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Feeling pressure from an obviously unhappy NBC, Heroes creator Tim Kring finally fired the show's top two showrunners (Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander) last Sunday in an effort to overhaul the failing show yet again. Can you say, good riddance?

Hate to say I told you so, but it looks like my unflattering prediction for Season 3 was not off. Poised to "fix" the problems of Season 2, the show's third season ended up alienating even more fans and is currently struggling in the ratings. I admit I haven't seen the last two episodes, because after episode 5 I finally decided that there are better things to do on a Monday night than watch leftover food turn into rotting garbage, but from what I've heard from disappointed fans who are still desperately holding on to hope that it'll get better, I am not missing much. With that said, I might have to start watching again after the break if a certain E! Online scoop is true, because it can very well signal a revival for Heroes.

I don't wish to kick people when they're down—obviously Loeb and Alexander were fired because someone had to take the fall—but short of cancelling the show altogether, their departure is the best chance to remedy the situation. I'm sure their contributions as producers were valuable, but they've been the mastermind to a show that is so obviously broken, and has been broken for a while.

Let's start with why the firing was a good move. Comic book fans should be used to the name Jeph Loeb, as he is responsible for some of the worst comics being published on Marvel and DC. Non-regular readers might know his work from acclaimed Batman graphic novels like The Long Halloween, Dark Victory and Hush. The Long Halloween is the Two-Face origin story that was said to be an inspiration for the Nolans on The Dark Knight. While I admit that the book offers a firm grand take on Harvey Dent's character, I've always maintained that the main plot—about a serial killer striking only on holidays—is terribly convoluted and riddled with holes. Don't get me started on Hush. This is Loeb's main weakness as a writer, writing long mystery arcs that emphasize more on cheap shock twists rather than a story that actually makes sense. It should be obvious that this is one of Heroes' main problems; it's just too damn erratic and downright confusing. It has unclear alternate futures, lame soap opera twists that sacrifice character consistency and plot threads being dropped and picked up at random... but what the hell is the story about? It's reminiscent of a former Loeb blunder: Season 2 of LOST—arguably their most lackluster and nonsensical season—of which he was the supervising producer of. Loeb left to work on Heroes, for the betterment of LOST fans everywhere.

Now for the good news. E!'s Kristin dos Santos has the inside scoop that Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Wonderfalls, Dead Like Me) might be the one Kring and NBC are looking to replace Loeb and Alexander. Fuller was a producer on Heroes during the first half of the show's first season. He was responsible for most of HRG and Claire's story arc, and was also the writer of the show's best episode to date, "Company Man". According to Variety, Kring has assured NBC that he plans to "focus on simplifying what's been criticized, even by ardent fans, as an overly complex storytelling structure to get back to the show's comicbookish good vs. evil themes and to emphasize character development more than plot twists." I believe Fuller can help him do just that.

Every silver lining starts with a dark cloud, however. If—and it's still an if—Bryan Fuller does return, that would most likely spell the end for his excellent ABC show Pushing Daisies. It would be a horrible loss, but not a surprising one. Pushing Daisies has not been picked up for more episodes yet, and its producers were ordered to put in a possible series wrap-up at the end of the last episode before the mid-season break.

The damage has already been done, and it's unlikely that they'll get back the audience they've lost at this point; but if Bryan Fuller does return, I know they'll gain at least one viewer back.

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Comments (4)

November 06, 2008, Nathan Armour said:

	Season 2 was a mess. I have 6 episodes of season 3to watch... I've lost interest. It's no longer gripping. narm
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November 06, 2008, Michael Craig said:

	yeah the show has gone to s**t..hope its turned around..some of the acting needs to be stepped up too
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November 09, 2008, caroline said:

	im surprised that people think it's got so bad, i still absolutely love it! season 2 was a bit slow moving but got good towards the end, and season 3 has left me in awe every week! i love the new twists!
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November 10, 2008, gumbyfan87 said:

	Season one of Heroes was amazing. I still thought season two was good but a little lackluster. Season three has gone just not the way it used to be. Hopefully they can get it together! And I also think you are a b***h! You rip it apart to shreds! Get a life b***h!
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