Heroes Gets the Shaft

Save the Cheerleader. Save the world.

After 4 seasons, today NBC announced cancellation of the once-beloved superhero TV show, Heroes. Can't say it's much of a surprise. I was blown away in the first season -- that a superhero story could make it on a primary network was really exciting. While several of the characters and parts of the storyline seemed a bit derivative of other superhero stories, such as X-men, I tried to keep an open mind. I'm a believer that it's important for us geeks to support geek-inspired/related programming.

But after a promising season 1, season 2 just didn't hold my attention. Every character, even the minor ones, have significant powers. Well, what the hell? Why don't we ALL have superpowers. Lame. And why should I care about all of the characters equally? The cast was already fairly large, and a handful of new characters were introduced in season 2. I gave up there, so maybe there were even more in season 3. Good God, who can keep track? Who would want to? There were even fan-based campaigns to kill off a bunch of the characters so the show could get back to the core team. That should've been a sign to the writers if nothing else.

I know a lot of people were irritated by Hiro -- I didn't mind him, but I really hated the seemingly endless time-shifting plotline. I loved evil Sylar (Zachary Quinto) but was mystified by reformed/good Sylar. I liked Noah "Horn Rimmed Glasses" Bennett (Jack Coleman), and really loved the Artist (not sure of his name) who told the future through his comic book art. But then they killed him off. The show just lost itself and couldn't quite recover, at least not in time to recapture my attention.

So, RIP Heroes. We'll always have season 1...

Wonder what Hayden Panettierre will be doing now?