As you may know, Heroes Season 2 is planned 22-23 episodes long, but the first 11 were labeled as “Volume 2 – Generations”. The 11th episode, which will be aired on December 3rd, was planned to be the last episode of Volume 2 and the introduction to the second half of the season: “Volume 3″…
…unfortunately, that 11th episode may become the Season 2 Finale, because of the writers’ strike, again!
TvGuide’s Michael Ausiello just reported, Writers’ Strike Fallout: Heroes Prepping Season Finale :
Heroes’ second season may be coming to a close a lot sooner than expected due to the forthcoming apocalypse, also known in some circles as the damn writers’ strike.
Sources confirm that the show is going back and shooting an alternate ending to the Dec. 3 episode that, if used, would allow the episode to function as a season finale in the event of a strike. Originally, the episode was only supposed to serve as the conclusion of the current “Generations” arc. Should an 11th-hour agreement be reached and a strike averted (fingers crossed!), the alt ending would likely be scrapped.
In related news, the reality of this whole thing is only now hitting me. And I’m not happy.
Please help us spread the word…
Basically, the writers aren’t paid any royalties for DVD/VHS sales or Internet downloads of their work. They told the studios that they wanted a percentage of revenue generated (Which is perfectly reasonable), and the studio shut them down.
None of them wanted the strike, but they felt it was needed to be properly compensated for the work.
For all of you throwing hissy fits over the strike: Don’t. These people are working hard for your entertainment and being under-compensated for it. Try to think outside the limited view of your Monday Night lineup and realize that this is the income of their household that you’re complaining about.
The writers want more money they are getting paid @ $0.04 on each DVD they want more and to get paid for internet downloads. If you want the TV Shows to stay on the air write to the studios and tell them to stop being cheap !
In regards to CGI, I totally agree with you charliesheen… The Blue/Green screen is totally obvious this season and lacking in quality. and the shows sorta lost a bit of it’s edge. I thnk it may have something to do with J. J. Phillbin writing and producing. But other than that, I’m still a big fan and love it!!!
This writers guild stirke is going to really hurt us all.. how? Not only because the shows we love may be postponed, but also because all we’ll be left with are tasteless & shameless reality shows!!!!! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Fight the Power Writers!
Just letting everyone know that Tim Kring, or whoever the creator of Heroes is, had an interview on G4 a month or two ago. He stated that they learned from season 1 not to build up one storyline for an entire season, people expected too much for the season finale.
So, what they are doing this season is splitting it up into 2 “volumes” so that everyone can enjoy the “volume finales” more than waiting a crapload of time for one supposedly huge season finale, which last season’s finale, IMHO, sucked.
I don’t know how the writer’s strike is going to affect this, but as for the whole “volumes” thing, it is a two volume season, as per Tim Kring.
Suck it up you pansies, it’s a strike, shit like this happens because we live in a DEMOCRACY not a MONARCHY like you ass wipes are turning it into. If they want to strike let them strike, it’s why we have unions, so that certain individuals won’t be undercut and everyone is getting their fare share. Also some of you should really pull out a dictionary talking to you #2. And by the way, it’s called the WGA (Writers Guild Of America).
Surely they have already finished filming season 2?
DVD Sales are becoming (and are destined to become) much more important than ratings.
I highly doubt NBC is getting rid of Heroes anytime soon.
The “cancellation” of Origins is a threat – corporate blackmail, if you will. The network/s does/do this kind of stuff because they are trying to show that they are the ones with the real power here.
A writers strike will hurt the Networks.
Hardcore.
Which translates to “Writers have power, and they are the ones that make you your money, NBC.”
Networks don’t want to admit that.
So, they fight with bluffs, scare-tactics, and power-plays to attempt to thwart any kind of uprising that might be stirring within their “petty, minion-employees”.
Don’t hate on the writers here. . . most of them love what they do, and love doing it for you. No, hate on the Networks and the Corporations, they are the ones that really don’t give a damn about you.
Lets just clear somethings up here:
1. HEROES is not cancelled… you can think of this delay period like the lock out in the NHL two years back
2. The writers’ strike is affecting all networks (NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX) meaning all shows that are scripted will have to stop, go into repeats, or quickly reshoot episodes to make it seem like a closer (As NBC is doing with HEROES Volume 2)
3. Finally, Chin is absolutely correct about people being cheap and using torrent to get the season instead of paying the $50 of what HEROES Season 1 is worth… if people weren’t cheap maybe this wouldnt have happenned
Again… The Writers Strike affects all scripted shows on any network, therefore if the filming of a show (Such as HEROES) has not completed then the network must stop the airing of the show until an agreement is met.
