• “Heroes: Origins”, the late Spring spinoff of “Heroes” that was scheduled for NBC, has been shelved. Kevin was set to write and direct the debut episode of the program. Speculation on the “why” is spreading — While still a hit, Season 2 of the program isn’t off to the boffo ratings they predicted. We’re betting the show will find its legs as the season goes on. Audiences are just impatient. Once the season’s main plot starts to materialize, we’re sure that those who were spouting the hate will recant. That being said, the bigger factor here may be the writing strikes, which went into effect today.

While studios have a lot of ducks in a row regarding film, as the article we ran yesterday shows, TV audiences are going to see a major effect of these strikes in just a few months. If the strike holds, most networks are going to run out of original scripted programming by January. Yep, that’s right, it will be a reality-filled back half of the season unless they work this stuff out. Writers are asking for a bigger piece of the pie when it comes to DVD sales of their product, among other concessions.

“Heroes” had originally planned to avoid the long break that hurt ratings last year by airing less reruns, and ending the season short. With this writing lull, they’ll likely need to take another extended break this Winter, thus the episodes will finish up in May, or even June. This doesn’t leave any room to run “Origins” in late Spring (April, and May sweeps) as they originally hoped. While a summer debut COULD have worked, something this big would be better saved for more certain times. We’re betting sometime in Season 3.

Check out these spots for more : Ain’t It Cool News, Variety, Yahoo/Hollywood Reporter, /film.