NBC’s Heroes underwent a creative shakeup Sunday with the firing of co-executive producers Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander.
Variety reports the two writer-producers were axed because of the network’s frustration with the direction of the three-year-old series, which has taken a pounding this season from fans and critics.
The show is averaging 9 million-plus viewers, down from 11.6 million last season. According to the trade paper, Heroes also has been grappling with overruns that far exceed the $4 million-per-episode budget.
Alexander was a co-executive producer of Lost and Alias before joining Heroes. Loeb, of course, is best known for his comics work such as Batman: The Long Halloween and A Superman for All Seasons, and as a producer of Smallville.
November 2nd, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Both this craptacular show and Fringe have been axed from my DVR.
Life on Mars and Knight Rider never even made it to the device.
Jury is still out on Sarah Connor, which is scheduled to record tomorrow.
November 2nd, 2008 at 11:28 pm
didnt see that coming, love loeb, its too bad but like a lot of people i think hereos is going down hill since season 2, loved season 1 though
November 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 pm
dr fun, I think just about everyone agrees that ‘Heroes’ has been going downhill since the first season. Hopefully this changes helps. I’ll give it a bit longer, but it’s been underwhelming.
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:18 am
Happy day! Always hated Loeb’s writing and his bad attitude and snobbishness in his Word Balloon interviews. Maybe now Heroes will get better and I’ll watch again.
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:05 am
I think this is exactly what the show needed. Loeb used to be one of the greats (check out The Long Halloween and virtually all of his work with Tim Sale), but in the past few years he’s gone from a favorite to one of my least favorite writers in the business.
If they’d only fire him from the Ultimate Universe, then I’d be really happy. Ultimates 3 was astonishingly terrible.
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:33 am
If they’d only fire him from the Ultimate Universe, then I’d be really happy. Ultimates 3 was astonishingly terrible.
Hulk as well, if I had my way. It’s hard to argue with the sales figures, but the book is such a step down from Pak’s great run. Sad that it went so quickly from grand and epic to merely big and stupid.
Anyway, I’m off the topic at hand. Any idea how far into production Heroes is at this point? I’m wondering when we’ll start to see the work of the revised creative team.
November 3rd, 2008 at 5:16 am
Loeb’s handful of screenplays for this show were among the better ones, so I find this decision odd. He was also the one person involved with the show for the first two years who actually understood comic books. If anything, he was underused.
Never mind that without him, Tim Sale would not have been the artist of the Mendez paintings.
Perhaps the addition of former DC editor Chuck Kim and of Mark Verheiden to the writing staff is letting them think they can do without Jeph. Personally, I think it would be a lot better if they go rid of Tim Kring, who may have created the show but who is a poor writer.
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:50 am
This may be good for the show because every single season has been a rip-off of whatever great storyline in comics. Loeb I thought was directly responsible for that. Of course he denied it but please don’t insult our intelligent. Having read his recent comics whether it was Ultimate 3 or Ultimate Powers or Wolverine. He has ran out of creative juices.
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:03 am
I think one of the main problems with Heroes right now is an inflated cast. They really need to trim the fat on the show. For example, is Parkman really necessary this season?
Maybe they will. Loeb’s weakness in his writing is throwing way too many guest stars in each comic issue he writes.
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:18 am
I actually think this season is better than the 2nd, but I can understand some of the frustrations.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:09 am
Well, I was just starting to get into the show again. Season 1 was great, but it was like catching lightning in a bottle. I have enjoyed season 3, and considering what Jeph Loeb can do when he is on the right project (Superman/Batman, Hush, Long Halloween), this great disappoints me.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:28 am
A lot of people here are celebrating the fact that Loeb is off HEROES, but you’re forgetting one chilling thing: It’ll free up his time to write (i.e. destroy) even more comic books.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:41 am
Crap!
I guess this means he’ll be writing more comics.
November 3rd, 2008 at 8:46 am
I never understood the appeal of Jeph Loeb’s writing. Someone must really see something I don’t. The only three things he has ever written that I would deem memorable are Challengers of the Unknown, Batman: The Long Halloween and Teen Wolf.
Other than that he’s the event guy. Ultimates 3, Hush, Red Hulk, Heroes Reborn. I don’t know if his firing will help Heroes at this point, the shows an absolute mess. Can it be fixed at this point? I don’t know Loeb was involved in my least favorite portion of Lost, and it rebounded. But the show needed to do something two months ago, not wait until this one finished up.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:45 am
There is justice in this world after all.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:57 am
I’m not sure why people are bashing the current season so much, when it’s leaps and bounds above the past one. But, if a new Exec-producer can make better things happen, more power to them. Are we gonna see J. Michael Strazynski’s(sp?) Heroes, now?
