If you’re like me, and I’m sure the majority is, Heroes isn’t nearly as good as it was in its first season. The writing has deteriorated, the characters have become too complicated, and the stories muddled. I’m not too the point where I’d stop watching, but the thought has crossed my mind once or twice. Bottom line: Heroes is working its way closer and closer to cancellation.

However, good news arose on Friday following the news that former writer Bryan Fuller is returning to the show following the cancellation of his once-great Pushing Daisies. Fuller was apart of the hugely successful first season, though it’s not his presence alone that strikes confidence… it’s his words:

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. 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.

It’s always refreshing to hear when people who actually have influence on the show admit that there are problems and they echo your concerns. Fuller will return for Episode 19, and claims that the episodes leading up to the start of a new chapter called “Fugitives” (begins February 2, 2009) will help get Heroes back in the right direction. Sure, he’s going to add marketing spin to the show that is paying him money, but his claims that Heroes will return to simpler times, with Claire looking for college, Peter back as a nurse, and the return of Matt’s wife Janice.

This sounds good to me, as I feel the show had moved away from its roots a little too quickly. After last season, the writers seemed to scramble and accelerate their storytelling even further, which was the wrong approach. The transition to where the characters are today seemed absolutely rushed, and we haven’t been allowed to grow and change with them. Furthermore, I hate stories about fate, destiny and magic, and the whole African mystic dude storyline just seemed wasteful. Furthermore, the whole eclipse segment was terrible.

You can read more about what is to come with Heroes over at EW.com, which features the original interview with Fuller.

I hadn’t heard anything one way or another about the new season of Lost (Lost: Season 4), but it looks like Lost is arriving on TV as planned on January 31, 2008. Having written that sentence, I looked up the show on Wikipedia and found that Lost has indeed been hit by the writer’s strike – which means we get an eight episode season. This was the same trouble that the show ran into last year, so we’ll see how it fares. What is unclear is whether the other eight episodes that have not yet been filmed will appear at a later time, or if the writers – when they return – will simply shorten the three 16-episode remaining seasons by eight.

Anyway, the preview for Lost: Season 4 is now online, and I must say it’s quite impressive. After not liking the season three finale all that much, I’ve grown to appreciate it a lot more over the last few months. Obviously the writers have something clever up their sleeves, and, as it is quite clear, the rescuers aren’t Heaven-sent as the survivors think they are.

Here’s the preview: