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Bryan Fuller is honest about why Heroes sucked and why it won't
That seemed to be the general consensus when Fuller's colorful fantasy opus, ABC's Pushing Daisies, was canceled and he moved back to NBC's superhero series, on which he had previously worked on season one (he was credited with one of the season's best episodes, "Company Man").
NBC quickly snatched him up. Now, in an exclusive interview, the creative producer/writer speaks to SCI FI Wire about returning to the fold, why he thought the show lost its way and where Heroes is heading. The following Q&A features edited excerpts of our interview. Heroes airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
When it was announced you were returning to Heroes, a lot of headlines boasted you would be saving the series. Did you feel that pressure? And how's that going for you?
Fuller: I didn't really feel any pressure, because I love this show, cast and crew. As an audience member, I could see the issues and why people were frustrated with it. At least I felt I was jumping on the pendulum when it was back on the upswing. To be honest, I was absolutely "I'll be right over," and they sent me the episodes that completed the "Villains" arc. After I finished watching them, I wasn't sure I could do this. I didn't recognize the show anymore. It had become something else entirely. My favorite characters had become my least favorite, and there was a second I thought I had to get out of this. Then I started reading the "Fugitives" scripts, and I thought it was picking up again. There were some stumbles along the way, where it started to get muddy, but I was more inspired.
So coming back in, what did you want to accomplish?
Fuller: I just really wanted to get everything back to a character base. I think character was shoved aside for plot. The second year with the virus was interesting, but then it got complicated and techno-babbly. With "Villains," it started out interesting and then became about formula. When they started talking about how we were injected with our powers and it became sci-fi ghetto storytelling, I became disconnected. Mohinder went from a noble scientist to being a mad scientist with Jeff Goldblum hair and wardrobe. Claire became so strident and unlikable because she was just whining, bitching and holding a gun. I was just concerned the wheel had been jerked so sharply in the wrong direction with what had worked about the first season, which was ordinary people with extraordinary powers. Everything ordinary about their lives went out the window, and everything was extraordinary. That was my frustration.
In season one, you really found Claire and HRG's voices, but recently, in "Cold Snap," Tracy Strauss seemed to be your new muse, except you shattered her into little fragments. Is that the last we've seen of her?
Fuller: Oh, no. There was a lot of debate over whether she's winking, but no, she's not winking. She's blinking, and a tear comes down. There was miscommunication with the visual effects, where you were only supposed to see one of her eyes. It was definitely a blink and a shedding of a tear. Tracy comes back in a really big way later on in the season. That was one of the things where it was like, "Is she going to come back as Barbara now?" I was thinking "Can we please not do Barabara, because that's another sci-fi ghetto storytelling element with clones. How many Ali Larters are there?" I wish there were dozens, because I'm a fan of hers, but watching Ali in the first season, you know what she's really capable of.
Where would you like to see Tracy go in the future then?
Fuller: The journey is about getting Tracy's humanity back. What she learned from her encounter with Micah/Rebel made a huge impact on her. She is going to be following that through-line the next season. There is that realization she has been approaching politics from the wrong angle. In the fourth year, Tracy will have a new perspective that may not be right, but it's more understandable than before.
Can you tease viewers about the remaining episodes this season?
Fuller: There's actually a lot of really fun character work happening in the last four episodes that the writing staff is proud of. We'll see Matt retaliate against Danko in a very interesting way. We'll also see Sylar strike at the heart of HRG's life in a way that causes things for him to unravel. The episode after that is essentially "Company Man" for Angela Petrelli, where we'll be doing a flashback to her life in 1961 and the events that happened there, which really motivates who she is now. In episode 24, we get to the heart of Sylar's identity crisis, and we clearly understand what his agenda is, what he's after and who the people in his life are that made the biggest impact. Episode 25 is our big finale.
By jackjward at 7:25 AM ON 04/01/09
Honestly, I think Hiro is one of the strongest characters on the show. He represents his name, and the fight between what is noble and ignoble is so much more interesting (to me at least) than the various shades of grey that have been done and done to death in heroic fiction.
When done well, Heroes can be the "Watchmen" of the Television series. But the real concern for me is, don't keep a hero alive because you just want to keep the actor. Real tension ensues when there's real danger. Real danger occurs when there is a real threat.
Real threat occurs when we see the consequences.
By Kensai at 8:10 AM ON 04/01/09
Where is the disclaimer that Sci-Fi is affiliated with NBC, and pieces such as this should be viewed as advertising rather than news?
By Michelle67 at 8:10 AM ON 04/01/09
The last couple of episodes have shown a vast improvement . It really is starting to look more like the show it was the first season.
I like the fact that the re-emphasis on character has actually slowed down the show somewhat. The plot had previously been moving so fast the characters had become nothing more than props to move the plot along.