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:23 am
Maybe he’ll be writing BETTER comics, now that he’ll have more time to put more thought into them.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:32 am
Ugh, I was hoping for the exact opposite in that he would go away from comics for a while. This gives him ample opportunity to write more rubbish for Marvel.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:37 am
This is a shame. Those who followed this show from the official press releases know that Loeb was very active in the show’s creation.
You may or may not like his comics. Whether you do or not probably directly relates to how sensational and over-the-top you like your comics.
However, the man has a solid grasp of dialogue and plot and finding the right story beats. He employs some different techniques in his comics that downplay some of the aspects some people want to see there but his TV and film work probably has an appeal that transcends his comics work.
Smallville’s best years were when he was a producer on that show. It didn’t really come into its own until Loeb was on board, he wrote some of the best and most memorable episodes and the show became unglued after he left.
He also worked on Lost at its height and the show went downhill after his departure.
I realize Heroes has floundered some. However, a good deal of what made the show what it was in the beginning was due to Loeb’s contribution. He’s worked with Tim Kring for over 25 years and I credit much of what was right with the show to Loeb as sounding board.
You may find new writers with some fresh spins to put on everything but I doubt you’d find anyone who had the rapport with Kring that Loeb did and I’m not sure that a series that ostensibly launched with a multi-year plan would benefit from too many fresh spins; instead, what’s needed is to reconnect with the show’s genesis, something Loeb was there for when he hashed out Kring’s ideas on the infamous long walk where he helped Kring refine the concept of the show.
Not good.
Even worse to use the word “fired” in the release. The word “fired” is a strong word in a field littered with “creative differences” and “moving on to better projects”. The word “fired” carries with it the risk of gall and arrogance.
It means that if the show flounders, this decision will look VERY bad in hindsight.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:44 am
I don’t think Loeb or Alexander were the problems. I think it was pressures to capture the lightning in a bottle that was season 1 and Kring’s unfamiliarity with the genre that really hurt Heroes. The fact that Kring would rather tell the stories that were set up in the awful last season instead of essentially starting from scratch. Nevermind Kring’s belief that last season’s problem had more to do with pacing rather than poor characterizations and removing the strong character interactions from S1 (taking Hiro from Ando for too long was idiocy, same with taking Peter from everyone).
I think another of Kring’s biggest problem is that with his limited exposure to the comic genre, he never realized that all the cool toys he’s been playing with need cohesion. Sadly, as the show’s his baby, the people familiar with serialized sci-fi/fantasy/comic books were the ones to get the ax.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:48 am
Heroes started out shakey, but promising, and IMO three seasons later it has never lived up to its promise. I don’t think Loeb was the problem – too bad he got the axe.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:54 am
Patrick, what do you mean “Lost went downhill after his departure”?
Even if you found the show’s third season uneven and a bit rocky at times (you should go back and watch that season again… It holds up better when the episodes are in quick succession, and that season had a kick-ass final run of shows), I can only guess you didn’t watch season four. The show just kept getting better and better, and it’s as intriguing (if not moreso) that it ever was. Lost hasn’t been spinning its wheels or floundering around like Heroes is. It’s moved forward (literally), and it has a definite direction with the endgame in mind.
Lost is so much better than Heroes ever was that it’s not even funny. If you haven’t seen Lost in a awhile, catch back up with the DVDs or reruns (on both Sci-Fi and G4). The idea that Heroes should “flounder” after Loeb’s departure is hilarious. Heroes has been floundering pretty much since the end of season one, as the ratings and fan disgust have shown.
I can’t speak for Heroes right now, as I stopped watching completely after the first couple of shows in season two, but from what I’m reading here and elsewhere, it sounds like I’m not missing anything. Chances are, that show’s never going to recover with Kring in charge.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:01 am
“Those who followed this show from the official press releases”
hahahahahhahahhahhahahaaahhahahhahahhahahhahhahahhahahhahahhha
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:26 am
Dear Jeph,
Please go back to Smallville and give it a proper comic perspective send off in its last season.
Who cares about Heroes? It for non-comic book fans that don’t really want to be seen ‘reading’ comics, but want to be on the band-wagon of being a comic geek, cause it’s ‘cool’ now.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:41 am
Marvel needs to take the hint next and get rid of Loeb too!
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Good. As much as I like some of Jeph Loeb’s work, he has lost his touch, and I can’t help but feel like a lot of the oddness with Heroes is his doing. The show is better off without him.
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
thank the maker!
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:39 pm
maybe now that he has free time he can concentrate to actually WRITE his comics instead of jumping titling sequences of splash pages and having his monkey fill in any dialogue…
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
NeoSamurai’s right on the money. Creator Tim Kring has no clue what makes a superhero narrative interesting, let alone stable. When “Heroes” started out with the goal with save the world, and they did at the final first episode, I knew the show was a dead man walking. I wouldn’t be surprised if the show got axed after three seasons, and that would be more embarrassing to NBC than the new Bionic Woman show.
