According to Scifi Wire, the NBC show Heroes has been given a return date of September 15th of this year. However, the proposed spin-off series titled Heroes: Origins has been canceled before it was even broadcast.
As they have done with many shows, NBC plans to kick off the new season by showing a one-hour clip show. This will be followed by a two-hour season premiere. That's three hours of Heroes in one night. That's enough to cause a brain aneurysm for the more ardent Heroes fans.
Production of one of the more highly anticipated shows on the NBC schedule, Heroes: Origins, has been put on hold. Apparently, due to fears of a pending writers' strike. Or, maybe not.
According to The Hollywood Reporter the Heroes spin-off will not be receiving its six-episode run, which was to begin in April of 2008. While NBC hasn't officially said that the series is canceled producers have not been given a date when it would be put on the schedule. During the network upfronts held last May it was mentioned that Origins would be spelling its older sibling during a late-season hiatus.
TheHeroesComic-Con panel was jam-packed - so jam-packed that I almost didn't make it in despite getting in line three hours before it kicked-off. Fortunately, I squeaked in for the last 2/3 of the event - just in time to catch the announcement that none other than Kevin Smith would write and direct the first episode of Heroes: Origins, the mid-season replacement spin-off that will feature six episodes introducing six new characters. Viewers will decide which character joins the full-time Heroes cast. Each Origins episode will be directed by a different auteur. We'll be getting more announcements about the talent line-up for Origins in the coming months.
NBC had a special event on the set of Heroes today to announce that they're going global ... literally. The cast and creators will be traveling to at least seven major cities to promote the first season of the show in places it hasn't premiered yet. Although according to Tim Kring it's been watched (sometimes illegally, *gasp*) worldwide over the internet. Cities confirmed so far are: Toyko, Hong Kong, Singapore, Munich, Paris, London, and New York. We're fairly sure they've heard of it in New York City, call us crazy.
Nissan will be sponsoring the tour, which will also be going green in an effort to "reduce the carbon footprint," Kring said, although he wasn't quite sure how, since jets and cars eat are on the forefront of global polluting. Maybe they can bike around Europe? That'd be a nice special feature on next season's DVD. Greg Grunberg, who plays the mind-reading Matt Parkman, said he was visiting Paris with his wife recently, and the show hasn't even premiered on the air there. However, he had people coming up to him left and right who recognized him from seeing the show on their computers. Sacrebleu!