth season, with Fuller playing a more prominent role in the franchise’s creative direction.
Fuller’s signing with NBC Universal would surely signal the death of ratings-challenged Daisies. It’s hard to imagine ABC bringing back the black comedy for a third season without the man who provided its vision.
Before joining Heroes, Fuller created the acclaimed but short-lived comedy hourlongs Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls.
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Law & Order is a lower-rated show? I’d be surprised if it was really suffering in the ratings. It’s definitely better than most of the rest of that list. I like a good episode of Law & Order every now and again. I used to watch it more often, but not quite as much in the last couple years.
@Poly – I find it really funny that you’re surprised that L&O has been low in ratings lately considering you admit that you aren’t watching it as often. LOL
I actually thought of that after I typed it.
I don’t know. I never watched the show super-regularly (unlike my parents). I guess it just seems a little weird as Law & Order has been the juggernaut on NBC for so long now. It managed to stay in the spotlight most of the time, unlike other shows like ER that managed to have a really long run, but sort of faded away to the point of being on the back burner. Law & Order still gets advertised just as much as it always has, and they consistently get really good guest stars to appear on the show (such as Katee Sackoff this week). I also like the casting changes they’ve done recently.
So it may not be doing quite as well in the ratings, but I doubt it’s doing horrible. The quality of the show is arguably better this year. At least based on the few episodes I have seen, the writing seems to have gotten quite a bit better, and the characters are portrayed very well. I think that Linus Roache was a great addition to the show.
I may not watch it regularly, but that’s more because I have way too many things to watch, and it sort of fell to the wayside a bit being only a casual watch before. I still watch a ton of the syndicated L&O episodes on cable, usually during dinner.
Well, that was really just a listing of all the shows NBC currently has that are having lower ratings then Heroes and Law & Order happens to be one of them. To be totally honest, it surprised me as well.
I think another part of why this surprises me a bit is all the talk of Heroes’ slipping ratings earlier this year. I guess the ratings haven’t slipped too far yet.
Well they’ve slipped in comparison to Season One’s ratings, but of course, those were astronomical (somewhere in the 15mil range…) and now they’re getting around 7mil an episode. So they’re not really bad rating per say, just lower than what the network’s expectations are.
I never knew he did Dead like Me. I loveed that show!
Sigh…I realize that Pushing Daisies is gone and that the most I can do now is enjoy the last few episodes (this week’s ep was awesome by the way; Bangles ftw!) and then buy the comic books or go see the movie or whatever happens after that. If Fuller going to Heroes and saving that sinking ship from itself is something that can come from one of favorite show’s demise, so be it. I just hope it’s enough, becuase if this last episode was any indication (Hi, I’m Sylar and the writers are making me negate all of my charecter devolpment just for cheap twist ending!) Heroes needs some serious help.
Law and Order hasn’t been the same for me since Jerry Orbach left/passed away.
You know, sometimes I feel guilty for enjoying Heroes season 3 so much despite its flaws. But then I remember that there were a lot of people that enjoyed the last season of Veronica Mars, despite similar, but different flaws. So I guess it really does depend on your view toward the show, and what you are willing to put up with versus which parts you enjoy.
@saberj I’ve been enjoying season 3 of Heroes as well.
I think Bryan Fuller returning will be good, but I don’t think they should’ve fired Joe and Aron either. I am very sad about Pushing Daisies. That show is so different from anything else and lots of fun.
@SaberJ – I didn’t enjoy season 3 of VMars despite anything. I just genuinely enjoyed it. The scripts were still great, and the mysteries (while not as big as the mysteries before, but lets face it: How many times in a row can one person experience a huge mystery from August to May?) were still interesting imo.
The difference with Heroes season 3 is the scripts that are dripping with melodrama, the actual dialogue which is absolutely cringe-worthy every time anyone opens their mouth, the characters reactions to the events around them not making any sense, the forceful inclusion of a plot twist ever 5-10 minutes… all of that. I hate it.
Heroes could be the best show on TV. I really think it could. But what they’re doing and the way they’re doing it… it’s a glorified daytime soap opera. It’s really that badly written imo. I LOVE these characters and I feel like Tim Kring doesn’t anymore. It seems he’s just kind of going through the motions week in and week out just to collect a paycheck, because he was finished with these characters two seasons ago. I really think Tim Kring needs to hand the reins over to someone who loves the characters as much as the fans do. Because its just getting sad.
In short I agree with TheDoctor, in long I agree with TheDoctor.
With Heroes season 1, comic fans and recent Marvel movie fans were given a show that gave us a weekly superhero drama. A show about people who discover their problems are a lot worse than first believed.
BUT I’m actually happy that season 2 bombed. I was never a comic reader. I read the odd Infinite Crisis, Green Lantern Rebirth, or Marvel Ultimate Spider-man. However after the not horrible, but a bit disappointing season 2. I turned to comics. Now i’m a huge fan of Marvel(Read all 300 issue spanning civil War and it’s impact), big fan of Image comics now(Brit is f’ing awesome) and I feel like I owe Heroes for my turning to comics.
