Why the creator of ‘Heroes’ apologised to fans
Not every new TV series with an engaging central concept is destined to ignite a sprawling multi-season arc, but a regular downside is that plenty of the ones that do fail to recapture the momentum that made them so popular in the first place, which forced Heroes creator Tim Kring into issuing a public apology.
Arriving in the wake of the early-2000s superhero boom but before the advent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe monopolised the genre, the premise finds a group of ordinary people discovering that they’ve gained newfound and unexplainable abilities, with a nefarious organisation known as The Company trying to stem, control, and on occasion eliminate any superpowered individuals who fail to comply with their terms.
An instant ratings sensation, Heroes averaged over 14 million viewers per week during the first season’s 23-episode run between September 2006 and May 2007, winning plenty of acclaim as one of the most exciting, entertaining, and imaginative episodic arrivals of the year. Not only that, but awards season recognition was to follow.
Shortlisted for a Golden Globe in the ‘Best Television Drama’ category, Heroes would also receive a Primetime Emmy nomination for ‘Outstanding Drama Series’, as well as landing further nods for its direction, editing, sound mixing, art direction, and stunt coordination.
Inevitably, a renewal was confirmed in short order, which is when the wheels started to come off. While the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike had a monumentally detrimental effect on the production – not least of all whittling the initial 24-episode order down to a mere 11 – the lack of energy and urgency to define the chapters that did air saw the response from critics and fans embark on a severe nosedive, forcing Kring to take action.
Addressing the elephant in the room, Heroes was midway through season two airing on the small screen when Kring spoke to Entertainment Weekly to offer an apology to the fandom for how the clear and obvious downturn in quality had affected a show that kicked off with such attention-grabbing promise.
“We assumed the audience wanted season one – a build-up of intrigue about these characters and the discovery of their powers,” he conceded. “We taught [them] to expect a certain kind of storytelling. They wanted adrenaline. We made a mistake. We took too long to get to the big-picture story.”
Continuing his own scathing assessment of the show he created, Kring admitted that the new characters “shouldn’t have been introduced in separate storylines that felt unattached to the show,” and not even the romance between Hayden Panettiere’s Claire and Masi Oka’s Hiro was safe. “I’ve seen more convincing romances on TV,” the showrunner accepted. “In retrospect, I don’t think romance is a natural fit for us.”
“The message is that we’ve heard the complaints and we’re doing something about it” were Kring’s final words on the subject, which he may or may not have done depending on how any long-time Heroes viewer feels about the third and fourth seasons, before it was ultimately cancelled in May 2010, and then resurrected again for sequel series Heroes Reborn five years later.
