Heroes (American TV series)

Heroes is an American superhero drama television series created by Tim Kring that aired on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006, to February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover that they have superhuman abilities and how these abilities take effect in the characters' lives as they work together to prevent catastrophic futures. The series emulates the aesthetic style and storytelling of American comic books, using multi-episode story arcs that build upon a larger, more encompassing narrative. It was produced by Tailwind Productions in association with Universal Media Studios. It was filmed primarily in Los Angeles, California.

Four complete seasons aired, ending on February 8, 2010. The critically acclaimed first season had a run of 23 episodes and garnered an average of 14.3 million viewers in the United States, receiving the highest rating for an NBC drama premiere in five years. The second season of Heroes attracted an average of 13.1 million viewers in the U.S. and marked NBC's sole series among the top 20 ranked programs in total viewership for the 2007–2008 season. Heroes earned a number of awards and nominations, including Primetime Emmy Awards, Golden Globes, People's Choice Awards, and British Academy Television Awards.

An online extension of the series, Heroes 360 Experience (later rebranded as Heroes Evolutions), was created to explore the Heroes universe and provides insight into the show's mythology. Other official Heroes media include magazines, action figures, tie-in and interactive websites, a mobile game, a novel, clothing and other merchandise. In the fall of 2008, NBC Digital Entertainment released a series of online content for the summer, including more original web content, wireless iTV interactivity, graphic novels available for mobile viewing and webisodes.

A 13-episode follow-up miniseries, Heroes Reborn, premiered on NBC on September 24, 2015.

Deadline reported in April 2024 that a new series is in development, reportedly titled Heroes: Eclipsed.

Kring designed the series to have an ever-shifting cast. However, his motivation changed when he realized how popular the original cast was with audiences; therefore, he brought back most of the first-season cast for the second season, with a few additions who received star billing. In its first season, the show features an ensemble cast of twelve main characters making it the third largest cast in American primetime television behind Desperate Housewives and Lost. Although NBC's first-season cast page listed only ten characters, Leonard Roberts, who first appeared in the series' fifth episode as D L Hawkins, was an additional member of the original full-time cast. In the first-season episode "Fallout", Jack Coleman, who portrays Noah Bennet, was upgraded from a recurring role to become the twelfth full-time cast member.

The following remained major characters during all four seasons:

Although Niki Sanders, played by Ali Larter, was written out in the third season, Larter remained on the show throughout all four seasons, playing Sanders' sister, Tracy Strauss for the final season.