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TV Wasteland: Wherefore Heroes?
NBC's always-on-the-bubble series angles for a fifth season By
Rob Vaux
February 08, 2010
Will NBC give Heroes a fifth season?
© NBC/Bob Trate
The season four finale of Heroes has crept up on us like a thief in the night, its further decline in the ratings masked by NBC's larger, smellier and exponentially more embarrassing problems. The question is not how tonight's episode will end but whether the show will ever be back once it does. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't: its copious expense and lackluster ratings speak to a definitive no-win scenario according to TV logic. But Heroes has defied the odds before. Indeed, no one thought a fourth season would even be possible, and the show's producers--ever-optimistic--are including teasers for a fifth after the finale. NBC, as has been noted, is royally screwed. With so many things to fix on that network, the thought of canceling any show with any kind of a following is madness. Fans of Heroes should brace for the end, but not despair. Hope springs eternal--for this show as few others--and where Peter, HRG and the gang are concerned, "good-bye" has a tricky way of turning into "see you later."
The Heroes finale runs at 9:00 PM Monday, February 8 on NBC.
Monday
24 (Fox, 9:00 PM EST)
Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) is heading undercover again, to find out if he can snag that pesky uranium from the Russians.
Chuck (NBC, 9:00 PM EST)
Agent Kent--uh, I mean Shaw (Brandon Routh)--sends Chuck (Zachary Levy) on a mission with Hannah (Kristen Kreuk) in an effort to put the moves on Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski). Stay strong Chuck! I'm sure the Nerd Herd has some Kryptonite lying around if you need it.
Heroes (NBC, 9:00 PM EST)
HRG (Jack Coleman) and Claire (Hayden Panettiere) are buried alive, while Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) has to decide if he can trust Sylar (Zachary Quinto) in the season (and possible series) finale. See the top of the article for more
Armageddon (F/X, 7:00 PM EST)
The real kick out of watching this overblown Michael Bay clunker is seeing the sheer number of good actors agreeing to appear in it. You can make a fun counting game while you watch stuff explode.
Tuesday
Lost (ABC, 9:00 PM EST)
Kate (Evangeline Lily) is rabbiting again, though what impact that has on the rest of the crew has yet to be seen.
Past Life (Fox, 9:00 PM EST)
Fox premieres a new show about a pair of detectives who help put the reincarnated souls of troubled people to rest.
Paranormal State (A&E, 10:00 PM EST)
It's been awhile since one of these shows tackled the Jersey Devil, so why not let Paranormal State take a crack at it? It's good fodder for campfire stories at the very least.
Paranormal Cops (A&E, 10:30 PM EST)
A firehouse may hold an unquiet spirit, prompting the team to check it out and incurring a series of possibly-supernaturally related illnesses. Hey, didn't the Ghostbusters operate out of a firehouse too?
Life After People (History, 10:00 PM EST)
Great topic this week: holiday items like fireworks and Christmas trees go straight to pot without us, as do cruise ships and similar objects of vacation-oriented excess.
Pitch Black (AMC, 8:00 PM EST)
Vin Diesel got all the press, but the real scene-stealer here is Keith David, playing a benevolent Muslim cleric in director David Twohy's nifty retake on Alien.
Psychic Kids is a rerun this week.
Wednesday
Human Target (Fox, 8:00 PM EST)
A den of mobsters and corrupt cops set their sights on a crusading district attorney (Kristen Lehman)… who's clearly smart enough to call in Chance (Mark Valley) for some grade-A butt whupping. This show really does take all the pain away.
Ghost Hunters International (Syfy, 9:00 PM EST)
It's another haunted prison, this one in Costa Rica. Try to resist the urge to scream.
MonsterQuest (History, 9:00 PM EST)
West Virginia's Mothman--a winged creature sighted some four decades ago--receives a full-bore study this week.
Thursday
The Vampire Diaries (The CW, 8:00 PM EST)
Katherine has been stuck in a tomb for the last couple of centuries, prompting the gang to find a way to open it. I'm guessing she's going to greet them with a snarl and the mother of all morning breath.
