Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander have been fired from Heroes!!

[SuperT]

NBC Unhappy With Sagging ‘Heroes’ Ratings; Fires Producers
Posted on 02 November 2008 by Robert Seidman

Variety reports:

Big shakeup on the staff of NBC’s “Heroes” came down on Sunday with the axing of co-exec producers Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb.

Both scribe-producers had been with the show since its first season and were known to have led the day-to-day production operation under the direction of creator/exec producer Tim Kring. - Read the rest on Variety

The story goes on to say that the Peacock brass wasn’t happy with the creative direction of the show. It’s nice to hear that they are taking fan feedback to heart, though we’re pretty sure that it wouldn’t care if the ratings hadn’t turned south. NBC claims it doesn’t worry about ratings, only margins. But in most cases ratings and margins are correlated, especially when (according to Variety) there are budget overruns and each episode is budgeted at a hefty four million dollars to produce.

Despite the ratings downturn, Heroes still has been one of NBC’s best performers among 18-49 year olds.

I'm absolutely shocked they let Loeb go!

 

[Mister J]

Whoa. [/Keanu]

 

[Primal Slayer]

Cant believe they fired Loeb! He was(or seemed) to be a big part of the show and he was very active behind the scenes. I wonder how much this is going to effect the show.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I hope this sees an improvement in the show.

 

[Lobo]

^Likewise

I'm a bit shocked though.

 

[SuperT]

I don't know how this will help just at face value. Jesse and Jeph have been with the show since day one.

Jeph wrote "One Giant Leap" & "Unexpected" from season one, and "Powerless" from season two. Jesse wrote last weeks episode "Eris Quod Sum". Not to mention they are both in charge of the writing as a whole and co-executive producers!

 

[04nbod]

I don't how this will help just at face value. Jesse and Jeph have been with the show since day one.

Jeph wrote "One Giant Leap" & "Unexpected" from season one, and "Powerless" from season two. Jesse wrote last weeks episode "Eris Quod Sum". Not to mention they are both in charge of the writing as a whole and co-executive producers!

and they were all great episodes

 

[louiebling$]

This Saddens me alot... since I loved the direction they were goining.

 

[Sawyer]

I fear this is the beginning of the end. I didnt pay much attention to those who were saying that when the ratings decreased and when there were a couple crappy episodes at the beginning of this season, but this?! When a network fires two of the best writers (Eris Quod Sum was the best in S3 so far!) .... not good.

NBC is going to realize that they made a huge mistake when they see that getting rid of them wont help the show, it hinders it.

 

[Maximus One]

damn this blows

 

[louiebling$]

I'm afraid this might be the end of heroes.

 

[Halcohol]

I'm afraid this might be the end of heroes.

Pretty sure it caught a terminal disease last year. This is just a blood transfusion in the hope they can keep this golden-egg-laying show going.

 

[Sawyer]

Pretty sure it caught a terminal disease last year. This is just a blood transfusion in the hope they can keep this golden-egg-laying show going.

The writers werent the problem in season two. The constant *****ing from some of the fans was the problem.

 

[Halcohol]

The writers werent the problem in season two. The constant *****ing from some of the fans was the problem.

Exactly, in that it killed any kind of viewer confidence in the show. The dismissal of these two writers who are fairly good at their craft will only continue to undermine the show.

Unless of course it starts to get awesome, and I think that was going to happen with the next episode anyway.

 

[louiebling$]

I liked season 2 and take it for wat it is...... a cut season.So its not the Producers Fault. This season isn't either.. I love the direction of the show.... All the heroes fans aren't accepting a change in the tone of the show Aka Sylar being a Petrelli, the hunger, and him being a good guy. Come on... sometimes shows need to go through changed so it doesn't get boring.I like where the show is goin. Since episode one of this season. I seriously can't see any reason why there is so much hate and abandonment from the viewers.

 

[Sawyer]

If this means no more Tim Sale paintings, I'm gonna be pissed.

Plus, hasnt the show lost enough writers in Bryan Fuller (who went on to do Pushing Daisies) and Michael Green (who created Kings, the new pilot set to air on NBC). Now Alexander and Loeb are out. So that basically leaves Kring and... not too many others. I think it was a stupid thing to do on NBCs part. I can tell you with a good amount of certainty that getting rid of these two will not improve the show in any way, shape or form.

 

[SuperT]

Well, seeing as Pushing Daisies is on it's death bed right now I wonder if this is an open door for Bryan Fuller to come back as a new Co-Executive Producer or the head of writing for this show.

Now if that were the case the loss of Loeb and Alexander wouldn't be that bad.

 

[Syncos]

The writers werent the problem in season two. The constant *****ing from some of the fans was the problem.

Constant *****ing from "some of the fans" doesn't cause a 50% drop in ratings since season one. Season two did that all on it's own.

 

[Sawyer]

Constant *****ing from "some of the fans" doesn't cause a 50% drop in ratings since season one. Season two did that all on it's own.

Agree to disagree. I feel that, from the beginning of the series, there were those that actually loved it and those that were watching just because it was the thing to do. The real fans stuck through season two to now and the other guys were complaining about the lack of Hiro.

 

[Prison Mike]

maybe Loeb can come back to Smallville now.

 

[Sawyer]

maybe Loeb can come back to Smallville now.

Eeh, no. If anything, he should go back to Lost.

 

[Poetic Chaos]

Herowned.

 

[Silk Spectre]

Loeb is a good writer, I suspect the problem may be elsewhere in the team. IMO, the show will only get worse with Loeb gone. I love Heroes, but they have left too many loose ends.

 

[stcardinal]

http://youbentmywookie.com/entertainment/heroes-panics-at-low-ratings-does-something-stupid-1223

Here's another report about it with some commentary about why the show is tanking. I think it's pretty valid and I personally think it's a mistake to axe Loeb...

 

[Syncos]

Agree to disagree. I feel that, from the beginning of the series, there were those that actually loved it and those that were watching just because it was the thing to do. The real fans stuck through season two to now and the other guys were complaining about the lack of Hiro.

There's a difference between loving a series and being blinded by it. There's no doubt that the quality of story dropped from season one. Some of the viewers have been able to hold through it. Others haven't.

The show has flaws. Like any other. It's still one of the better messes on television. But season one was relatively bulletproof when it came to imperfections. It simply didn't have many. People came to expect that as a status quo.

If heroes falls, it's a victim of it's own success. They made the characters so beloved by the masses that they wrote themselves into a corner, and season one was soo good, that they had nowhere else to go, but down.