| QUOTE |
| 'Heroes' Expands Universe with 'Origins' Stand-alone episodes will help NBC cut down on repeats By Rick Porter May 14, 2007 NEW YORK -- You want more "Heroes"? NBC is going to give you more "Heroes" next season. The network has hit upon a way to keep the show repeat for nearly the entire season, ordering more episodes of the show and embarking on a quasi-spinoff called "Heroes: Origins." Combined, the shows will account for 30 original episodes next season. "We've got something I call the 'bulk-up challenge' for next year, which is trying to stay more consistent in our scheduling for the audience," NBC chief Kevin Reilly told reporters Monday at a press conference announcing the network's 2007-08 schedule. "We asked ['Heroes' creator] Tim Kring to come up with an idea, and what I love is not only did we bulk up with 30 hours next season, but also a whole new idea which I think is going to take the show to the next level." 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. It will also carry an interactive element: After all six "Origins" episodes air, viewers will be able to vote on which character joins the main show the following season. The idea for "Origins" springs from positive fan reaction to several side characters introduced this season -- Reilly cites Charlie (Jayma Mays), the waitress with the perfect memory, as an example -- and a desire to avoid momentum-draining breaks like the one the show took earlier this spring. "I don't think the audience minds taking a week off, particularly during the holidays," Reilly says. "It's just the long hiatuses or weeks worth of repeats where we get in trouble." 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." "I'll tell you one thing you won't see is 'Origins' peppered throughout," he says. "I think that would be difficult for the audience to navigate." |
| QUOTE |
| Roth 'poised for Heroes spin-off' The director of horror film Hostel, Eli Roth, is set to write an episode of Heroes spin-off series Origins, according to an industry report. Michael Dougherty, who co-wrote the screenplay of Superman Returns, will also pen an episode of the show, says the Hollywood Reporter. The series, due to start in the US next Spring, will introduce new characters so far unseen in the original drama. US viewers will vote for one of the new superheroes to join the main programme. Big fans BBC Two has struck a deal with NBC to screen future series of the science-fiction drama, including series two. The station's terrestrial premiere of the programme attracted an audience of 4.3 million viewers earlier this year. Roth is also expected to direct his episode of the spin-off show, which will show each character as they discover their extraordinary powers. Both Roth and Dougherty, who recently made his directorial debut on the horror film Trick 'r Treat, are said to be big fans of Heroes. Roth has acting, producing, directing and writing credits on Grindhouse, the latest movie from Quentin Tarantino. The second season of Heroes is making its debut in the US on Monday night. Story from BBC NEWS: |
| QUOTE |
| NBC has shelved plans for Heroes: Origins, a spinoff series of its hit show, and the possibility of a writers' strike contributed to the decision, Variety reported. Production has been halted indefinitely on the planned six-episode spinoff. It had attracted such talent as feature directors Eli Roth and Kevin Smith and writer Michael Dougherty (Superman Returns). NBC had planned to debut the show while Heroes was on hiatus. Heroes also has been facing sophomore growing pains, losing some key staff members, the trade paper reported. Insiders told Variety that Heroes: Origins isn't completely dead and could very well be revived at a later date, perhaps as soon as next season. |
| QUOTE |
| Heroes Origins Dies NBC confirmed that the proposed prequel spinoff, Heroes: Origins, is officially dead. "We consciously chose to rest [Heroes] this spring so that [creator] Tim Kring and his team could get ahead of the creative and build up to a massive event--a three-hour Heroes night," Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, said during the network's upfront presentation to advertisers in New York on April 2. "On Monday, Sept. 15, we'll kick off with a Heroes clip show to try to bring back the audience and [then air] a massive two-hour Heroes film." Silverman also explained why the heavily hyped, much-anticipated Heroes: Origins was scrapped. The show was originally conceived to help eliminate Heroes repeats, and directors and writers--including feature-film vets Kevin Smith, Eli Roth and Michael Dougherty--were already lined up before NBC dropped the idea. "We were taxing our creative team to do too much around that," Silverman said. "We wanted 35 Heroes [episodes] and 12 Heroes: Origins, each of which was supposed to be a mini-movie and backdoor pilot. We reached far and challenged our people, and we decided it was better to focus on keeping the Heroes mothership as strong as possible." |