Today, NBC announced that as a result of the looming writer’s strike, the peacock network is pulling the plug on the much-hyped HEROES spin-off ORIGINS. ORIGINS, set to fill the void between April and May Sweeps was going to introduce one new hero a week with the help of a few Hollywood heavyweights such as Kevin Smith, Eli Roth and Michael Dougherty.

Naturally, the surprise and sudden cancellation of one pretty exciting idea begs the question. Is the writer’s strike really responsible for the cancellation of ORIGINS. Or simply a convenient excuse to hide the fact that HEROES has seriously underperformed both creatively and more importantly in the ratings this season.