Heroes Origins was an interesting spin-off idea from Heroes, but it was killed by the 2007 writer’s strike and declining ratings.
What Is It?
Heroes Origins was planned as a six-episode spin-off from NBC’s Heroes that was designed to bring new heroes into the fold with unique abilities. Each episode would center around a new character, exploring their backstory and powers, and how they learned to deal with their newfound abilities. The audience would then vote for their favorite new character, with the winning selection becoming a regular part of the main series in the upcoming season.
Aired: Never Aired
Created By: Tim Kring
Why Didn’t it Fly?
When Heroes debuted back in the Fall of 2006, it became an instant hit on a level not dissimilar to Lost, which had reinvigorated broadcast network interest in sci fi back in 2004. NBC knew that they had something big on their hands and went the multi-platform route with online comics and the Heroes Evolutions “digital extension” of the show that bowed at mid-season. And going into the second year, the network wanted to continue and expand the show’s reach with the spin-off series Heroes: Origins which was originally planned to air when the main show was on its Winter break (later changed to act as a post-script for the show’s second season). In addition to introducing new characters, series creator Tim Kring also said that the spin-off would reveal the origins of the Helix symbol seen frequently on the show.
Everything seemed to be in place for the Heroes: Origins launch as the Fall 2007 season prepared to kick off until the show ran into a couple of major snags. First, the writer’s strike brought the broadcast networks to a standstill. The second season of Heroes was cut short to only eleven episodes and the decision was made not to do any more for that season once the strike was resolved. Second (and equally important), the parent show’s ratings slipped. The second season debut was down from the first year, though not by too much. But subsequent weeks saw the ratings continue to slide as Heroes-mania appeared to have cooled. In the wake of these pitfalls, NBC decided to cancel plans for the Heroes: Origins series altogether (no episodes had been filmed yet and I don’t believe that any scripts had been completed either).
The writer’s strike has long been targeted as the main reason that the spin-off series never emerged, but as I was following the ratings closely at that time, I personally believe that the viewership drop-off was equally to blame. The writer’s strike definitely stalled things, but it was resolved soon enough that the six-episode series could have been pulled together and aired by season end as originally planned (several other shows from the 2007-08 season returned with new episodes before year-end). And it would have been the perfect stop-gap as only a handful of eps of the parent series would not have fit well with Kring’s plans of rolling that one out in “volumes” of twelve to thirteen episode arcs. But NBC execs apparently did not like the numbers they were seeing and cancelled the spin-off before it began.
Would It Have Worked as a Series?
The basic premise of the show was somewhat gimmicky, but it still could have offered an interesting continuation of the parent series. And it could have still fit into the show’s third or fourth season (or even aired in Summer), but the network chose not to go forward with the spin-off. Of course, considering the decline in quality that we saw from Heroes itself after its first season (which Kring blames largely on network tinkering), maybe it was for the best. But it still might have been an interesting addition to the show’s run, and it could have expanded on some of the concepts presented in the show that were never very well developed.
Where Can You Watch It?
The spin-off was never produced, and as I mentioned above, it does not appear that any scrips were ever written for it. So it apparently never went beyond the development stage and is now little more than a footnote in the history of Heroes.
Read about more Sci Fi TV pilots that did not fly at this link.
CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the airing, returning, and upcoming sci fi and fantasy shows for the current season with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and you can see the premieres for all the upcoming genre entries at this link.
