Despite all the hoopla and what appeared to be NBC directives of enforced support for The Jay Leno Show, and pulling scripted dramas en masse, The Jay Leno Show is not faring as well as could be expected.

NBC made a reasonable pitch, declaring how different the show would be… if you count pulling the desk off the set and rearranging the same routines as different, then fine, it’s different. Otherwise, I’m not sure what the change is. And to boot, viewers aren’t impressed.

At least it doesn’t look good from last Monday night where The Jay Leno Show pulled in 4.6 million viewers…  and was bested by everything on the air except One Tree Hill on The CW, Gossip Girl, again from The CW and, well… huh. That’s it.

Update: Find out who is going to go (If you dare)!

Alot of us having been saying it for sometime: One of these characters on Heroes has got to die. And stay dead. For good.

Well, it seems like somebody up in the big office over at NBC FINALLY heard our collective cries, because E! Online is reporting that Heroes will be rocked by a major death this season and “this is not one that will go unnoticed by even the most casual fan.”

Better start catching up on your episodes of Heroes: Redemption now if you don’t want to be left out of the loop come kill time!

Heroes‘ latest installment, Redemption didn’t exactly connect with its two-hour season premiere, pulling in just 6 million viewers. Even though a lot of our readers found the opening chapters to Redemption to be interesting and full of potential, the Nielsen figures seemed to dictate that Heroes‘ was trying to dust it self off too late, considering the show once pulled in 16 million viewers weekly.

After seeing last night’s episode, “Ink” (which was one the better episodes I’VE seen in the show’s four-year run), I found myself back on the fence, wondering if Heroes truly needs to be “rebooted” next season, or if the show simply needs more episodes like “Ink,” consistently, to lure viewers back into the fold.

The fifth volume (fourth season) of Heroes, entitled “Redemption,” continues tonight – but will you be watching? Do you even care anymore? Our Heroes season premiere review and subsequent discussion forum revealed that many of our readers felt that the latest installment of the show started out with at least SOME potential – a few even said that the show had gone back to the sort of basics they loved from the first season.

Well, those readers represent a minority opinion, because Heroes: Redemption pulled in a measly 6 million viewers, WAY down from its season one heyday, when Heroes was pulling in 16 million fans a week. OUCH.

Right about now, that whole “Redemption” title is sounding more like an ironic joke than anything.

So last night Heroes‘ fifth volume (fourth season) “Redemption” had its two-hour premiere on NBC and I’m sure a lot of you have already voiced your opinion over at our Heroes discussion forum. My goal here is to review the show, and let you know (since you care) if I personally think that our favorite Heroes are truly on the road to Redemption.

“Redemption” picked up some six weeks after the finale of last season’s “Fugitives” storyline, with our Heroes all trying to return to normal lives NOT being on the run from government agents.

And is it just me, or has Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) fallen into a black hole and vanished?

Heroes is back for a fourth season, and the big question is whether it will live up to this season’s title: Redemption. The fan reception of the show has varied wildly after the superhero series exploded on the scene in its first season. People loved season one but thought Heroes lost its direction in season two. The crew behind the show tried to bring it back to something the fans would love with last season’s Fugitives, but in the end it was hit or miss and didn’t fully restore our enthusiasm for the series.

I know you’re eager to discuss the season premiere, so here’s a forum for you to talk about it freely, including spoilers. Tell us what you thought of the Season 4 / Book 5 premiere of Heroes: Redemption (we’ll tell you what we thought later).

Season 4 (Volume 5) of Heroes is coming at us early next week.

The 2-hour premiere episode will be introducing a mysterious carnival clan whose intentions are unknown at this time.  The returning familiar characters you all know will be adjusting to new stages of their lives, trying to find a balance between normal life and Heroes life, after being hunted by the government.

In the meantime, to get you excited for the premiere, check out the video we have for you.

I know quite a few folks that enjoy their Netflix subscription.  I know a few who swear by it. Yet they might want to start rethinking their allegiance, from what I’m seeing today.

It looks like NBC shows are being pulled from the Netflix schedule, and if your guess is as good as anyone’s guess, it could be due to Hulu’s push to generate income via their ad supported traffic scheme as more shows are headed there.

The shows that have been noted as disappearing are 30 Rock, Heroes and the newer Office episodes.

We’ll also be seeing some CBS content sliding off the Netflix schedule but for the moment, NCIS looks to be sticking around.

Just a brief update on this Monday: Plan your prime time with the 2009 TV Fall Schedule; Smallville is getting another new guest star; A certain “Foxy” lady might be kicking off SNL this year; Learn how to catch up on all the NBC shows you missed last year (for free!); and speaking of NBC, how about a first-look photo of Jim and Pam getting married on The Office?

And as a bonus (because I love you) I let you know about the government’s “Cash for TV Clunkers” program.

Let’s get to it!

Today we got news for you on a former Deadwood actor whose getting Lost this season; the gang at 24 are wondering if their eighth day will be their last; Syfy will be re-opening the doors to Warehouse 13 next season; Heroes has a new poster; Apollo plays in the Dollhouse; Star Wars will soon be on TV; and ABC gets room at Clive Barker’s Hotel.

