New "HEROES" Mini-Series

[RebelMan]

NBC adds a new show, "Heroes: Origins" to the fall line up.

Editor, CraveOnline
May 14, 2007

NBC will try to stretch ''Heroes'' by spinning off a related six-episode ''Heroes: Origins'' series that lets the audience choose a new cast member.

Fourth-place NBC was the first of the broadcast networks to unveil a new fall schedule to advertisers this week. After showing signs of life last fall, NBC recorded its least-watched week in prime time in at least 20 years last month then went even lower the following week.

With only four new dramas set to bow in the fall, and a drama and comedy each scheduled for midseason, it's a conservative schedule for a network badly in need of hits.

''Loading up on (new) product is not necessarily a recipe for success,'' said Kevin Reilly, NBC entertainment president. ''Particularly in this day and age, with a fragmented audience, you simply can't market them.''

''Bionic Woman'' will air Wednesday, ahead of a new drama about a detective given a second chance after being wrongly jailed for a crime. ''Journeyman,'' about the calendar-skipping reporter, gets the post-''Heroes'' time slot on Mondays. The computer geek ''Chuck'' shows off on Wednesday.

'We like the high-concept hooks,'' Reilly said. ''But this was by no means an effort to replicate what we have on 'Heroes.'''

The six-episode ''Heroes: Origins'' series is a novel way for a network to address one of its chief unpleasant lessons this season: viewers are impatient when their favorite serials disappear into reruns for a huge chunk of the year. Each episode will introduce a potential new character, and the most popular chosen by fans will join the ''Heroes'' cast full time.

[SilverSpoon]

Ugh, it's like a reality TV show in disguise. I'll probably end up watching it, though.

[open32]

Ya, I heard about this. It is a reality show with voting and everything.

Something I wont be watching.

[Whitnatious]

I dunno, I think this is just going to add to my apprehension with this show. I don't think it needs this little reality show spin-off to mess with the story lines.

[SilverSpoon]

Wait, so it's an actual reality show? Maybe I read it wrong, but I thought it would be like the regular show (acting, drama, etc.), but sort of one-shot episodes to showcase each possible new character.

[MickBeth]

It's not a reality show. People can just end up voting on the website I think wich hero in de mini series they like best and that one will also be in season 3 of Heroes. But it's not reality series.

This is rom zap2it:
The "Origins" series will consist of six stand-alone episodes, with each one introducing a new character and telling his or her back story. They'll take place within the "Heroes" universe but won't be tied into the main arc of the series, although one or two regular characters may pop up.

....

Just how the "Origins" episodes will be scheduled along with the main "Heroes" storyline has yet to be worked out. The most likely scenario, Reilly says, will be to have "Heroes" start its second season in the fall and run more or less straight through its 24 episodes, with perhaps a short break during the holidays. "Origins" would then follow at the end of the season. Another option would be to run "Origins" "as a chunk" in the spring, before the concluding episodes of "Heroes."

[moneyman]

Thanks for the heads up I'll have to set my Tivo!

[Whitnatious]

Originally Posted by SilverSpoon

Wait, so it's an actual reality show? Maybe I read it wrong, but I thought it would be like the regular show (acting, drama, etc.), but sort of one-shot episodes to showcase each possible new character.

I refer to it as a reality show because of the fan voting aspect of it. I dislike it because it obviously shows that the writers don't have a specific storyline in mind, so the show really has a chance to fall into the X-Files trap, becoming more and more convoluted and disorganized as it goes along.

[bobrules]

It seems like it could be a genious marketing tool though.