The big news sweeping the online world today is that Heroes is likely to be canceled.  This is not a new rumor.  People have been proclaiming the death of Heroes for quite some time.  The fact of the matter is that I absolutely adored the show when it premiered and watched it religiously throughout its first season.  Like many fans, however, I felt that the show lost its way.  And I'm talking many, many fans here - 17 million people tuned in for the season 2 premiere and, after several years, only 5 million tuned in for this past season's finale.

It's really a shame because it's a show that had a great deal of potential, some terrific actors, and was something fun and new at the time of the series premiere.  But we could debate the quality and the direction of the show forever.  After all of the hoopla that's been happening with NBC this year - including declining ratings for the network overall - a lot of people thought that Heroes might get a chance for one final season beginning in the fall of 2010.  Then there was talk that maybe it would get a 13 episode run and the chance to wrap up some storylines.

Vulture, however, has a different take on it.  NBC has already picked up almost five or six new pilots.  It appears that the network is serious about bringing on some new shows (including a new series about undercover married spies by J.J. Abrams) and there's even talk about Chuck getting another half-season.  This leaves little room for the return of Heroes.  Vulture doesn't even hold out hope that Heroes will get a 13 episode order.  Instead, apparently, there is talk of putting together a three or four hour TV movie and wrapping up the series.

Of course, all of this is purely speculation at this point, but if you look at the ratings alone, it makes sense.  We'll know the final answer when NBC presents its 2010 Upfront on Monday, May 17.