All that, and we bid farewell to a TV News Legend (see above). Let’s get to it:

Heroes took a giant leap in the right direction with Volume 4: Fugitives, and it helped erase some of the bad memories many of us had with the previous two volumes which were really bringing down the show.

The series, which had been subject to a lot of negative criticism, was back on a high note and those of us still watching were looking to be in for a treat the next season, thanks to some awesome additions to the cast and some much-improved storylines put into play where the show left off.

Today, we have a brand new video for you today which features one of the newest and coolest additions to the cast of Heroes, Ray Park.

Today we have a unique collection of tidbits that range from Heroes on NBC, some HBO delving into Sci-Fi and some popular comics coming to television.  I’ve also dug up some news on FX’s Damages.

Heroes’ New Cast Member

Ernie Hudson has signed onto the cast of NBC’s Heroes.

He’s joining the cast as a Baltimore detective, Captain Lubbock.  What little is known about Hudson’s role is that he’ll be looking for one of the other characters in the show.

In this article, I’m chatting a bit about advertisers cutting costs and how this might be relating to shows like Heroes and Day One.  That, and I’ve got an off-subject bonus paragraph that just might make your jaw drop!

Advertiser Revenue Down

This year, my sympathies go out to the networks struggling to survive in this economy.  The economy has caused purse strings to be tightened and advertisers to be more frugal.

The reason networks have fewer dollars to spend is because ad revenue for the upcoming season of television has declined by 22% from the year before.

If I lost 22% of my income, I’d be pretty distressed, but what a 22% decline means here is that the networks only brought in a mere $7.2 billion (that’s with a “B”) in primetime ad sales.

[UPDATE: We now have a version of the trailer viewable outside the U.S.]

If you were following our coverage of the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con then you probably caught my report on the Heroes panel, which featured cast and crew from the show coming out to promote the upcoming fifth volume/third season of the Heroes saga, titled (appropriately enough) “Redemption”.

Heroes indeed has a lot to redeem itself from (ridiculous story lines, shoddy scripts), and though last season’s “Fugitives” was a step in the right direction for many fans, it did not quite fully restore the show to its former greatness.

Will Heroes find “Redemption” this season? Check out the teaser trailer for the upcoming season and decided for yourself:

[UPDATE: One of your favorite Screen Ranters was caught on video! See bottom of the post.]

The Heroes cast showed up to the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con in full force to promote the upcoming (3rd? 5th?) season of the show, appropriately titled “Redemption.”

In attendance were show creator Tim Kring, along with stars Jack Coleman, Masi Oka Hayden Panettiere, Adrian Pasdar, Zach Quinto, Milo Ventimiglia, and new additions to the cast Robert Knepper (Prison Break), Dawn Olivieri, Madeline Zima (Californication) and Darth Maul himself, Ray Park.

“What room are we in, Tim?”

Almost every panel at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con is held in the convention center, in one of the main halls. Ballroom 20, for example, is a sizable room and a lot of shows are having appearances there.

Friday will see Ballroom 20 hosting panels for Stargate Universe, Caprica, BSG: The Plan, 24, Bones and Dollhouse.  (Hmmm… I think I know where I’ll be all day Friday.)

So, you’d think that a big show like Heroes would be somewhere around Ballroom 20, or in one of the side rooms that aren’t all that small either…

UpDated 7-2-09

Last year at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, the event was ruled by several big named movies that ranged from youthful vampires to illegal vigilantes.  TV was more a side-note than anything else.

This year at the 2009 Comic-Con, things will be a bit different as television programming seems to have a bigger presence than last year.

For instance, the Warner Brothers Television Group will have 11 different panels for their shows.  That’s a studio best for them.  ABC Studios will have 7 panels.  20th Century Fox will have 9 panels.

Do you think your favorite television show will be represented?

NBC has released the schedule of dates for their fall 2009 / 2010 season.

A pair of new dramas lined up for us are Parenthood & Trauma and some returning shows are Heroes, Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order.  Southland survived it’s first season and is returning for a second.

It’s with great sadness that we report that Bryan Fuller is leaving his spot as consulting producer on NBC’s Heroes.

Before you wonder, he isn’t leaving due to any internal strife.  Instead, he’s working on developing some new shows / pilots for NBC Universal, the studio which produces Heroes.

The shows he’s developing are keeping him so busy that he just ran out of time for everything and something had to give. The sad news is that Heroes was the show that got the short end of the straw.

Welcome to Thursday’s Weekly TV Wrap Up. Today we have a chunk of news to chat about.

I want to touch a bit on the television broadcast digital conversion and how well it went, or maybe not so well for some.  Then we’ll touch on some True Blood ratings news, Heroes casting info, Bones renewal info and some Lie To Me news.  We’ll then toss in some info on Patrick Swayze’s The Beast, My Name Is Earl and some Law And Order: SVU cast news.

Of course, I wrap it up with TV and cable ratings from last week.

Let’s get on with it, shall we?

