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For NBC's
'Heroes,' two cliffhangers

Season four finale will leave viewers up in the air

By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Feb 8, 2010

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"Heroes" has fallen hard over the last three years, going from NBC's top scripted show to one of its lowest rated. The show's fate is as much in question as the survival of several of its main characters heading into tonight's season four finale, which airs at 9 p.m.

In the episode, Peter and Sylar team up to foil Samuel's evil plan while HRG and Claire are trapped underground with prospects of a rescue looking dim.

It's the second straight year that NBC has given the show an early ender. That's usually not a sign of confidence from a network, and "Heroes" has seen its ratings slide steadily all season.

Last month the show set a new series low with a 1.8 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen. Though it rebounded slightly to a 2.0 for last week's penultimate episode, that's less than a third of what "Heroes" averaged at its peak.

Even for a program that gains an average 0.7 rating points from seven-day DVR playback, that's a steep decline. The question for NBC is whether it's worth bringing "Heroes" back for what would surely be its final season.

The show is expensive to produce, and it seems doubtful it could undergo a creative revival after so much critical disdain the past three years. On any other network, it would undoubtedly be a goner.

But NBC may bring it back anyhow. The network has to fill five additional hours on next fall's schedule now that "The Jay Leno Show" has been axed, and it might be harder to launch more new shows than to keep a fading former hit on the air for one more and likely brief season.

One cast member has already said via Twitter that the show will be renewed, and those few remaining fans will be mighty ticked if it isn't. Word is tonight's episode ends on a cliffhanger.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	ESPN2	“Women’s College Basketball” (S)	Conference rivals and top-10 teams Duke and North Carolina meet.
8 p.m.	Fox	“House” (D)	A look at a day at the hospital through the eyes of Cuddy.
8 p.m.	CW	“One Tree Hill” (D)	Brooke and Julian juggle work and their personal lives.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Two and a Half Men” (C)	Charlie’s jealousy might hurt his relationship with Chelsea.
9 p.m.	NBC	“Heroes” (C)	Season finale. Peter teams with Sylar, who seems to be reforming his ways.
9 p.m.	Fox	“24” (D)	Jack tries to track down the enriched uranium by going undercover.
10 p.m.	ABC Family	“Greek” (D)	The Greeks take part in a softball tournament.
10 p.m.	CBS	“CSI: Miami” (D)	A private space shuttle passenger is murdered.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	ABC	“Good Morning America” (N)	Actor Taye Diggs and First Lady Michelle Obama guest.
8 p.m.	CBS	“NCIS” (D)	An illegal trucking company ends up leading to the death of a marine.
8 p.m.	NBC	“Biggest Loser: Couples” (R)	The contestants train with the help of Olympic athletes.
8 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (R)	Welcome to Hollywood! Ellen DeGeneres joins the judges for the first time.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Lost” (D)	How will ratings hold up after a strong first week back?
9 p.m.	Fox	“Past Life” (D)	Series premiere. A cop and a psychologist help people haunted by events in past lives.
10 p.m.	Spike TV	“ Blue Mountain State” (C)	The players take part in team-building activities in an attempt to end the team’s negative run.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	ESPN	“College Basketball” (S)	A Big East rivalry game between Connecticut and Syracuse.
8 p.m.	ABC	“Charlie Brown Valentine” (A, K)	Charlie Brown chases the little red-haired girl and Sally goes for Linus.
9 p.m.	Fox	“American Idol” (R)	More performances from the Hollywood round.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Criminal Minds” (D)	A killer tries to cause fear by killing his victims in public places.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Modern Family” (C)	Phil and Claire try to heat things up, and Jay and Gloria go to a comedy show for Valentine’s Day.
10 p.m.	FX	“Nip/Tuck” (D)	Sean and Christian begin psychotherapy together.
10 p.m.	MTV	“The Real World” (R)	Erika and Ashley get into it and another roommate considers leaving the house.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	ABC	“Good Morning America” (N)	Disney star Selena Gomez performs.
8 p.m.	CBS	“Survivor” (R)	Season premiere. The series rolls out a “Heroes vs. Villains” version for its 20th edition.
8 p.m.	CW	“The Vampire Diaries” (D)	Jeremy and Anna meet to go to a party, but Anna has a specific reason for going.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Grey’s Anatomy” (D)	A restaurant’s roof collapses on Valentine’s Day.
9 p.m.	NBC	“The Office” (C)	Either Michael or Jim must step down as manager and return to being a salesman.
10 p.m.	Lifetime	“Project Runway” (R)	The designers compete to have their creation featured on the cover of a fashion magazine.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	NBC	“Today” (N)	Singer Michael Buble performs.
7:30 p.m.	NBC	“Winter Olympics” (S)	Coverage of the opening ceremony, along with ski jumping.
8 p.m.	ABC	“Spider-Man 2.1” (M)	DVD version of the sequel, with eight additional minutes.
8 p.m.	Nickelodeon	“iCarly” (K)	Carly feels indebted to Freddie after he saves her life.
9 p.m.	TNT	“NBA Basketball” (S)	The 11th annual Rookie Challenge between the NBA’s best first-year and second-year players.
9 p.m.	VH1	“Famous Crime Scene” (N)	Series premiere. Investigating the 1996 shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13
Time	Network	Program	Description
2 p.m.	NBC	“Winter Olympics” (S)	Today it’s speed skating, ski jumping and biathlon.
3 p.m.	CBS	“PGA Golf” (S)	Third round coverage of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Cops” (R)	Five cops in Florida go undercover to catch drug dealers.
8 p.m.	NBC	“Winter Olympics” (S)	Tonight it’s more speed skating and freestyle and alpine skiing.
9 p.m.	ESPN	“College Basketball” (S)	A big SEC conference game between Tennessee and Kentucky.
8:30 p.m.	TNT	“NBA All-Star Saturday Night” (S)	A variety events, including a skills challenge, a three-point shootout and a slam dunk contest.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14
Time	Network	Program	Description
Noon	Fox	“NASCAR Racing” (S)	The 52nd running of the Daytona 500.
1 p.m.	NBC	“Winter Olympics” (S)	This afternoon we have more speed skating, skiing, biathlon and luge.
3 p.m.	CBS	“PGA Golf” (S)	Final round of the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, founded by Bing Crosby in 1937.
7 p.m.	NBC	“Winter Olympics” (S)	Tonight figure skating makes its debut.
8:30 p.m.	TNT	“NBA Basketball” (S)	The 59th annual All-Star game, from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
9 p.m.	Fox	“Family Guy” (C)	Chris and Stewie get lost in the woods, and later Chris develops a crush on a girl at school.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.