Troubling news for Heroes - and television - fans:

The second season of Heroes may be coming to a close a lot sooner than expected. The reason? The impending writers’ strike in Hollywood.

Sources tell TV Guide that the show is going back and shooting an alternate ending to the December 3 episode that, if used, would allow the episode to function as a season finale in the event of a strike.

Originally, the episode was only supposed to serve as the conclusion of the current “Generations” arc. Hopefully, if a last-second agreement can be reached and a strike averted, the alternate ending would likely be scrapped.

So much for that idea.

NBC has pulled the plug on Heroes: Origins, the Heroes spin-off that was slated to run next April. The network declined comment, but sources said the possible strike by the Writers Guild of America — which could happen after the guild’s contract expires midnight Thursday — played a role in the decision.

We wouldn’t be surprised, however, is the declining ratings and sub-par reaction to the second season of Heroes itself played a major role, as well.

“Looking at everything in context of the strike, we’re evaluating all of our production commitments,” said one source. “Scripts haven’t been written yet.”

We’ll keep you updated about this situation if anything changes.

On November 20, the premiere issues of Heroes magazine hits newsstands. For a cover price of $9.99, you can enjoy the following features:

• A Heroes cast interview
• Secret origins of characters
• A Season One episode guide

Wanna subscribe to Heroes magazine? Do so now.

There were three big developments on last night’s Heroes episode:

1. Peter finds an evacuated, futuristic New York City;
2. Kensei turns evil;
3. H.R.G. finds Isaac’s collection of paintings.

Below, we’ll focus on the final item, going through a handful of the painting Mr. Bennet and The Haitian uncovered in “The Line.”

The deah of Kaito, as seen in the season two premiere. Could an immortal Kensei be the culprit?

A viral of… the virus? Think it means anything that a Caucasian hand is holding it?

A blonde woman - Niki, we presume - is trapped somewhere.

Hiro takes on Kensei. The clearest depiction of all the paintings.

Mohinder takes action against someone. Bob, perhaps?

What do you make of all these? Let us know in our Heroes forum.

Here’s bad news for Heroes fans:

Monday night’s terrible episode earned only a 6.3 rating/10 share according to Fast National Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

The series finished behind Dancing with the Stars and Samantha Who on ABC, as well as a block of sitcoms on CBS.

Do you think this has to do with the slow-moving story lines? Let us know in our Heroes forum.

Good news, fans, that photo of the older generation of Heroes won’t be the last we see of these characters and actors.

“We will be seeing the people… in the photo,” Tim Kring said during an October 16 conference call with reporters. “I think all of them will be [played by the actors in the photo]. I just have to tell you, the photo has got a life of its own, because, logistically, it was so difficult to actually come up with this photograph that’s used now and refers to things that are shot well in the future here.

It was very difficult to get that all lined up. But, yes, the photo is as accurate as we can make it.”

For now, the most important new character in the photo is the father of Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), who will be tracked down in tonight’s new episode.

The photo also featured the by-now familiar faces of Daniel Linderman (Malcolm McDowell), Charles Deveaux (Richard Roundtree), Angela Petrelli (Cristine Rose), Bob (Stephen Tobolowsky) and Kaito Nakamura (George Takei).

Cable network G4 has nabbed the cable TV rerun rights for Heroes Season Two - and it’s wasting no time in showing episdoes.

The channel will be airing the episodes every Saturday after their original run on NBC, beginning on Saturday night, November 3.

Moreover, to celebrate its acquisition of the show, G4 will be airing a Season One marathon on October 27. Check your local listings. And enjoy.

While many of the Heroes we know and love are stuck in various locations, with seemingly unrelated story lines currently bogging them down (Peter in Ireland; Hiro in feudal Japan), the main focus of season two so far has been the older generation of Heroes.

Who are they? What do they know? And who is taking them?

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the picture of who we assume to be the 12 members of this group, courtesy of Nathan’s family picture album.

There are the ones we already knew about: Kaito Nakamura, Charles Deveaux, Daniel Linderman, Angela Petrelli, and Angela’s husband (who the Mobile Game has informed us is named Arthur).

The other member we’ve already met is Bob, the Company man played by Stephen Tobolowsky who’s working with Mohinder.

Then, there’s Parkman’s father. Molly says he’s The Boogeyman. Matt says he left home when his son was 13 years old.

From there, we have five completely mysterious people in the photograph, all of whom we’ll speculate about below:. First up is this guy, who looks vaguely Hispanic. As such, perhaps it’s safe to assume he’s Maya and Alejandro’s father or relative.

Next, there’s an African American woman. Could she be a younger Nana Dawson (Nichelle Nichols)? The old woman is clearly more important than she seems, acting as if she knows something she cannot reveal.

At this point, anyone older in the cast we’re guessing has a connection to this generation of Heroes.

Now, things get even harder to speculate about We’re left a grey-haired white guy and two white women, one blonde and one brunette. They could be anyone. Let’s base our guesses on their placement in the photograph.

The brunette woman is right next to Mr. Parkman, but Matt would have mentioned if that were his mother, right? It could be another Parkman relative.

Continue reading this article …

Here’s the official NBC preview for the upcoming episode of Heroes, “The Kindness of Strangers.”

Between shifts at a local fast food joint, Monica Dawson (Dana Davis) begins to exhibit some unexpected new abilities unbeknownst to her brother Damon (guest star Carlon Jeffery), grandmother Nana (guest star Nichelle Nichols), and cousin Michah (Noah Gray-Cabey).

Angela Petrelli (guest star Cristine Rose) makes a shocking confession as new information about the previous generation of Heroes is revealed. With Molly’s (guest star Adair Tishler) “boogyman” continuing to turn her dreams into nightmares, Matt (Greg Grunberg) asks her to put aside her fears and locate him on a map — with terrible results.

Suspecting Claire (Hayden Panettiere) has a new boyfriend, H.R.G. (Jack Coleman) fears for the future.

Of course, we’re just two days removed from the last episode, “Kindred.” Discuss that and more in our Heroes forum.

Granted, if you’re reading this site and posting on our Heroes forum, you’re probably an expert on the show.

Nevertheless, a new book is offering insight into the world of Heroes.

It’s called, appropriately enough, Saving the World: A Guide to Heroes. You can purchase it now at Amazon.