Adding to the previously reported casting additions for Heroes Volume 5: Redemption, writer/producer Bryan Fuller recently talked about how the show has turned around with its newest season, which may point to the idea that Redemption is more than just this volume’s title.

In talking with SciFiWire, Fuller surprisingly admitted (in so many words) that the show isn’t what is used to be, saying that, “We love the cast. That’s the thing. … We just sort of have to find better uses for them.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. According to Fuller, one of the main areas that Redemption will concentrate on is getting the show back to what it used to be about:

Today in Screen Rant’s weekly TV Wrap Up, we have some great casting news for 24, we’ll be talking about David Carradine’s appearance in Fox’s new show Mental and we also have some Heroes casting news, the possibility that My Name Is Earl may be getting new legs, some news on Ghost Whisperer, The Sarah Connor Chronicles coming to DVD and a bit about Futurama’s, err, future.

We’ll wrap it up with ratings from last week.  This week in the ratings section, I thought I’d try something new and toss in some cable viewer numbers.

With Heroes‘ fifth volume, “Redemption”, set to start shooting next week, the cast has been accommodating a few additions, including a new villain and a new roommate for college-bound Claire (Hayden Panettiere). Thumbs up for a new villain, but a college roommate? Great! Because the whole going-to-college storyline worked so well for Claire last season [sarcasm].

Robert Knepper, best known as bad guy “T-Bag” from Fox’s Prison Break, will continue his villainous streak as Samuel on Heroes; Madeline Zima (a.k.a. the conniving “Mia Lewis” from Showtime’s Californication), will appear in a multi-episode arc as Claire’s edgy, outsider college roommate, Gretchen.

Today NBC announced their 2009 Fall and mid-season television schedules.  As you will see, there are some new shows, some old shows, and you might notice there are a couple of shows that are missing from the roster.

We’ll touch on the missing shows in a moment – and in the case of some of them, the situation may not be as bad as it looks. Here are the 2009 NBC Fall and mid-season schedules, as they stand today:

On Monday, May 5th 2009, The Jay Leno network NBC announced a slate of new shows at their In-Fronts for the 2009 / 2010 television season.  No the above screen shot is not from their in-fronts.  It’s a behind the scenes shot from NBC’s new show, Day One.

Keeping in mind that we here at Screen Rant are all about action / adventure and sci-fi / fantasy (with a dribble of comedy). I’ve left out some details on the new NBC comedy shows but only because we do like our action-adventure shows.  Rather than babble about what I am going to say, I might as well get right to it:

This week’s weekly TV report from April 30th, 2009 chats a little about Chuck’s sandwich run, the probable return of Fringe, a new character for Burn Notice and how Harper’s Island is not only sinking, but moving – much like the island on Lost!  We’ve also got some syndication news on My Own Worst Enemy, Knight Rider and Dollhouse.  Yep, syndication news on Dollhouse.  That can’t be good.  Read on folks!

Chuck Takes Fans To Subway

Though they feel they’re currently on the good side of the ratings / cancel bubble, the cast of Chuck are still trying to take care of their sponsors.

While the cast was attending a Starfury convention T1 event in Birmingham, U.K., a fan suggested they try to help the show by supporting a sponsor, in this case, Subway. Zachary Levi and Adam Baldwin (who else would have done this?) then asked those in attendance if they’d follow them to a local Subway. Sure enough, they ended up leading about 400 convention attendees to the poor beleaguered sandwich shop. That would have sucked to be the guy behind the counter when this unruly gang showed up!

I actually haven’t been following Heroes like I used to but it seems like a lot of people haven’t been following Heroes like they used to either. For one reason or another, NBC is only going to air approximately 18 to 20 episodes next season. I know that seems like a lot, but originally next season was going to have 25 episodes. At least, that was the plan while the show was going gangbusters.

What gives NBC?

In its first smash season, Heroes averaged just under 12 million viewers – I was one of those viewers. But they lost me 1/2 way through the 2nd season and I’ve found other shows to occupy my time.

This week marks a rare occasion for my Monday DVR showdown: it’s the first time all season where I’ve been more thrilled by an episode of Heroes than an episode of 24. And now I know why: this week’s episode, “Cold Snap,” was written by Sci-fi wonder-kid, Bryan Fuller.

Screen Rant reported back in December that Bryan Fuller was being brought back to Heroes to help get the show back on track. Well, after seeing what Fuller brought to the table with “Cold Snap” and the general direction the show has gone in since he became a “consulting producer,” I think that Brayn Fuller should be writing every Heroes episode from now on.

So what’s happening this week with some of our favorite television shows? I’ll fill you in on the vaporizing ratings for Dollhouse, The Sarah Connor Chronicles and others. I touch on some Supernatural & NCIS casting news and a season ending story development. I then sprinkle some CSI:NY bits and round it out with some Lily cast updates.

Let’s check it out.

It seems that Heroes has already been renewed for a 4th season.

While ratings have been eroding, apparently the show is still doing relatively well in the target demographic. The producers have tried to come back from a very disappointing last half-season, but the show really hasn’t recaptured the magic of its first season.