Tim Kring Talks the Return of Heroes Season 2 Post-Strike

By Sam | February 6, 2008 (2:27 pm)

With news that the Writers Strike is very, very, very close to coming to an end for good, thus meaning all TV shows will be rushing back to the airwaves, what does Tim Kring, creator of Heroes, have to say about Heroes returning to finish up its Season 2? Not such great stuff, unfortunately. According to Kring, he can only complete three episodes this season given the time constraints, with much of the production time having been lost to the strike. So what does all that mean? Chances are, Season 2 is done, and Kring will save what he’s already shot for Volume 3 and use it instead to kick off Season 3 later this year.

Here’s what Kring told EW:

All this operates under the assumption that the networks would even want the lion’s share of their programs back before May. For instance, NBC could delay the return of Heroes until fall since creator Tim Kring thinks he can only complete three more episodes this season. That’s barely enough time to relaunch the series with a new story arc entitled ”Villains” (which they had planned to do with the second half of the season before the strike began). ”With a show like Heroes that’s so strongly serialized, and given what we wanted to accomplish with the new storyline, to come back with just three episodes could be creatively dangerous,” he says.

Just to sum it all up: it is a very strong likelihood that Heroes Season 2 has ended, and Kring will now save Volume 3, “Villains”, for Season 3, which would, if the previous seasons are any indication, return sometime in September 2008.

Update

More confirmation, of sorts, that Season 2 is finished, and we’ll have to wait for Season 3 in September for more Heroes from EW:

According to executive producer Tim Kring, even if his creative team went back to work ASAP — and assuming that NBC still plans to wrap its TV season at the end of May as usual — Team Heroes would only be able to complete three more (quality) episodes. Why so few? Blame the show’s sprawling scope and complicated F/X (that fantastical time-stopping stuff takes actual time, you know). Moreover, Kring & Co. had been hoping to redeem the show’s shaky second season with a new “volume” of stories (titled “Villains”) that would have basically rebooted the series. But when the strike began in November, they had just begun plotting the comeback. In fact, the first episode of that arc, which they wanted to play like a season premiere, hadn’t been fully written. All things considered, Kring would rather relaunch Heroes when he has more episodes to play with. If NBC extends its strike-screwed season into June, that could happen sooner. If not, he’d rather wait, perhaps till fall. “To come back with just three episodes could be creatively dangerous,” says Kring. “But that’s my personal opinion. I’m not sure where the network stands in the matter. Hopefully we’ll hear that in a few days.”

He’s still hedging his bets, but it seems very likely that this is a done deal.

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