In into Asylum the interaction between Nathan and Claire and between Peter and Angela not only showed good character development but excellent writing.
In fact the church scene culminating with the confessional was brilliant. I'm glad to see the old Heroes back.
By mykl at 8:11 AM ON 04/01/09
NBC should play it smart, kill this show (along with “Chuck” ) and let Fuller bring back “Pushing Daises”. There is no possible way Fuller can get the train back on any track worth while for the viewer, it is too far gone for that. Even if he makes a great quarter of a season out of the remaining episodes it still won't make a dent in the audience cause the show has just lost too much.
By Syberwolf at 9:34 AM ON 04/01/09
I have been with the show since the beginning and though some rough episodes. There have been some good episodes and it wounds like they will be getting better...I look forward to next season and hopefully we can get an entire season we can like again...NBC has done well to keep this show and along with Chuck they actually have some great TV...
By Where's my Remote at 9:37 AM ON 04/01/09
Zeroes jumped the shark when Mohinder did his "The Fly" impersonation. Mya- Dania Ramirez left and after that things just went south.
I don't hold out much hope of redemption for this show. It's just gotten too loopy with everyone either having way too many powers or not enough.
I agree that Hiro is the most interesting character and I was glad to see he almost got his power back. Matt still is likable. But has for all the rest I tend to blank them out and get distracted doing something else. The fascination with Claire burned up in the house fire.
NBC should put this puppy to bed like all their other attempts at scifi.
By gotwhatchuneed at 9:40 AM ON 04/01/09
The finale will feature
mortal combat between
Sylar and Pull-My-Finger Man.
By malars at 9:49 AM ON 04/01/09
"Mya- Dania Ramirez left and after that things just went south."
Actually, her arrival was the beginning of the end for good characters and good storytelling. Her leaving the show was the best thing to happen to the show other than the return of Fuller.
By Rick. at 10:08 AM ON 04/01/09
Too late. I'm off Heroes and onto Kings, a far superior show (from another former Heroes writer, I might add).
By Bilben at 10:12 AM ON 04/01/09
The creative team thought, "How can we shake things up and make this season something new?" and came up with the storyline for "Villians", which turned the show on its head. Unfortunately, this meant taking everything that people liked about the characters away at the same time. Ultimately, while good stories definitely matter, people return to serial tv shows because they like the characters. And I'm glad to read that at least one of the team (Fuller) understands that.
I am a "Pushing Daisies" fan and I'm sorry the show is gone, but for a show that quirky I was surprised it got a second season at all. It's just not the sort of show that's going to appeal to a wide audience, unfortunately.
By Roger Workman at 10:14 AM ON 04/01/09
I'm still waiting for Heroes to stop sucking. Can we just scrap season 3, forget it ever happened, and start over with a new season 3?
By jeff.wooddell at 10:18 AM ON 04/01/09
7 years of 24 and it's still more interesting that HEROES (at least right now).
By Jiggy at 10:28 AM ON 04/01/09
GIVE PETER HIS POWERS BACK!!!
By Stankfoot at 11:47 AM ON 04/01/09
I loved the first season. Season two After that it just became a lame Xmen comic. The show has jumped, frozen, teleported and flown all around the shark. I kept watching hoping it will get better. No luck thus far. Baby Matt Parkman, give me a $%*# break.
For the love of Mort, give us shorter story arcs focused on a few characters. Less people with powers in the world. At this point it seems like everyone on the street has an ability. Get creative. You could have a story with some goof ball fanboy who discovers a power, actually puts on suit, shows off in public and gets spanked. Do it in one episode. Guest appearance Vin Diesel. The concept behind Heroes is great, but don't give us Xmen that isn't Xmen. I liked this show. Fix it!
By mredder4 at 11:52 AM ON 04/01/09
A friend I watch with pointed this out: with Peter reduced to one-at-a-time powers, Daphne dead, and Hiro retconned to only having the ability to stop time, the writers have effectively eliminated time travel from the show. Which sucks for Hiro, because you can still be a teleporter without traveling through time. Hiro's new power stinks, and it makes everything that happened in seasons 1 and 2 completely stupid.
By Battleguard at 12:08 PM ON 04/01/09
The issue with Heros is that it has lost the "good fight", evil vs good story line. To many writers have lost the knack to write about the storyline and not develop the story of the character.
It's possible to do both, but must not be done at the expense of the story line.
To save this show I recommend that the writers remember this is a war now - insurgent or otherwise. If you want to fight a war you need generals, a cause, and a good outcome. There will be tradegy, good characterizations to develop, and most of all it must be a good story line of hope and entertainment.
Sorry, but constantly kicking the good guys tails because they have no clue as to what to do each week is a bit asinine.
I'll even go one better. If the writers need some good ideas they should contact me.
