Heroes (2006-2010): What Happened to this Show?

When it premiered in 2006, Tim Kring’s Heroes was raved about and considered the next great piece of episodic genre TV. Many thought it would be the next Lost, and Hayden Panettiere became a star overnight. But, as soon as season 2 started, the show seemingly jumped the shark, and what began as a promising superhero epic became just another TV soap opera. What happened? Part of it had to do with the fact that Bryan Fuller, who consulted on Season One, left before the second season, while the second season also coincided with the WGA Writer’s Strike, which spelled the doom for many shows. While Heroes would continue for another few seasons, viewership died off, and many felt that the show never lived up to the considerable promise of the first season.

In this episode of Gone But Not Forgotten, which is written, produced and edited by David Arroyo and narrated by Jesse Shade, we dig into how this epic fantasy about ordinary people imbued with superhero abilities initially captured the public’s imagination. While the series would eventually end with a whimper rather than a bang, it also made Zachary Quinto, who played the show’s scene-stealing villain Sylar, a star paving the way for him to play Spock in the new J.J. Abrams series of Star Trek movies. Hayden Panettiere would become a major star, while Milo Ventimiglia would eventually land a long run on NBC’s This is Us. Masi Oka would also become a cult icon. Still, there was a bad side to the show too, with news coming out years later about how star Leonard Roberts was written out due to conflicts with co-star Ali Larter. At the same time, behind-the-scenes changes made the quality of the show decline season-to-season, ruining what should have been an excellent TV franchise.

Do you have fond memories of Heroes? Let us know in the comments!

#Heroes #gonebutnotforgotten
00:00 Introduction
00:56 How Heroes was created
05:08 Heroes: The Cast
11:25 Save the Cheerleader, save the world
12:45 Sylar
14:51 Ali Larter controversy
17:17 The writer's strike and season 2
18:46 Rating's decline
20:38 Bryan Fuller and season 4
21:46 What is the cast doing now?

[mrfoofoo]

I still think sylar is one of the most unstoppable, intimidating TV villains of all time for the first season or two.

[ragabashmoon]

Their marketing for this show was so amazing. Even if you didn't watch the show, you knew "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World"

[moleman]

That first season was so magical, back in the pre-MCU days! All of us comics geeks were so thrilled to see someone adapting the types of stories we loved into TV! It was sad to watch the decline, but it definitely did decline - the quality of the show dropped pretty hard after the first season. In my memory, I held on through 3 seasons, and then I tapped out. But "save the cheerleader, save the world" will always ring an emotional bell for me!

[nahuelh]

One of the best shows ever. Peter Petrelli literally inspired me to become a nurse and i will never forget that character.

[fearsomezq]

This show was so insanely good at its peak. It was probably my favorite show ever at one point. Its really sad to see the decline of such good shows.

[AxelordSMIJES]

First season and 'some' of the second was some of the best TV ever created. Sylas was terrifying. Peter was compelling. Claire was relatable. Hiro was noble and heroic and the rest of the characters were great in their own right.

Noah was one of my favorites. The Man with the Horn Rimmed Glasses was just amazing.

[mozzie]

I couldn't tell you how many times I heard "save the cheerleader, save the world" while this show was airing. It was a good show and Syler had a good redeeming arc.

[mouthofmania]

The next repeat of this was West World. The first season of West World was a work of art. Just perfect.

[HoustonSoto]

One thing an old coworker said to me once “you can teach a course on what to do and what not to do when writing a series by using just “Heroes” as an example”. That hit profoundly lol.

[david.stachon]

The first season was just brilliant.

Wow, did they ever blow it. 😞

[NabilAbdulrashidComedy]

So much potential this show had.. and it helped inspire a lot of the shows we have today. If it was on now it would’ve been amazing

[roguemike]

Great video! Got a few of jarring editing mistakes with lines getting cut off. I loved this show!

[RichardBarclay]

For many years I considered the first season of heroes to be the best single season of a TV show ever. Such a shame they couldn't keep that quality.

[mdwesquire]

I’ve always believed that Heroes was intended to be a limited series and should have stayed that way.

[AvoidTheCadaver]

I loved this show so much. Sylar embodied that ultimate predator vibe and all he ever wanted was to find out how it worked. That made him even more terrifying as a villain

[mobius]

This was one of the first Adult shows I actually sat down and watched with my Dad and we both couldnt wait until the next week for the next episode! Save the cheerleader, save the world!

[Squaredot]

Season 1 of this show was so damned good. I had no idea the original idea for the show was to have new cast members for season 2. I would have totally been on board with that if they could write and cast characters as interesting as the ones in the first season and have such a great story line.

[Kittysuit]

i never knew they had different writers for the different characters. that explains why the show felt so unique i feel. i miss it a lot, and hate that it went downhill after season 1. also, i will forever see Zachary Quinto as a bad guy LOL.

[Ryotbh]

All I remember about the downfall of Heroes was that it was massively effected by the writing strike. Glad my memory didn’t let me down! It was a shame, as it ran out of steam really quickly. Not only did the storylines start becoming really dull but the characters stopped acting like they previously did; I can remember it becoming frustratingly obvious that the drop in writing quality was due to the strikes.

[logankerlee]

Really enjoyed this video! Growing up, I was a huge fan of this show! Each week I watched as they developed the story. I was hooked in and BEGGING for more! This of course changed from a hunger for new amazing episodes to a feeling of disappointment for how the show changed into what it became in the seasons following the first. There are days where I want to visit those memories and enjoy them - and I'm grateful that I can. Still though - that disappointment creeps back up and I'm left with that feeling unless I swiftly put another hit show on that lifts my mood. The show that I frequently put on when that happens has been and likely will remain to be Smallville. I LOVE THAT SHOW!! It's so damn comforting to watch for me. :)

lol, I'm gonna nip that in the bud and leave this at that. :) Just wanted to express my gratitude for creating this video. Heroes was an amazing show that went down a sad path.