Wonder Woman Returning to TV?

Alright, alright. The big nerd news this week is clearly the death of a member of Marvel’s first family in Fantastic Four #587—an issue that will surely disappoint overzealous comic book speculators for years to come—but I’m frankly more shocked by the fact that that Wonder Woman could be making her long-awaited return to television, according to TVLine’s Michael Ausiello.

Reportedly, McG (Charlie’s Angels, Terminator: Salvation) is being lassoed to direct a Wonder Woman pilot for NBC. Now, it’s pretty commonplace to bash McG, both for his ridiculous name and his style-over-substance directorial style, but I can’t knock him for executive producing some intriguing genre TV series, namely Chuck, Human Target and Nikita. Maybe he’s the ideal person to finally bring Diana back to the small screen. If he isn’t, at least us geeks will have something new to snark about. We love our snark.

The big question is, if this supposed pilot does materialize and become a series, who will don the star-spangled spandex and bullet-deflecting bracelets? Lynda Carter’s a tough act to follow.

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Heroes Is Officially Canceled

Cancellation or mercy killing? According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC won’t be bringing Heroes back for a fifth season due to its high budget and low ratings.

Last month, NBC was reportedly toying with the idea of ordering a 13-episode final season of the struggling superhero series, but the network apparently wasn’t interested in giving Heroes yet another chance to redeem itself (this would have been its third).

I wanted to like the fourth (and now final) season of Heroes, since I honestly believe the writers were making an effort to get this show back on track. Unfortunately, the season’s increasingly unfocused narratives and downright frustrating plot twists made it unwatchable at times. Hell, not even a much-advertised girl-on-girl kiss (the ultimate act of prime-time desperation) between Claire Bennet (Hayden Panetierre) and her college roommate could lure back Heroes’ formerly sizable viewership.

Sources told THR that the series could return for a special or television movie to wrap up all of its loose ends, but Heroes fans (if there are any at this point) probably shouldn’t hold their breath.

Heroes Might Return for a Final Season

It looks like Heroes could be getting yet another shot at redemption. According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC is expected to order a 13-episode “final season” of the struggling superhero drama.

Honesty time: If I hadn’t been writing weekly Heroes recaps for Broken Frontier, I probably would have abandoned this series about midway through the third season. Had I done that, I would have missed out on a few cool moments peppered throughout season four, but I also would have spared myself the aggravation of some bizarre storylines and nonsensical character progression that rendered the series unwatchable at times.

If creator Tim Kring and the gang are really going through with 13 more episodes of Heroes—which might actually be kind of cool since last season ended with “specials” entering the public eye—let’s hope they’re serious about it.

NBC: Heroes’ Future Remains Unclear

If you follow my film/television coverage over at Broken Frontier, you know I have some pretty mixed feelings about Heroes, NBC’s floundering superhero series that, for the past three years, simply hasn’t been as satisfying as its stellar first season.

While Heroes’ season four finale left things pretty open-ended should the struggling show return, most fans believed the February 8 episode, titled “Brave New World,” to be the show’s final bow. And while that might very well be the case, Angela Bromstad, NBC’s president of prime-time entertainment, recently told The Hollywood Reporter that the network has yet to make any final decisions regarding the fate of the series. It’s not necessarily over just yet.

“It’s a wait-and-see for us,” Bromstad said. When asked if a possible fifth season of Heroes would be the last, she added, “We’re going to cross that bridge when we come to it.”