But that’s just my thing,
Will
I couldn’t agree less. Veronica Mars season 3 and Heroes season 3 are very similar in their problems. A majority of the Heroes issues come from a lack of direction with their characters. Too many of them, too many standing around being useless, etc. Things that shouldn’t be repeated (Claire dealing with her dad, Peter dealing with Nathan, Ali Larter showing up on screen, etc) are being repeated. Things that aren’t being repeated that should be (Peter dealing with Caitlin, etc).
Likewise, but still different, Veronica Mars had MAJOR character issues in season 3. Mainly, the show went from being a show supported by great characters, to a one woman show. Logan got neutered, Keith/Wallace/Mac all but disappeared, etc. In fact, I never thought the stories were all that great either. I can buy that people enjoyed it. But I won’t accept the idea that it didn’t have problems. It did. So much so that it didn’t disappoint me all that much when it was gone. In fact, I still haven’t bought Veronica Mars season 3, because I’d rather pretend it didn’t happen.
Heroes is a let down. From season 1. But it’s an improvement from season 2. It’s still one of the better shows on the air, and I have no reservations saying that. It SHOULD be getting higher ratings than the listed shows, because it’s better than a majority of them, from what I’ve seen. Obviously, I haven’t watched everything. However, my feelings of enjoying the story aside, I still think it’s quality is better than the shows that I’ve seen on the list.
People want to make radical statements regarding how much they hate it? Then I’ll make radical statements about how at it’s worst, it’s still a good show.
@Saberj
The only major issue with Veronica Mars season 3 is that it got canceled. I understand that you loved the supporting cast and so did I, however let’s remember that the show was not called Keith Mars or Wallace Fennel. What was the name of the show oh that’s right, Veronica Mars, and so at the end of the day the show is about her. My only complaint about the third season was the change of the theme song, that is my one and only complaint, yes I even like Piz.
Even though the show changed a bit for the third season it still felt like the same show. Heroes this season barely feels like the same show anymore. The writing has become stale and I even think the acting has dropped off this season too. You say that there were “major” issues on VMars, the only issue you really seem to talk about is the lack of supporting cast members. I’m not even sure that these are the same characters on Heroes anymore. Or at the very least they are the same characters that they were before the show started. They haven’t grown at all, or else they show glimpses of change but then change right back.
I agree for the most part with TheDoctor, however I don’t agree that season 3 of Veronica Mars not being as big as the others. Does everyone forget that not only did Veronica solved a murder (sounds like season 1 to me), but she also stopped a string of rapes around campus. That seems pretty serious to me.
Buffy was called Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but they always knew that the supporting cast was just as important, if not more so. Veronica was always a show that thrived with the support of the characters. And explaining away that change because of something like the title is silly.
I listed my big problem with the series. But it certainly wasn’t the only one. I’d have to go back and watch it to give you a full list, and I’m not likely to do that anytime soon. But I also mentioned that the characters that were playing a part in the story weren’t as strong (Again, Logan got neutered).
You say Veronica went through changes, but still felt like the same show. Are you implying that Heroes feels like a different show? Because I’ve never heard that complaint before. Ultimately, it’s maintaining its formula. It just isn’t doing as well as it did before. In fact, I think many of it’s problems stem from the fact that they haven’t changed enough. They keep going back to the same tired plot hooks.
In any case, I’m glad you enjoyed the show during season 3. But the show still had problems. It’s not as if I’m the only one that mentioned the same issues. Ultimately, I don’t think the series should have been canceled after the third season. Afterall, it’s not as if The CW had a lot of better choices. The station has struggled since its inception. Also, the show did at least maintain its ratings (Which isn’t saying much, since it picked up a much bigger market). And if the show got renewed, I would have been glad to watch a 4th season. But, I’m still willing to admit when I see a show I like has problems. Veronica Season 3, Buffy Season 1/6, Heroes season 2 and to a lesser extent season 3, etc. They all had problems to one extent or another. Not everyone is going to be bothered by problems, or even see them as problems. But I think it’s important to recognize them as such.
I still enjoyed the third season of Veronica Mars, but it definitely had problems. I agree about Logan’s character being neutered. I hated the change to the theme song, although that’s a minor issue. I also think that Weevil wasn’t nearly as good as he was in prior seasons, and they all but ignored Sheriff Lamb and Wallace.
However, Keith probably had some of his best stories during the season (especially the subplot with Laura San Giacomo). I also thought all the new characters (Dean O’Dell, Professor Landry, Tim Foyle, Parker, Piz) were all done well, especially Dean O’Dell.
So I think the show had its problems, but it was still very good, and I wish it had been able to continue.
S3 lost it’s way, but it was still quite good. To attract a wider audience they went more episodic, which hurt the show. And budget cuts reduced the cast size. The actor who played Weevil had been seriously injured in an accident and that gave them an excuse to reduce his role.
S1 was so amazing, we watched it the first time in one sitting!
That’s all I was saying, really. It had problems, and a lot of people could still enjoy it. Heroes is in the same boat. It has problems, but people can still enjoy it. It all depends of how you feel about the specific problems.
Its getting really hard to enjoy Heroes. In fact, I haven’t for quite some time.
I didn’t much care for the last episode. But the two or three before that I really enjoyed.