Supernatural (The CW, 9:00 PM EST)
Valentine's Day can be stressful on single people and couples alike. But when various S.O.s start offing each other in a blood-soaked frenzy, it's time to call in the Winchesters.
Past Life (Fox, 9:00 PM EST)
An innocent man is going to get the chair unless Kate (Kelli Giddish) and Price (Nicholas Bishop) can get to the truth about the murder for which he was convicted.
Burn Notice (USA, 10:00 PM EST)
Former Delta House rowdy Tim Matheson guest stars as Michael's (Jeffrey Donovan) ex-mentor, now being hunted by one of those pesky drug cartels you may have heard of.
War Wolves (Syfy, 7:00 PM EST)
Tim Thomerson and John Saxon star in this tale about a band of soldiers transformed into werewolves and hunted down by a special ops bad-ass. Gee, this airing wouldn't have anything to do with a prominent werewolf movie opening this Friday, would it?
Thor: Hammer of the Gods (Syfy, 9:00 PM EST)
Not the Marvel comics hero, just a run-of-the-mill Viking kicking supernatural ass the way they do.
Wanted (HBO, 9:00 PM EST)
As much as I hate myself, I can't help but grin every time I watch Mr. Tumnus shoot bullets around a corner.
Friday
Smallville (The CW, 8:00 PM EST)
Zatanna's (Serinda Swan) back--which should be cause for celebration in and of itself--as Clark (Tom Welling) and Lois (Erica Durance) head off to a comic book convention. Expect the in-joke meta-references to fly fast and thick. (Incidentally, they're rerunning the first Zatanna episode from last season at 9:00 PM EST for those who missed it).
Spartacus: Blood and Sand (Starz, 10:00 PM EST)
Since he blew it in the arena, Spartacus (Andy Whitfield) now gets to duke it out in the pits until his master (John Hannah) is happy again. You could make a drinking game out of the number of tits they flash on this show, but you'd be unconscious within ten minutes.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Cartoon, 7:30 PM EST)
It's Batman and Super-Batman squaring off against Rhotul on a far-off planet. Anybody got a line on Rhotul? He's not in my DC Comics Encyclopedia…
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Cartoon, 9:00 PM EST)
More fun with the Mandalorians as Satine is accused of financing terrorism.
Batman Begins (FX, 6:00 PM EST)
Amid the fully-justified Dark Knight love, it's easy to forget that Christopher Nolan's first foray in to the Bat-verse was just as outstanding.
Caprica is off this week. Ghost Whisperer and Medium are reruns.
Saturday
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (ABC, 8:00 PM EST)
The second and one of the best of the Harry Potter films finds Daniel Radcliffe's boy wizard facing down a basilisk in the dungeons of Hogwarts.
Total Recall (Syfy, 7:00 PM EST)
You know, I just like watching that shot at the end where Schwarzenegger's eyes bug out of his face. Over and over again. Don't judge me.
Transmorphers: Fall of Man (Syfy, 9:00 PM EST)
With a title like that, do you really need me to tell you not to tune in? Bruce Boxleitner stars, and we can only hope that that Tron 2 cameo goes off as planned for him. He's better than this.
Sunday
Near Dark (IFC, 6:45 PM EST)
All right Avatar fans, listen up: before you get your panties in a bunch over Kathryn Bigelow possibly beating Cameron at the Oscars, watch her magnificent 1987 vampire fable. It will help you understand just how awesome she is.
Shadow of the Vampire (IFC, 8:25 PM EST)
Willem Dafoe received an Oscar nomination for his turn as Max Schreck, star of the original Nosferatu who, in this imagining, just happens to be a real vampire.
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Anybody see that SNL skit "What Is Burn Notice" where contestants had to tell anything about Burn Notice. All three contestants were naturally completely clueless about what Burn Notice was about. Some of the answers were funny such as "Is it a reality show?" or "Is it about sunglasses?" Funny to watch.
I haven't watched Heroes in a while but the chances for a fifth season may be good because there are a lot of timeslots to be filled on NBC now that Jay Leno is going back to The Tonight Show.
By the way, I loved the Leno, Oprah, Letterman ad during the Super Bowl.