The only funny thing I’ve seen out of this so far is that Jimmy Kimmel (from ABC’s latenight lineup) had threated to wing it out himself if the writers decided to go on strike, meaning the entire show will be Jimmy.
I checked imdb, and Tim Kring is the head writer and only a few others are credited as co-writers on no more than 3 episodes each, so how could this affect Heroes? Tim Kring is the creator, and thus, he’s probably not worried about gaining any more royalties from his writing credit. I doubt that he is in a bad position regarding the show. Therefore, since he’s the main writer, I doubt he’d protest at all. Or does his being a part of the Writer’s Guild automatically cause him to HAVE to strike as well?
Anyone?
Good point about Tim…he’s the creator, but he’s also written for the series. He’d still have to produce, but he cant supervise the writing, just the tone I think….and that isnt close to enough. At best Volume Three will be full, FULL, of fillers unless this strike is resolved.
I have to stand by the other comments…Heroes has become “mainstream” and has sunk in quality. I for one hope that the third volume is given a chance to be a long, consistent, and powerful a drama as the first when the strike is resolved.
I read a thing about the last strike in ~1968 and it pretty much screwed over the whole tv and movie business. The amount of viewers dropped across all networks and the business lost an estimated $500 million. This lasted around 6 months, and by the end, many shows had been cut. You shouldn’t be worrying about Heroes, the network won’t cut it and this will be a time for the individual writers to brainstorm new ideas for the show. You should be worried about the new shows this season like The Journeyman, and Moonlight. They’ve been getting low ratings but have been pretty good so far. If this strike lasts too long, who knows how many shows could be cut and replaced with Reality Shows, which don’t need writers (well at least most don’t, looking at you Survivor).
I want you to read an email I just received (one of too many):
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Dear xxxxxxx,
If you find yourself short of writers during the strike, hire me. I am non-union and have written some 30 screenplays which have been produced as feature films and you can see my resume at http://www.xxxxx.com/resume.html
I am best at fiction but can write anything and I can do it fast. Re-writes even faster. And I can do this work from home and send it to you via e-mail to avoid the picket lines.
If you need a writer during the strike please call or E-mail me.
Writing samples available.
Thank You,
[David xxxxx]
(xxx) xxx-xxxx
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This makes me sick. If you are a writer STOP DOING THIS. You are hurting many people. Including yourself.
Do you *want* to be treated like crap? Because that is what you are begging for. I have no problem with freelance work. I have no problem with marketing yourself. I’m all for both of those things, actually. But using a delicate situation to worm your way into an industry that is eating itself alive is not helping anybody at all. Stop it.
And in regards to other things being said in this thread…
Firstly, stop yelling at the writers. They aren’t out for more money, they are out for *appropriate* percentages. Meaning they *know* DVD Sales are sky-rocketing as well as online distribution [they aren't the "future" of marketing, they are the "now" of marketing], and the networks are not willing to publicly admit this. They want network advertisers to believe that advertising is still the be-all/end-all of Network Production, and they are desperately trying to pretend that the mass revenue they are receiving from DVD Sales and online content is trivial to non-existent in comparison when they simply know this isn’t true.
They are trying to play both sides of the fence.
Also, on the torrent/p2p stuff – do not buy the hype that Rahul is trying to pump into you. It’s been pretty clear for awhile now that torrent/p2p is a reality, it’s not going away, and all for the better. Networks are using it as a marketing tool. They silently release the stuff, and blog-watch incessantly for feedback. It’s cheap, it’s easy, and it’s free. It’s bundled “marketing and feedback” packages that don’t cost them a cent – which is quite a bit different from yesteryear.
However, they are still publicly claiming that it is illegal and that they want you to stop. (When they clearly don’t)
Again, they are playing both sides of the fence.
All you have to do is show p2p activity (ever-increasing) vs. Network Profit (ever-increasing) side-by-side to understand that p2p is, if anything, very much helping an industry that desperately needs help.
My main point is, if you want quality entertainment and arts, let the people writing, directing, crafting, and creating these things do what they need to do to continue doing what they love, which is ultimately what you love.
Buy it, download it, p2p it – just enjoy it (or don’t). Whatever you do, do not let Corporate CEO’s that could care less about the things you care about pursue Corporate Profit over the Quality of Products delivered to the public. That’s ultimately what this entire issue is about.
i downloaded all season 1 episodes from p2p but i also bought the dvd once it was released. im planning to do the same with season 2 if it won’t suck big time.