By malohombre at 12:23 PM ON 04/01/09
I think they should have more villains.Sylar is charismatic but they could do more.There is a saying "no matter how bad you think you are there's always someone badder."Look at the times I'm sure now if people suddenly found themselves with powers they'd be knocking over banks.
By dreamdzign at 12:57 PM ON 04/01/09
I loved the series when it first came out. The first year was great, I was intrigued, engaged and pulled in. I loved Monday nights. The second year was OK. However, I was really getting sick of Sylar killing so many people, and honestly the more he killed, the more gruesome it got, which for me, made me less interested in the show. I guess I really wanted a feel good show of what was described as ordinary people with extraordinary powers. Real hero's dealing with their secret identity and today's world, doing some Heroic actions.
Of course the formula of a successful story calls for a proper antithesis to all the good. The amount of evil in this show really started getting to me after the start of the second year. Then my favorite "good" characters starting getting their own bent, evil streaks, and I lost interest even more.
I stopped watching half-way through the 2nd year. I had enough darkness and death.
When I saw the commercials advertising the "Villain's" season, I knew I would never be going back to the show anymore.
I'm glad to read about some of the original writing coming back, but I'm too far disconnected to ever want to revisit this show again.
By One at 1:18 PM ON 04/01/09
PLEASE WARN US OF SPOILERS NEXT TIME!
By Blinky5150 at 1:19 PM ON 04/01/09
I agree with Jiggy. When they took away Peter's and Hiro's power, then made Ando into the Energizer Bunny they took away a big part of what made Heroes enjoyable. The first season when Hiro traveled back and met Peter on the subway, that was the power of a comic book storylines. They need to stop making stupid characters or make Barack Obama into a superhero (they've made everyone else into a superhero.) He could fix the story line and our crappy economy at the same time. Super Spenda Lot.
By Hieronymus at 1:41 PM ON 04/01/09
When the show first came out I was so excited I can't even describe it. It was real world superheroes, and that had been a show concept I'd wanted for years. (Although in some ways the show paralleled the Harbinger comic series.)
When Patrelli Sr entered the scene, everything went to hell. Monroe died a moronic death, Hiro and Peter got newtered, and then Sr died from a bullet to the head?
Why can't the show be consistent about the immortality thing? HRG gets his brains blown out and Clair's blood fixes him. Clair gets a stick into her head and gets better when it comes out. Clair loses the top of her head and gets better. Peter dies when he gets shot a few times in the chest? Dad dies from a shot to the head? Huh? And why would Monroe die from having his power sucked out? He should have just reverted to a normal person and begun aging normally. The lack of internal consistency is frustrating.
But to be honest, I gave up on the show after everyone was rounded up and put on a doomed plane. Heroes became X-Men. It is the mutant registration act all over again, and I'm just not interested.
I can think of a dozen interesting directions for the show to go, but I'm not going to wade through hours of angst and inconsistencies to find the few that the writers throw my way.
By Kevin at 1:46 PM ON 04/01/09
I just don't see how this thing can be rescued after all the helter-skelter character drift. Not to mention the legions of fans who've tuned out.
You can't unjump the shark.
By ABoyNamedArt at 1:47 PM ON 04/01/09
Wow. Only one character of color mentioned, and in passing. Good job, BF.
By rkf at 1:53 PM ON 04/01/09
I think taking time travel out of the equation was a good idea; there are just too many variables for it to be an permanently effective plot device. I don't think it was retcon that changed Hiro's powers. It was just plot development.
I don't much care for Peter's one-at-a-time thingy either, but I understand TPTB wanting to limit his powers a little. He was able to do too much, too fast, too well. To keep his character arc challenging, they had to make him a stupid, accident-prone, amnesiac drama queen. Heroes need challenges in order to be interesting. Villains, on the other hand, tend to be a bit more powerful than the heroes, for that very reason, hence Sylar.
I didn't much like "Villains" (hated Arthur Petrelli) though it got better towards the end. OTOH, I think "Fugitives" has really delivered some great episodes. Fuller's work seems to be redeeming Hiro from the whiny ridiculous appendage he's become, and the characters have become the focus of the show again. I was worried it would be a little too "Days of Future Past-y" but I think they're doing a great job of it.
By Brian at 2:34 PM ON 04/01/09
The problem I have had with Heroes has been since season 2. The story for that season while suffering due to the writers strike, just wasn't told especially well.
Season 3 offered promise with the Villians storyline, but as with this show since season 1, they tried to do too much too soon.
What made season 1 so interesting was the fact that it was character driven and it was about the characters 're-discovering' who they are now with their powers. Now, there is no way to get back to that, since they've had their powers for a few years at this point. However, who they are as people still exploring their powers has NOT been dealt with enough.
Villians had great potential, but frankly, it was so rushed (whoever though half a season of storytelling made sense?!?!) you never got to even know most of the villians before they exited the show. Frankly, how can I care for or 'hate' a villian if I never got to know them?