As for Loeb, he’s a able writer. Going back to Smallville won’t happen because it’s in its final season. That show (and the underrated “Chuck”) knows where it was going.
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I’ve been reading his work for quite some time and also watching the comic book news for just as long, if not longer.
His most notable work was done in the 90′s. I don’t know the man so the following is coming from an outsider perspective, but it is my opinion that Loeb’s work has been on a downhill slide ever since his son became ill, and he is missing his muse.
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:38 pm
heroes has been god awful this year. after the first year the good writer left to create pushing daisies. since then it’s all been downhill
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Heroes has really, really sucked this season and makes very little sense anymore. It’s usually the last thing I watch on my DVR now, and it used to be the first. Now on Heroes we have Petrelli SR, Silar, and Peter who all have the same damn powers. We also have Petrelli Sr who kills Parkman SR to get to Matt who’s powers aren’t at good at Parkman SR. Can we get some NEW ORIGINAL IDEAS back in the show. This show has limitless potential and a show of its kind could stay on the air for years and years, but it’s being run into the ground fast!
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:11 pm
“it’s being run into the ground fast!
Too late: http://tinyurl.com/nbc-cancels-heroes
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Just wanted to elaborate on my earlier comments. I was not knocking Loeb overall, he is a solid yet unspectacular comic book writer. This does not mean his screen writing sucks, just that Lost was at it’s weakest for the 12 episodes he oversaw. (I am going somewhere with this, so please hold on).
Yet, from a comic book perspective has he ever written a seminal story or run on a book not named the long Halloween? (OK I did forget Superman For All Seasons) He has been blessed with working with some top talent Tim Sale, Jim Lee, Michael Turner, Chris Bachalo, and Rob Liefeld or top projects in the case of Ultimates 3. But not once have I seen anyone utter the phrase “Jeph Loeb” run in correlation to any of his longer term assignments. Heroes is an absolute mess right now, pulling from every hackneyed comic book and sci fi cliche there is. Maybe Loeb was to blame for the poor direction, maybe not. But he is one of the guys responsible for Onslaught.
November 4th, 2008 at 1:34 am
wait can someone tell me what was so good about season one of heros besides the last episode of it, when everyone came together. its either you want comic book action or soap opera drama. i rather comic book action. the main stars of heros are corny at best and idiotic for seconds. well to clear that up its mostly, peter, hiro and claire. i think every one forgot that there cant be gigantic conspriacy every season and they are not the x men , a super hero team is not happening. as they guys being fired. its a shame if show gets “worse”. i’ll watch all the same, not sure you watch tv for superior writing and plot. read a book.
November 4th, 2008 at 4:23 am
This season is awesome! I really like it… I’m noy sure why you’re all whinning Like B!%#$S
November 4th, 2008 at 6:00 am
GOOGLE THE NAMES ENJAI EELE AND AMNAU EELE, if you want to know the TRUTH behind the firing of Jeph Loeb.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Funny, I remember thinking as I watched the first two episodes of the season how much they reminded me of a Loeb comic book experience. Now I know WHY I stopped watching after those first two episodes. Loeb’s heavy involvement in the day-to-day operation of the show undoubtedly infused the scripts with his storytelling sensibilities….most of which stick out like sore thumbs.
November 4th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I think the show has had too much of a comic book perspective. We all can see elements from a lot of past storylines from comics. Heores has the potential for some original ideas not X-Men rehashes. But I still think this season is doing ok.
November 4th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
u dumb shits who whine and complain 1st offf this season is amazing and loeb lost his son due to cancer a couple of yrs ago sooo srry that hes been “out” of it i think he is amazing his work is great so all of you jack asses really need to shut the f up o and btw justin you spelt sylar wrong jack ass
November 4th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Hurray! This opens the door for Kevin Smith to write Heroes!
November 4th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I dont understand why everyone thinks this season is so bad! I mean its not perfect but Heroes is a great show for comic book fans! And this season is far better than the second one. All this is going to get the show cancel. its a shame and a guy getting fired its never a nice news.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
This is the weakest freakin article I have every read. What the freak? You have someone like Loeb fired from a show like heroes and this is all we get?
Reads to me like someone is trying to brush this under the carpet.
November 8th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Trialze, if you go out and read the trade publications for the TV industry (i.e. Variety) you get the same exact thing. Ratings are down, equals all non-fanboys are dropping the show. Less ratings is less revenue equals people lose their jobs. There is nothing more to report.
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Long Halloween, Hush, Spiderman Blue, a reinvigorated Smallville, Superman/Batman.
His son dies
Lost, Heroes, Red Hulk, Ultimates 3 . . . .
Its sad, but its true.
November 26th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
very good \o/
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