Heroes

While the future of some NBC shows, such as Friday Night Lights, remains a mystery, today the network announced it will be renewing three of its most popular dramas for next season.  Life and Chuck will return to the network with at least 13 more episodes in the fall, and they'll be joined by the third season of Heroes.  However, the really great news for fans is that the super powered series will be returning with more than 22 episodes, which should make up for the truncated run of season 2.  It's unknown just how many episodes Heroes will produce, but they should begin airing sometime this fall.

"We are thrilled to be bringing back the high-energy dramas Chuck and Life for next season," said Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman of NBC Entertainment.  "Additionally, we will be saving and re-launching our #1 drama and most successful franchise, Heroes, so that it will run in all original episodes in the fourth quarter."

Many fans were disappointed in the second season of Heroes, not just because it was cut off after 11 episodes, but because the quality dropped sharply from the first season.  Creator Tim Kring has acknowledged in various interviews that he's aware of the problems fans had with season 2, and has admitted that he plans to breathe new life into the series when it returns.

As for Chuck and Life, neither was a ratings powerhouse, but both shows drew in a solid, dedicated fanbase.  It's unknown if they'll keep their original time slots come fall, or if NBC will want to move them around in an attempt to garner higher ratings.  However, fans can probably assume that Chuck won't be moving to Thursday nights, which is where it aired its final episodes of season 1.  Those two episodes drew in all time low ratings for the series, and hopefully NBC will be smart enough not to try that trick again.

Fans are going to have to wait awhile for new episodes of these shows, but hopefully the wait will be worth it.  We'll find out this fall.


- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of NBC)