The same can be said for this half season... great potential that hasn't gone anywhere near the level of story telling I was hoping for. I do agree the last few episodes have been intriguing, but it reminds me of BS:G, just a little tease here and there to string you along.
And maybe I'm the only one who feels this way, but I HATE THE HIRO CHARACTER!
He's an overgrown child who takes nothing seriously and is at best BAD COMIC relief.
Frankly I'd like to see this character written off. PERMANENTLY. The only Hiro worth watching was Future-Hiro, but even at this point I don't think that character is worth bringing back. Other than Ali Larter's Jessica, there is no character I dislike more than Hiro. This character has made the show barely watchable for me, and I've been glad to see less of him these last few weeks.
By Muldfeld at 4:21 PM ON 04/01/09
This has always been a terribly formulaic show fueled by a search for ratings that always dictated the most predictable melodrama and ridiculous plotting. Even a writer of Mark Verheiden's talent (the unsung hero of BSG) cannot save so superficial and shameless a show.
The 4400 had heart and originality. NBC Universal backed the money-making horse over substance, and we all lose for that.
After BSG now, it's all about "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" and "Mad Men". These shows have problems, but they show originality.
PS The encryption still sucks here in that I'm typing what it says and I still have to refresh to get another code; maybe it's because I use a Mac and have Safari? Please fix this.
By Suprememango at 4:27 PM ON 04/01/09
I think this show has finally rediscovered its way since season one and the writing on Fugitives is phenomenal. As Fuller said - it's about the characters. We don't need to blown away by action every episode. Take your time, build the characters and their relationships and add action where it moves the story forward. For those who have left the show, goodbye. There are many faithful millions of viewers and they - myself included - will continue to watch. The show has had its ups and downs, and its wrong turns. But even at its nadir (lowest point) it has been better than 75 per cent of what is currently on television. And this season has been pitch perfect and just keeps improving. Kudos to Kring, Fuller (welcome back, loved Daisies as well but so it goes) and the rest of the producers.
By Stormy70 at 9:53 PM ON 04/01/09
I have enjoyed Heroes this season, and like the last few episodes quite a bit. My one quibble would be that in a show called Heroes, couldn't some of them start being heroic and save people or stop heinous crimes? They are Heroes, why don't they act like it!
By DynaMike at 11:24 PM ON 04/01/09
O HAI THAR SPOILERS, SO NICE OF YOU TO DROP BY
By Tom Black at 11:51 PM ON 04/01/09
They've screwed this show up so much that I don't plan on ever watching it again. I've already wasted enough time on its X-men-light storylines.
By Nick at 3:59 PM ON 04/02/09
gotta love these whiny people that have nothing to do but read articles about a show they hate or no longer like, and then proceed to leave their two cents in the comment section as if anyone cares.
By darkjedi at 11:59 PM ON 04/02/09
Please NO MORE HIRO!!!!!! He has always been a lame character period. Anyone who says otherwise is really not being honest with themselves or any one else. More single story episodes is what the show needs. Let the Heroes be heroes, but make it believable. You writers should pick up a comic book called Ex Machina. It has the perfect blend of character development, politics, suspense, and fantasy.
By Allan at 9:53 PM ON 04/03/09
Hiro is the WORST character on the show. This show would be a bit better if they killed him off. ..............PLEASE??
By Ronnie at 10:49 AM ON 04/05/09
They need to start showing Peter shirtless again. Seeing him fully clothed all the time is what is losing viewers. =)
By Nicholas at 10:49 AM ON 04/08/09
I left Heroes at the beginning of season 2. Heroes was good when it was about *real* people and when you could identify with their struggle. Now the powers are just over the top crazy and so are the storylines (the time jumping is insane). Anyone else notice that the characters just don't act like themselves anymore?
Best characters: Hiro and Sylar.
Nuff said.
By astrialentity at 10:09 PM ON 04/27/09
OH My god what the hell man. Why didn't they just put some of claire's blood in nathan? PLOT MEGA HOLE!!! it blows chunks like the milky sour kind that just ok ok enough of that but for crying out loud and how dumb is ando if his power made Daphne super fast enough to go back in time (which was a far fetch but I'd let that one slide) why doesn't he try to i dunno boost hiro i'm what is it the writers smoking crack? I i was on that show i'd be like this script is crap. ok i feel better now after all that. good to get a rant out there sometimes.
By Lucas at 3:18 AM ON 12/10/09
Forget all this crap. I love hero's as much as the next guy but like Fuller says beating a dead horse. They killed the magic. Now what I would kill for (pun intended) IS A THIRD SEASON OF DEAD LIKE ME! Help me out Mr. Fuller, Please!
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Lucas:
Forget all this crap. I love hero's as much as the next guy but like Fuller says beating a dead horse. They killed ...More »