Fuller Shares Plans for “Heroes”

While we’ll miss “Pushing Daisies,” the one good thing to come out of the show’s ending is that Bryan Fuller can return to “Heroes.”   Fuller worked on the show during its first season, writing what many consider to be its strongest episode, “Company Man.”  Now with “Daisies” pushing up daisies, Fuller has signed a deal to take him back the writing staff of “Heroes,” starting with the season’s nineteenth episode.

“I’m fortunate to be coming into a very exciting story line. [Former co-exec producers] Jeph [Loeb] and Jesse [Alexander], before they left the show, set so many great events in motion with the “Fugitives” arc [kicking off Feb. 2],” Fuller told EW’s Michael Ausiellow. “It really is a fresh start. All of the characters are back in their real lives. You see Peter as a paramedic. Claire is looking for colleges. We get away from the world of formulas and quasi-magic.”

When it came to what the show needs to get back on track, Fuller pulled no punches.

It became too dense and fell into certain sci-fi trappings. For instance, in the “Villains” arc, when you talk about formulas and catalysts, it takes the face off the drama. And I think the goal for everybody is to put a face back on the drama,” he said. “You have to save something with a face; otherwise you don’t understand what you’re caring about.

“I thought the “Villains” arc started out very interestingly, and then became sort of muddy and dense and I couldn’t get my hooks into the characters to understand their motivations. I also started to feel confused about what people’s abilities were. One of the great things about the first season is that the metaphor for their abilities was very clear.”

“Those metaphors seem to have gotten complicated in the past two seasons. I share that concern with everybody on the writing staff. It’s not like I’m coming in and saying, “This is what you need to do to fix it!” Everybody knows what needs to be fixed and everybody is sort of rowing in that direction,” he said.

Full went on to say that the show needs a change in direction and not a reboot for its fourth season. He also promises there will be permanent trims to the sprawling cast.

“People will die. And some will return. Matt’s wife [Janice] comes back,” he said. “We’ll find out what happens when you have a superbaby.

“We’re also going to tell fewer stories per episode. We’re going to limit it to three or four with one big one that you can wrap the stories around. We’re altering the structure of the show so that there’s a very clear A story that takes up a larger percentage of the show so that that story gets traction,” Fuller promised.

Hopefully these changes will help the show get back to it’s season one glory days.