Variety has NBC's fall schedule, and while we'll discuss the rest in the Upfront thread I figured this would get some more attention here:
More info from Zap2it:
"Heroes: Origins" will air in "Heroes'" Monday night time slot when that smash hit takes a hiatus. The net has ordered six segs of "Origins," which, combined with "Heroes," makes for 30 hours altogether.
"Heroes: Origins" will center on characters not yet seen on the original show. Peacock has also added an interactive element to the show: Viewers will be asked to pick their favorite character from "Origins," who will then join the cast of the full-blown "Heroes" skein the following year.
More info from Zap2it:
The "Origins" series will consist of six stand-alone episodes, with each one introducing a new character and telling his or her back story. They'll take place within the "Heroes" universe but won't be tied into the main arc of the series, although one or two regular characters may pop up.
It will also carry an interactive element: After all six "Origins" episodes air, viewers will be able to vote on which character joins the main show the following season.
The idea for "Origins" springs from positive fan reaction to several side characters introduced this season -- Reilly cites Charlie (Jayma Mays), the waitress with the perfect memory, as an example -- and a desire to avoid momentum-draining breaks like the one the show took earlier this spring.
"I don't think the audience minds taking a week off, particularly during the holidays," Reilly says. "It's just the long hiatuses or weeks worth of repeats where we get in trouble."
Just how the "Origins" episodes will be scheduled along with the main "Heroes" storyline has yet to be worked out. The most likely scenario, Reilly says, will be to have "Heroes" start its second season in the fall and run more or less straight through its 24 episodes, with perhaps a short break during the holidays. "Origins" would then follow at the end of the season. Another option would be to run "Origins" "as a chunk" in the spring, before the concluding episodes of "Heroes."
"I'll tell you one thing you won't see is 'Origins' peppered throughout," he says. "I think that would be difficult for the audience to navigate."